Late Night Television by Larry Chait

Find any photo and write about it. Describe what is in the photo or an event or memory the photo may trigger.


The glow of the obsolete television set kept me up all night in my compact hotel room in Zimbabwe. CNN International broadcasted news stories from around the world but there was no reporting about the government strike going on in Harare. It was the first time I experienced a heavy dose of jetlag insomnia. The protests in the unlit streets were foreign to my midwestern middle class upbringing. The TV calmed me down even though jetlagged induced endorphins had taken over any rational thoughts. I double-checked the locked door a dozen times over the 10 hours I was staring at my feet surrounded by a rectangular glow and a blurry talking head.