Stories of kids trying to act like adults—some by choice—some because they're forced to.
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Prologue
The story of a teenagers' party among teenagers who thought of themselves as very grownup. In many ways they completely understand what a grownup party is like: Quiet conversation with lots of thoughtful nodding of heads, alcohol without excessive or loud consumption. Except there's one custom of an adult party they get completely wrong. (3 minutes)
Act One
I Was A Teenage Ambulance Driver
Mike Paterniti talks about working on a teen ambulance corps, growing up in Connecticut. (19 minutes)
Act Two
Househusband At 12
When Anh Tuan Hoang was 12 and living in Vietnam back in 1980, his cousin was scheming up a way to escape the country by boat. Anh Tuan was invited too. He wanted to go, but for reasons that had very little to do with reality and everything to do with the way a kid sees the world. (12 minutes)
Act Three
The Miseducation Of Josh Frank
This is another story of a young person making a huge, life-changing decision about his own fate while still very young. Hillary Frank tells the story, about her own little brother—and his trumpet. (11 minutes)
Act Four
Angry Young Man, Times Two
This is the story of two people—one in his late teens, one in his late fifties. Both have good reasons to be mad at the world, but what they did with their anger—and what society did with them—are very different. Willie Ross ended up as an assistant superintendent at a juvenile detention center; Terence Golden ended up imprisoned there. (10 minutes)
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Act One: Crunk In The Trunk
David Segal of the Washington Post investigates the competitive world of db drag racing ("db" stands for "decibels"), where people customize their cars with stereos so loud that they can't actually be played—or listened to—at least not without risking a nose bleed.
Act One: Once More, With Feeling
Jonathan Katz listens to old tapes of his family; then travels back to the neighborhood in Brooklyn they lived in during the 1950s, looking for evidence of what his childhood was like.
Act Four: Learning To Shut Up
Novelist Miriam Toews, author of The X Letters (which appeared in an earlier episode of the show), tells the story of a road trip she took with her 15-year-old son.
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