420:
Neighborhood Watch
Originally aired 11.19.2010
It’s amazing just how much drama can take place in the mini-universe of a neighborhood. This week we bring you stories of neighbors watching out for each other, for better and worse, including a story from CBC's WireTap.
In one story, a mother goes to her neighbors with an incredible request—to help care for her son after she dies—and is shocked by their response. Also: One woman’s valiant effort to fight the ultimate neighborhood plague—dog poop.
Host Ira Glass Host talks to Paul Gereffi, a letter carrier in Ft. Lauderdale who helped save the life of a stabbing victim who saw Gereffi's mail truck and flagged him down. The strange thing, says Gereffi, is how many people saw the victim grappling with his assailant in a parking lot but
did nothing to help him. (6 1/2 minutes)
Reporter Ruth Padawer tells the story of a woman goes to her neighbors with an incredible request—to help care for her son after she dies—and is shocked by their response. Ruth Padawer writes for the New York Times Magazine and teaches at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. (16 minutes)
The story of a father who relies on the help of his neighbors in order to take his baby daughter out on a walk. Actor Daniel Beirne reads this excerpt from Ryan Knighton's book C'mon Papa: Dispatches From a Dad in the Dark (which is not yet available in the US). This story originally aired on CBC's WireTap, distributed in the U.S. by Public Radio International. It was produced by Jonathan Goldstein and Mira Burt-Wintonick with Cristal Duhaime. (9 minutes)
Song: "You're Out Walking the Streets Tonight", Sir Douglas Quintet
Ira Glass tells the story of how science is being used to fight the ultimate neighborhood plague: Dog poop. (14 minutes)
Act Four. There Go The Neighbor Hoods.
In the midst of a real estate dispute, Jim O'Grady becomes the target of an unusual neighborhood watch group. He told this story onstage at the Moth. For more Moth stories listen to The Moth Radio Hour from PRX, which airs on public radio stations across the country, or check out The Moth's free weekly podcast. Jim O'Grady is a reporter for WNYC Radio and co-author of the biography Disarmed & Dangerous: The Radical Lives and Times of Daniel and Philip Berrigan. (7 minutes)Song: "I Am the Neighbor", Jason Falkner
