On Sunday afternoon I made the mistake of turning on a football game. For twenty minutes I sat on the sofa and watched about 18 minutes of advertisements and replays interspersed with about two minutes of actual game play. I used to spend hours doing this on Sundays, but over the past 20 years, I’ve lost my taste for it. These days I prefer getting outside on a beautiful afternoon (or doing just about anything) to sitting passively while the networks and the NFL rent my eyeballs to advertisers. After a few minutes, I turned off the TV and went outside, happy to have escaped, but it was a healthy reminder that this is what we’re up against, and it made me thankful for media like “Planet Philadelphia.”
Grid was created in 2008 to fill a void in the local media landscape — to provide environmental news and information on how Philadelphians can live more sustainably. “Planet Philadelphia,” profiled by Daniel Sean Kaye in this issue, launched on G-Town Radio 10 years ago to fill a similar void on local radio.
But “void” might not be the right word. It’s not only that there isn’t enough sustainability content out there, but that the preponderance of media in general offers a message of consumption and complacency that threatens the environment. This isn’t just a matter of the news focusing on other topics or the American Petroleum Institute running ads glorifying fossil fuels. The advertisement for a luxury SUV that runs at the two-minute warning of an Eagles game, or for an airline during a timeout, are messages to keep burning fossil fuels.
One antidote is careful, considerate discussion of environmental topics: what we need to be aware of, and what we can do. Want to think globally and act locally? The October 17 episode of “Planet Philadelphia” started with a World Bank economist talking about how sustainability can benefit job creation worldwide. They moved on to the impact of solar power on Pennsylvania schools and concluded with an encouragement to vote in the November 4 judicial retention election.
And even though the topics deal with no less than the fate of the planet, the show’s tone is calm and low stakes. I say this as someone prone to grumpy rants: Hosts Kay Wood and Linda Rosenwein talk the way I wish I could.
I doubt I’m going to convince any serious fans to turn off the game and follow me into sports temperance. And, of course, it’s not just sports. The same ad-driven business model applies to police procedurals and to your Instagram feed. But whatever your poison, consider swapping two hours of mainstream media for a local radio show about how we should be living.
I’m also fully aware of how dated it is to hype a long-format radio show in 2025, and that I’m not going to turn back the clock to a time before social media eroded our attention spans. I’m grateful for “Planet Philadelphia,” but I also hope that it serves as inspiration for environmental journalists on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and whatever else comes next. If you spot any such creators, please drop me a note at bernard@gridphilly.com.
