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157
April 14, 2000

Secret Life of Daytime

All those people you see in the middle of the workday, in coffee shops and bookstores? Who are they? Why aren't they at work?
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Mario Habenbacher

Prologue

Host Ira Glass stands at the corner of Diversey and Broadway in Chicago and describes all the people who are out at 3:00 on a weekday. (4 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Why Aren't You At Work?

All those people you see in the middle of the workday, in coffee shops and bookstores? Who are they? Why aren't they at work? Reporter George Gurley tackled these tough questions. On four separate days, he interviewed these loafers in New York. (11 minutes)

By

George Gurley
Act Two

In A World Full Of Soybeans, The Men Turn To Love

At one grain elevator on the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska, during the slow months, the five burly men who load corn, soybeans, wheat and milo onto trains spend their work hours watching soap operas. Meghan Daum gets them to explain what they like about the Young and the Restless. (11 minutes)

Song:

“Nice Work if You Can Get It” by Billie Holiday
Act Three

The Geography Of Childhood

In the early 1970s, a geographer named Roger Hart did a study of exactly where it is that children go during the daytime. For two years, he followed 86 children—all the children in a small town in Vermont, during the hours when parents were away at work. In this rural setting, nearly every child had a secret hiding place somewhere. He explains what the places were, and why nearly every child in town had the compulsion to make a secret place. He published his findings in a book called Children's Experience of Place, which is now out of print. (5 minutes)
Act Four

Invisible Man

A postman explains how it is that he can be so much a part of the scenery that people commit crimes in front of him, on quiet daytime streets, as if he's not there. This American Life producer Alex Blumberg spent a day with postman on Chicago's west side, to find out what he sees...and who sees him...and who doesn't see him, even though he's right there. (10 minutes)

Song:

“Whoopie-Ti-Yi-Yo” by Sons of the Pioneers
Act Five

$82.50 A Day.

Writer Mona Simpson reads from her forthcoming novel My Hollywood. This excerpt is about the daytime life of Filipino nannies, during the hours in which they run the lovely homes of certain Los Angeles neighborhoods.

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Act Two: His Partner Drops a Dime

Joshuah Bearman's story continues.
191: I Know What You Did This Summer
Aug. 17, 2001

Act Three: You Can Have Your Cave And Eat It Too

Sarah Vowell brings us the story of a national dispute involving Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, a sandwich, park rangers, scientists, and the United States Congress.

Staff Recommendations

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Josh's family didn't play much of a role in his daily life—until duty called, and they took over his life.

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Nov. 12, 2010

Petty Tyrant

The rise and fall of a school maintenance man in Schenectady, New York who terrorized his staff and got away with it for decades.

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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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