241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes
Jul 11, 2003
Instead of the usual "each week we choose a theme, and bring you 3 or 4 stories on that theme" business, we throw all that away and bring you 20 stories—yes, 20—in 60 minutes.
Inspiration for this week's show came from the Neo-Futurists, whose long-running Chicago show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind promises 30 Plays in 60 Minutes every single weekend.
- Contributor Starlee Kine talks to actor Tate Donovan about the day he felt he was being exactly the kind of celebrity he'd wanted to be: when suddenly, he was approached by a kid with a camera.
- Writer and producer Scott Carrier recognizes a woman he sees in a restaurant. Scott's latest book is Prisoner Of Zion.
- Susan Drury talks about "Swap and Shop," a local radio classifieds show that has become a low-tech, personable sort of Ebay.
- From Patty Martin: a one minute, four second vacation on Nantucket Island, involving a lot of waving.
- From Vicki Merrick, Eric Kipp, and Jay Allison at Transom: scallops on Martha's Vineyard.
- From Blunt Youth Radio: a story of a possibly bad "food situation" at the cafeteria in juvenile detention.
- Jonathan Goldstein, host of Wiretap, brings us this story about The Penguin as a young man. Jonathan is the author, most recently, of the novel Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!
- Two brothers, ages 12 and 13, have very different ideas for their dog's name.
- Elaine Boehm overhears a couple in her pet shop, trying to choose a dog collar.
- A two minute play written and performed by the Chicago group, The Neo-Futurists.
Statement. Statement. Statement. Question? Aggressive childish insult! - Author David Sedaris on cell phone usage in restrooms.
- Brent Runyon reports from the kids' section at the public library.
- Catherine and John, two college undergrads, do a babysitting gig together. After the kids are asleep and the two of them get hungry, John doesn't think they should eat any of the food in the house; they settle on a compromise.
- Mystery and missing flavor at the hot dog plant.
- Author David Rakoff worked at an advertising agency, and could see exactly where its technology was going.
- Someone sits next to the printer. You see him forty times a day. What's his name? What does he do?
- Richard Kerry has an impressive ability: he can recreate the sound of a whole swamp.
- Author Chuck Klosterman and his friends make a party game out of comparing television shows to rock bands. They call it "Monkees Equals Monkees."
- Every year 1,200 new army cadets arrive at West Point. Once they say a single sentence correctly, they can go to their barracks. But not until then. David Lipsky reports. He's the author of Absolutely American.
- Teenage girls from a detention center perform a song for their parents.
