The phrase that immediately leaps to mind about this Little Gray Book Lecture: it's the anti-slick. Paul Tough has a lovely essay about the quest for extraterrestrial communication and his dad, John Hodgman does a wonderful twist on the call-in show, and Starlee Kine is charming. Smart people, good with words -- and as far as I can tell, not a jot of steroidal sound-sweetening or audio tummytucks. This show is a terrific reminder that what the listener gets doesn't have to be polished to be engaging or communicative.