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420
November 19, 2010

Neighborhood Watch

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.

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  • Transcript
Andrew Miller

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.

Prologue

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)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Wary Home Companions

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)

By

Ruth Padawer

Song:

“You're Out Walking the Streets Tonight” by Sir Douglas Quintet
Act Two

Baby Steps

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)

By

Daniel Beirne
Ryan Knighton

Song:

“New Kind of Neighborhood” by Modern Lovers
Act Three

Witness for the Poo-secution

Ira Glass tells the story of how science is being used to fight the ultimate neighborhood plague: Dog poop. (14 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
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)

By

The Moth
Jim O'Grady

Song:

“I Am the Neighbor” by Jason Falkner

Related

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106: Father’s Day ‘98
June 19, 1998

Act Three: Bond, Dammit, Bond

Another case study of a dad who's waiting to feel closer to his kid.
521: Bad Baby
Mar. 28, 2014

Act One: Baby NOT On Board

Ira plays tape from an interview that he did more than 20 years ago, with the author Doris Lessing, about her novel The Fifth Child, which tells the story of a woman who gives birth to a goblin-like baby.
622: Who You Gonna Call?
Aug. 4, 2017

Act Two: A Road By Any Other Name

Reporter Aaron Reiss found a woman that an entire community calls, in order to find out the names of the very streets they're walking on.

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

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