The argument for public broadcasting has always been some variation upon giving voice to sophisticated and enriching content that transcends the plebeian tastes of commercial audiences. By way of example, above you can listen to author Sy Montgomery get very, very excited about octopi.
Author of “The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness,” Montgomery stands eager to share her fascination with these creatures of the deep:
“I got to know several octopuses very well,” she says, “so well they would recognize me and turn color with emotion and come over. Their eyes would lock with mine, and when I would plunge my hands and arms into the water their suckers would come boiling out and embrace me.”
Later in the interview, Montgomery doubles down, fully anthropomorphizing the octopus.
“It’s so amazing that you can find connection with someone this different… someone that alien, someone with no bones at all, someone who tastes with all their skin… somebody who has their mouth in their armpits, and who has venom like a snake, and ink like an old-fashioned pen. Someone that different, you wouldn’t think you could make friends with someone like that.
This is why your tax dollars simply must go to public broadcasting. How else could the world learn of Sy Montgomery’s peculiar love of the octopus.
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