The second installment of internet listening comes from the awesome public radio show, This American Life. The show takes a subject and tries to look at it from different angles using stories, interviews, and works from artists. In the episode I recommend for this post, This American Life explores the topic of superpowers. The funniest story comes from act one: Hawkman vs. Invisible Man. John Hodgman narrates this act. Hodgman is the PC from those “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” commercials, and more importantly, the Resident Expert over at The Daily Show. He says that when he meets people, instead of asking them what they do for a living, he asks them what they would choose: the power of flight or the power to turn invisible. In the thirteen minute vignette, we hear answers, questions, inner debates, and explanations from several different people. So many people ask such similar questions that Hodgman has had to make up ground rules for these powers—you can only fly within the Earth’s atmosphere at a maximum speed of 1,000 mph, anything you’re wearing also turns invisible but you cannot turn other things invisible just by touching them, etc. You can find the link to the audio on this page.

So, what would you choose, invisibility or flight?

It’s flight without hesitation for me. Never mind how cool it would be, imagine the savings in transportation costs. Also, as one of the interviewees put it, “Flying is for people who want to let it all hang out. Invisibility is for fearful, crouching…” Well I won’t ruin that statement and will let you enjoy it in its fullness.