Image by Stephen Nessen/WNYC
Ten years ago this morning I had the luxury of being able to sleep in rather than having to get up early to go into work. At the end of August, 2001, I had left my temp job as a customer service rep for a multinational corporation to hang my shingle as an independent web designer. I woke up a little past 8 and answered nature’s call and boiled water for my French press, and once I had the coffee brewing I turned on the television to catch a little of the Today show.
I had missed the first plane striking the World Trade Center but joined the broadcast in the midst of the day’s initial WTF moments as the hosts trued to make sense of the reports that were coming in. By the time the second aircraft struck the South Tower just past 9am I knew there was no way I’d be doing a thing to try to find clients for my new business. I’d already fired up my computer to contact some friends and to try to get more information on what was happening in New York City, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, PA.
I think the only thing that kept me from falling into a zombie-esque daze that day and the days to follow was my trying to find out just what happened and trying to keep up with how my country was reacting to the attacks.
I know it’s tempting to try to ignore the memorials and coverage of today’s anniversary but if you can handle coverage without depressing flashbacks I strongly suggest you add these items to what you pay attention to today:
- WBUR’s 10 Years Later: Remembering 9/11 page with stories from people who were caught in Boston’s role in the attacks
- NPR’s Reflecting on Sept. 11, 2001 series
- WNYC’s 9/11 Look coverage and their Decade 9/11 coverage, especially their special Living 9/11 program. WBUR replaced The Splendid Table with it last night and it was so good I needed to find a podcast so I could hear the entire show. Luckily for me the podcast is available from the show page. WBUR aired another special right after it but since I was still dealing with a spontaneous nose bleed I never did catch what the program is. If you know please let me know in the comments.
- Studio 360′s “Artists Remember 9/11″ show. WNYC’s Studio 360 is a wonderful show for getting deeper information on what’s happening in pop culture and this week’s show includes a look at Steve Reich’s new piece WTC 9/11, how comedians responded to the attacks, a new children’s book about the day, and much more.
(Several years ago I created an image to remember the attacks but since my computer dies the image is trapped on my hard drive and couldn’t find it on my backups, so I used the above picture from WNYC’s story on the lights being tested. I hope they won’t mind.)
