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476
October 5, 2012

What Doesn’t Kill You

Stories of how people cope after brushes with death. Sometimes death comes as a disease. Sometimes it swims up and bites you. And sometimes it's a pen or pencil, sitting there, just waiting for you to ingest it.

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pneumaticpost

Prologue

Ira talks to comedian Tig Notaro, who recently had a bunch of horrible things happen to her all in the course of 4 months. (3 minutes)

By

Tig Notaro
Act One

Too Soon?

In July, Tig was diagnosed with cancer. A week later she went on stage on Los Angeles and did a now-legendary set about her string of misfortunes. This is an excerpt of the full performance, which is available on the album LIVE. (13 minutes)

By

Tig Notaro
Act Two

Just Keep Breathing

A teenage girl gets bitten by a shark, rushed to the doctor's office, stitched up, and told she'll be totally fine. Crisis averted, right? Not so much. Ira tells the story. (21 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act Three

A Real Nail Biter

Jessica Benko tells the story of a woman named Cathy who was almost killed several times by a thought that she just couldn't get rid of. (15 1/2 minutes)

By

Jessica Benko
Act Four

The Sweet Year After

Tim Kreider almost died after he was stabbed in the throat. But that wasn't nearly as interesting as the year that followed. A version of this essay appears in Tim's most recent book, We Learn Nothing. (4 minutes)

By

Tim Kreider

Song:

“Survival Song” by Andrew Jackson Jihad

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