For much of my life I have been a fan of radio. While my friends and colleagues are always asking me about television programs that I have never seen, I have found that I hear things on the radio with which they are not familiar. The Internet has changed the radio experience in recent years. I can listen to South Dakota Public Radio over the Internet whenever I want. However, I rarely listen that way. There is something about the regional and local nature of radio that makes me enjoy listening to whatever station has the best reception wherever I am roaming.

Having said that, I admit that I am a big fan of National Public Radio. It isn’t that I don’t listen to the pop and country stations. I do. But I enjoy classical music, jazz and talk and NPR has all of those things. The NPR network has grown and developed a lot in my lifetime. I remember the early years of living in North Dakota when I could not receive a NPR station from our home. I had to drive a few miles to listen to a favorite NPR program. Now there is NPR coverage in nearly every location in the country.

And, of course, there is satellite radio. When Sirius and XM radio were two separate companies, I bought a satellite receiver and subscribed to one of the services. It was amazing to tune to a channel and have the signal remain strong wherever I drove. It did, however, lack the kind of local flavor that was a part of traveling with AM or FM radio and tuning the receiver to new stations as one drove across the country. After a few years, I gave up on the paid subscription and went back to tuning the receiver in my car.

Now we have a regular AM/FM radio in our car, but our truck has Sirius XM in addition to the AM/FM. Most of the time I don’t listen to satellite radio because I don’t like the monthly fee and don’t pay it. However, from time to time when I have an expensive repair done on the truck, I receive 90 days of free satellite radio service. Whenever that happens, I gladly listen to the satellite service for the 90 days and then don’t pay for the service to continue after the free period.

Right now, I have another month of free service left. So I have the radio in the truck tuned to Sirius XM and the radio in the car tuned to FM. Due to a quirk of radio waves and the location of our home NPR doesn’t come in clearly at our house. If I drive just a short distance, I can get clear reception. On the other hand CBC, Canadian Public Radio comes in just fine. Lately I have been listening to NPR over the satellite radio in the truck and CBC when driving the car. It is fun to compare the two as I run various errands.

Yesterday the big news story on NPR was the new indictments against the former President handed down by the federal grand jury in Washington DC and its ramifications for the primary election season. Over on CBC the big story was the announcement that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie are separating.

Frankly, I find the stories about the Canadian first couple to be more interesting than more news about the disgraced former President. I suppose I should be shocked that a candidate for the highest office in the land has been accused of conspiracy to defraud voters. If found guilty, his campaign would be saying, “Vote for me because I am committed to making sure that votes don’t count.” The irony hasn’t escaped me. However, there is something more appealing in the very careful and polite way in which the Trudeaus announced their separation in identical social media posts. “We remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build,” they wrote.

The story seems tragic to me from a variety of perspectives. I think it is extraordinarily difficult for families to withstand the pressures of the scrutiny that is a part of public life. Other stories of politicians divorcing have struck me as sad. They seem from the outside like relationships that might have endured had the couple not had the pressures of public life. Things are different, however, in the case of the Trudeaus. Justin grew up in a political family. He is not only Prime Minister, he is also son of a former Prime Minister. In fact, Justin’s parents separated when he was only five years old. Their six-year marriage ended in divorce. He has personal experience of family life under the scope of public scrutiny. Since children of divorce are more likely themselves to experience divorce, the announcement of Justin and Sophie’s breakup might not come as a surprise. But there are so many differences between the current Prime Minister and his father. Justin and Sophie are close to the same age and have been married for 18 years. His mother was almost 30 years younger than his father and their stormy relationship lasted only six years. Both couples have been very much in the public eye. Both have been mobbed at book signings and on the campaign trail.

There is something that strikes me as distinctly Canadian about the way the separating couple is taking such care to speak positively about each other and their relationship. I understand that there are serious conversations that are not, and should not be, in the public arena. In public, however, they are careful to be polite and respectful. I hope that they are able to be that way in front of their children. Of course their marriage is none of my business. I’m not even Canadian. I just live near the border and get very good radio reception.

With the distress that I feel from the news of our own country, I find the drama playing out just north of the border to be a welcome change of pace. Who needs to pay for satellite radio when the free radio is so good?