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
415
September 24, 2010

Crybabies

Crybabies are annoying. They whine, they complain, sometimes they ruin it for the rest of us. But being a crybaby can be a really effective tactic. We have stories of crybabies in sports, in politics, on Wall Street, on the streets of California, including a new story by David Sedaris.
  • Download
    Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
  • Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
  • Transcript
Aaron May
Correction: In the original broadcast of this episode, Adam Davidson incorrectly stated that Stephen Schwarzman’s company, the Blackstone Group, benefited from Treasury Department contracts related to the bailout of Wall Street. They did not. Blackstone did directly benefit from the bailout in several ways — including a $107 million commitment to a bank they own, BankUnited. The audio and transcript have edited with this correction. We regret the error.

Prologue

Host Ira Glass with Dave Weigel, political reporter for Slate.com, about manufactured outrage in American politics, and how it's an effective way to bring in cash and mobilize your followers, as Christine O'Donnell and former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer have demonstrated. (6 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Wall Street: Money Never Weeps

Ira with Planet Money economics correspondent Adam Davidson on why—even after everything President Obama has done to save Wall Street, actions which have led to record profits and bonuses—Wall Street seems ungrateful. Adam and producer Jane Feltes head out to a Wall Street bar where they're told by three finance guys that there's no reason to thank the President for saving their jobs. Planet Money is a co-production of This American Life and NPR News. (16 minutes)

By

Adam Davidson
Jane Feltes
Planet Money

Song:

“I Get Money” by 50 Cent
Act Two

Foul Play

Ira with This American Life producer Alex Blumberg, about a kind of institutionalized crybabying in pro basketball called "the flop." Alex started to wonder if the story basketball fans tell themselves about the origins of the flop is true, and turned to Tommy Craggs at the sports blog Deadspin.com. (11 minutes)

By

Alex Blumberg
Act Three

The Squeaky Wheelchair Gets the Grease

In California, a kind of crybaby cottage industry has popped up around, of all things, the Americans with Disabilities Act—the federal law that requires all public places to meet a minimum level of accessibility. Some people make a living by suing business owners for not being up to code. Alex MacInnis hung out with one of them. (16 minutes)

By

Alex MacInnis

Song:

“Wheels” by Flying Burrito Brothers
Act Four

Cry Me a Liver

A fable about being a crybaby, from David Sedaris' new book of animal fables, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. (6 minutes)

By

David Sedaris

Song:

“Bullet with Butterfly Wings” by Smashing Pumpkins

Related

If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
375: Bad Bank
Feb. 27, 2009

Act One: The Collapse Of The Us Banking System Explained In Just 39 Minutes

Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson tackle a very tough subject: Trying to explain exactly what a bank is and does.
92: Leave the Mask On
Feb. 6, 1998

Act Three: The Unmasking

A story of guys who wear real masks, like superheroes, in their jobs as costumed wrestlers in a kind of Mexican wrestling called Lucha Libre.
435: How To Create a Job
May 13, 2011

Act One: Can the Government Move My Cheese?

Chana Joffe-Walt visits a governor who first became famous for promising hisstate he'd create jobs: Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Staff Recommendations

View all
550
Mar. 13, 2015

Three Miles

What happens when of a group of public school students in the Bronx goes to visit an elite private school three miles away.

38
Oct. 11, 1996

Simulated Worlds

Civil War reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle, and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America.

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