Stuck in the Orbit of Satellite Radio

The technology connects you to the world--but not the one outside your window

Tornadoes were touching down all over Iowa, but I wouldn't have guessed it from listening to satellite radio. Outside, boiling up on both sides of Interstate 80, black prairie thunderheads sizzled with greenish lightning. Inside my car the only sound was that of an E! Entertainment biography of celebrity rock-widow Courtney Love. I reached for the dial and turned to CNN, then Fox, then NPR. But because all the news was national rather than local, not a single voice I came across could tell me that the town near the next exit--where I'd reserved a motel room for the night--was being...

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