Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: When’s the last time you experienced silence? Or even near-silence? Go ahead, I’ll give you a second to think about it. 

 

[silence]

 

Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: See, I bet that even that little window of time, your life was filled with noise. Traffic. Rain. Wind. Car horns honking. Elevators dinging. Your phone vibrating in your pocket. So I’ll ask you again: when’s the last time you experienced silence? This question bothered me so much that it led me on a journey across the United States trying to get as close to silence as possible. It led me as far as the Mojave Desert. 

 

[desert field tape fading in] 

 

Jill DeGroot: Okay. Fuck, it’s hot. 

 

[car door slams closed] 

 

Jill DeGroot: *long sigh* My phone is melting! 

 

Sampson A. Marks: Yeah!

 

Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: It led me to infamous ghost towns. 

 

Jill DeGroot: Do you hear that? Is that like, a chainsaw sound? Or is that a-

               

Sampson A. Marks: Shh!

 

Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: To decaying abandoned theaters. 

 

Jill DeGroot: My knees are like shaking. That’s how scared I am. 

​

Sampson A. Marks: Yeah! 

​

Jill DeGroot: Just freaking me out. But- I think it’s literally falling down. 

 

Sampson A. Marks: Yeah, so don’t go in there. 

 

Jill DeGroot: I know. But I just don't want anyone to pop out and be like, “Boo!”

 

Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: I spoke to lots of interesting folks. 

 

Glenn Perry: I came out and I had this amazing expanded consciousness. [wind chimes] It was like I         had taken lots of acid. [reverb effect] The whole… all of nature, was a shimmering, shining energy system. [reverb effect] [wind chimes]

 

[water sounds fading in] 

 

Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: And experienced many failures. 

 

Jill DeGroot: *straining* I’m not the most… coordinated person…. [slipping and splashing sounds] oh geez! Oh geez! Agh!

 

Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: In the following episodes, you’ll hear all of this and more. 

 

Jill DeGroot: [rustling sounds] *exasperated* Oh, Lord have mercy! 

               

[GPS: “Let’s take US285 Roswell.”]

 

[Synthy theme music by Chris Wood fading in]

 

Jill DeGroot, Voice-Over: And most importantly you won’t have to venture into the silent unknown alone, because I’ll be there. I’m Jill DeGroot, and this is NEAR TOTAL SILENCE. 

 

[Synthy theme music by Chris Wood] 

 

END