My new car comes with three free months of Sirius XM channels. It might as well come with three free months of crack cocaine. There's no doubt that, within 90 days, I'll be addicted. After that, I'll likely start paying a monthly fee for access to ad-free music, sports, podcasts, comedy, news, and more listening choices than any reasonably functioning person actually needs.

Although over-the-airwaves radio is free, Sirius XM offers such an abundance of alternatives that ordinary radio feels provincial. It's enough to almost make a 12-hour-plus drive from, say, Little Rock to Cleveland, Ohio, seem semi-palatable. I've never driven back to my native land--that's what planes are for--but satellite radio makes the idea sound less punishing.

My driving in central Arkansas seldom lasts more than 20 minutes one-way, whether I'm headed to The Fresh Market in west Little Rock or one of the three locations of my fitness center. Those trips now take slightly longer because, not being entirely confident in how to work all the technology in the new car, I pull over if I decide to fool around with selecting a Sirius channel. This may be the first entertainment system in history that........

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