Bears & the death of the iPod Shuffle

Apple broke my heart. Three months ago the company announced it stop making its iPod shuffle and iPod nano music players.

I am sad.

The small and mighty iPod shuffle has held a special spot in my heart since I started running. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

I like the simplicity of the shuffle. No camera. No phone calls. Its only purpose was to play audio. Listening to podcasts and singing along to playlists kept me sane on those long runs. 

Over the years, I have owned just about every colour of the shuffle. (They are small enough to lose and cheap enough to replace on a regular basis) I’m not sure what I am going to do when my iPod kicks the bucket. Likely toss it into my shoebox of old Apple products. 

I don’t want to use my iPhone on my runs, and I don’t want to buy an iPod touch. They are too big and do not hold a charge long in the cold or heat. Grrrr …. 

This was weighing heavy on my mind while I loaded up a few podcasts on my iPod for the day’s run. My favourites continue to be Trail Runner Nation, Radiolab and Invisibilia. I like to get lost in the stories. I haven’t listened to Invisibilia for months so I downloaded a couple of episodes. If you are not familiar with Invisibilia, according to the website, the podcast is about “the invisible forces that control human behaviour – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions.”

I downloaded an episode from June on reality. My interest was piqued immediately because the hosts started talking about Lynn Rogers, the bear researcher/biologist who feeds bears by hand, in Minnesota. His research is very interesting and I encourage you to do your own research. (Disclaimer: By this I do not mean go up to a black bear, and stick out your palm full of berries). 

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Part 1 really made me think about bears and our interaction with wildlife. It raises a lot of questions. (It also got my imagination in overdrive as I expected to see a bear as I turned every corner.) This is a great podcast if you want to step outside those typical running podcasts. The miles just melt away as you get lost in the stories and the dialogue. 

I will leave you with an old video about Lynn Rogers and his bears on YouTube. There’s dozens to choose from online. No doubt his work is controversial. 

Have you ever had a bear encounter?

Do you listen to podcasts on your run?

Did a little part of you die when Apple killed the iPod shuffle?