There is no quicker way to lose hope than by listening to commercial radio for five minutes, but when one of SA’s largest stations asks its 6-million listeners whether the earth is round or flat, claiming it is a “debate” on which there is “still no consensus”, it’s worth wondering for a moment about our collective health after years of being subjected to relentless stupidity.   

To be clear, this column isn’t about slagging off Metro FM’s poll, run on social media at the weekend. Firstly, it wasn’t made for you and me because we can read. Secondly, it’s not Metro FM’s fault if there’s a market for that sort of thing: stupidity is a growth industry and one can’t blame the eternally broke SABC for gravitating towards things that actually make money.  ..