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207
March 8, 2002

Special Ed

Stories about people who were told that they're different. Some of them were comfortable with it. Some didn't understand it. And some understood, but didn't like it.
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Susan Harrington, one of the reporters featured in the documentary How's Your News?

Prologue

Host Ira Glass talks with a bunch of special ed students. By and large, they thought of themselves as regular kids—until each experienced a shocking moment of revelation when they discovered that they were not the same as other kids, and that the other kids already knew that...and had known for a long time. (5 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Get On The Mic

Ira interviews three of the people involved in making the documentary How's Your News?, about a team of developmentally disabled people who travel across the country doing man-on-the-street interviews. He talks to two of the developmentally disabled reporters, Susan Harrington and Joe Simon, and to the film's non-disabled director, Arthur Bradford. Songs are sung. Funny, endearing clips from the film are played. In 2009, How's Your News became a TV series on MTV. In 2010, Ron Simonsen passed away after a long battle with Leukemia. Before he died, Ronnie realized his dream of meeting — and befriending — actor Chad Everett. (19 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Song:

“The Grand Canyon” by Susan Harrington
Act Two

Black Hole Son

We hear from a mother and her son. By age seven, he'd had heart failure and been diagnosed as bipolar. And then — after a period as the world's youngest Stephen Hawking fan — he got better. (15 minutes)

Song:

“Keep on the Sunny Side” by The Whites
Act Three

Walkout

Veronica Chater tells the story of her developmentally disabled brother Vincent, who one day quit his job and then quit everything else, mystifying everyone in his life. Veronica is author of the memoir Waiting for the Apocalypse. (16 minutes)

By

Veronica Chater

Song:

“9 to 5” by The Hammond State School Performers Group

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