|
This American Life: Eric's Favorite Episodes This American Life, from WBEZ in Chicago, is one of my favorite public radio shows. I've made a list of some of my favorite episodes, both for my own reference, and to share with others. Click on the title of any episode to go to its page on the TAL web site. From there, you can listen online (free), or get the podcast (99¢). Thanks for visiting! |
|
Christmas and Commerce (12/20/1996) Stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, including David Sedaris's story Santaland Diaries, which was first broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition several years ago in a much shorter version. The diaries are about David's two Christmas seasons working as an elf in Macy's department store on New York's Herald Square. When it was first broadcast, it generated more requests for tapes than any story in Morning Edition's history except the death of Red Barber. Also, David Rakoff on playing Freud in the windows of Barney's department store. And other stories. This was the first episode of TAL that I heard, and pretty much how I discovered public radio. It was 12/25/2000, and I was driving to the supermarket. I scanned the radio dial for anything that WASN'T a Christmas Carol, and stumbled upon 89.9 WWNO, just as Ira was introducing David Searis's Santaland Diaries. It was so funny I had to stop the car and laugh. Once I got home, I searched the internet to find out what I had just heard. And so it began... |
|
Somewhere in the Arabian Sea (3/1/2002) Life aboard the USS John C. Stennis, an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea that's supporting bombing missions over Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Only a few dozen people on board actually fly F-18s and F-14's. It takes the rest of the crew--over 5,000 people--to keep them in the air. One person stocks vending machines, twelve hours a day. Hundreds prepare food and do laundry. There are several different garage bands, each with its own following. This American Life producers Wendy Dorr, Alex Blumberg and Ira Glass visited the Stennis in January of 2002, about six weeks into its deployment. The entire hour is devoted to this one story. I heard this episode shortly after I had made the decision to enlist in the Air National Guard. Although the episode is about the Navy, and even more specifically about life on an aircraft carrier - something very different than anything I would experience in the ANG, hearing the stories of everyday people in uniform hit home for me. |
|
Stories of people who are lost, histories that are lost, and things that are lost. This episode has one of my favorite pieces by Sarah Vowell - "Teacher Hit Me With a Ruler." In it, she tells the story of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." I had the pleasure of seeing her read it live several years ago. Also, Act 3 features Davy Rothbart (editor of Found Magazine) reading items that have been lost, and found. Seeing the items in their magazine and books is a lot of fun - but hearing Davy read them is really a treat. Last, but not least, this ep. includes a kick-ass Electric Waco Chair track called "Walking on Hell's Roof Looking at the Flowers." Listen for it at about 38 minutes in... |
|
It's rare that a successful apology happens. One where you apologize to someone, not for selfish reasons, but because you're really sorry and you want them to know that, and when the person you're apologizing to really hears what you're saying. Three stories of people groping toward that moment. Act 1 of this episode is one of my favorite David Sedaris stories: Repeat After Me. Act 2 features recordings from The Apology Line. |
|
How, one might wonder, could a simple hunk of cheese drive a wedge between an aging aunt and her devoted niece? Sure, every family has its share of grudges, secrets and bad behavior. What's harder to understand is how those things end up changing family relationships in ways no one could have predicted. Three stories about family legends that have either been kicking around for years, or been completely suppressed. All three acts of this episode are winners. Act 1 (Take my Cheese, Please) is the crazy aunt story to end all crazy aunt stories... Act 2 (We Don't Talk About That) is about one man's quest to uncover his family's truly shocking secret... and Act 3 (Admissions) is about a family prank like no other. |
|
Stories about amateur spies regular people who spy on other regular people, and the consequences of their spying. I really love the first two acts of this episode. In the first, we hear about a man who discovers that one channel on his building's cable TV network shows live footage of the lobby... of ANOTHER building! In the second act, Beth Lisick tells us what happened when she realized that her baby monitor tunes in more than just the transmitter in the baby's room. |
|
Stories of the first day on the job, the first day in a relationship, the first day in school. On the first day, any first day, we're expected to live by the rules and customs of the culture we're entering, but we don't know those rules and customs just yet. These are stories of people trying to make the transition--and the difficulty of making the transition--in a new place--from outsider to insider. Act 2 of this episode (Squirrel Cop) is so funny I was in pain from laughing so hard. It's the true story of a rookie police officer's fiasco. |
|
Stories of very unusual pen pals. Act One (Who Put the "Pistol" in "Epistolary"?) is all about a 10 year old girl from Michigan who became pen pals with Manuel Noriega! |