A walk through a park begins with an ethical problem: can you warn someone about an association without giving them the association in the process?

From squirrels and rescue helicopters, the monologue wanders through healthcare, public anger, survival, drug use, professional authority, and the endless track humanity keeps building beneath itself. Along the way, an ordinary animal becomes a possible way of remaining aware of an overwhelming world without having to consume the news every day.

This is an episode about attention, responsibility, associative thought, and how much reality one nervous system can reasonably be expected to carry.

Content note: Contains frank discussion of climate disaster, suicide, HIV/AIDS, sex, incarceration, and drug use.