We listen venally. We tune in to see people burn at the Great White concert, the sounds of the dying reaching Boston, if not Iraq, streaming pain to our homes like a hot game on ESPN Motion. Are we, as a citizenry, confronting hard truths straight on? The Grammy's are on tonight, not that I'm watching. The gospel entrants extoll Jehovah while Philistines yell for a new peace process, you can almost hear the crackling echo of firebombed Jerusalem nightclubs. There is sadness in Chan Marshall's Cat Power, longing in so much of Bette Midler discography, and a surprising diversity of humane voices on Audblog.

But are you really listening?