Last week the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, took a flight to Scotland and imparted a few thoughts on his colleagues, not only to his travel companion but to those sitting nearby.
Inspired by this slip-up, we sent writers out around the UK, including on that very service to Inverness, to eavesdrop on conversations.
What did they find to be on Britain's mind? Forget popular search terms (although Britney did come up) or the perennially safe subject of the weather, rather it was the credit crunch and matters of the heart on people's lips. From an outright condemnation of Facebook, to a cook in a farm shop revealing a secret about her not entirely homemade dinner party, to the tube train where no one uttered a word, it's a rich portrait of one day in December.
And as Michael Holden, our resident expert on overhearing who writes the Guide's All Ears column, points out, as much as we are a nation of public chatterers, we also like nothing more than to tune in to someone else's soapbox. A simple journey can be transformed into pure theatre if you remove your headphones and prick up an ear. Try these nonsensical gems picked up in New York and London.
Of course often it's more interference than entertainment. Mobile phones are a modern day scourge of public transport, where people in suits make world-changing decisions on the hoof, or teenagers share their latest indiscretion with half the bus. And "I'm on the plane" will soon be an unpleasant addition to the vernacular.
But when you do want to zone in, it can be reassuring of the human experience to hear another person speak. And why not go the whole way and join in that conversation?
What's the best thing you've ever overheard? Or do you think people should be less open in public?
