We use cookies and other tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. If you continue to use our site, you agree to the use of such cookies. For more info, see our privacy policy.
Skip to main content

Hi. We love you. Be our Life Partner.

Support the show to get ad-free listening, bonus content, and our new Greatest Hits Archive.

Learn more
This American Life Partners logo
00:00
00:00
  • Transcript
  • Share
This American Life
  • Life Partners
  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Follow Us
  • Life Partners
222
September 27, 2002

Suckers

Some people have a rather dark worldview that divides people into two groups: Suckers and non-suckers. We hear their stories.
  • Download
    Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
  • Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
  • Transcript
weejamer

Prologue

Host Ira Glass talks with Adam and Wendy, a couple whose world view was changed when they bought a house. Adam and Wendy were the kind of people who believed that most people by and large were good, and their motives by and large honest. But when they found that the former owner had lied about all sorts of things in their new house, they were reluctantly forced to change their view of things. The former owners were the types who believed in suckering the other guy before he suckers you, and now Adam and Wendy were starting to think that way too. (7 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

No Receipt, No Surrender

Jen's mom Sheila does things like this: She buys a brand name at a discount store, and then returns it to a fancy store for a full refund. She thinks you're a sucker if you don't take advantage of opportunities like that. Jen admires her mom's chutzpah, but can't do the things she does, so her mom tries to teach her...on tape. Jen pins a hidden microphone on herself, and she and her mother try and return a gift Burberry sweater to the actual Burberry store. (15 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act Two

The Stereo Type

Rarely when we're suckered do we get a chance at revenge, and that turns out to be a good thing. Writer Shane DuBow tells the story of a scam he fell for when he was just out of college. Twelve years later, the same guys tried the same scam on him. But getting even wasn't as easy as he thought. (11 minutes)

By

Shane DuBow
Act Three

Suckers In The Promised Land

There's a whole nation where the idea of suckerdom permeates almost every aspect of culture and politics. Adam Davidson reports on the Israeli word "freier," which literally translates as sucker, but means much, much more. (7 minutes)

By

Adam Davidson
Act Four

Mother Sucker

Writer Heather O'Neill tells the story of how she became a foster mother at 18—to a 16 year-old. (14 minutes)

By

Heather O'Neill

Related

If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
366: A Better Mousetrap (2008)
Oct. 10, 2008

Act Three: Everything Must Go

Nellie Thomas sold ammunition illegally on the South side of Chicago.
395: Middle of the Night
Nov. 27, 2009

Act One: Orange You Glad I Didn’t Say Banana?

Adam Davidson and Chana Joffe-Walt from Planet Money head to the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx, a bustling area of vegetable and fruit commerce that only comes alive at night.
177: American Limbo
Feb. 9, 2001

Act Three: It's Julie Andrews' World, Sylvia Just Lives In It

Sylvia becomes the first person in her Mexican-American family to go away to college, at a predominantly white school in upstate New York.

Staff Recommendations

View all
75
Sept. 12, 1997

Kindness of Strangers

A locksmith tells the story of an act of kindness he committed, hoping for a small reward. That, and other stories of kindness in New York City.

570
Oct. 16, 2015

The Night in Question

Conspiracy theories about the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin continue to shape Israel's politics and future.

This American Life

This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.

  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Contact
  • Life Partners
  • Serial
  • S-Town
© 1995 - 2025 This American Life Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Subscribe

  • on Spotify
  • in Apple Podcasts

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email