The pleasure of being in a rampaging, angry mob...and the terror of being in a rampaging, angry mob.
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Prologue
There's a TV ad so popular in Canada right now that people chant it in bars, stand and cheer it in theaters and at hockey stadiums. The ad taps into our desire to be part of a mob...and provides a safe way to do it, without fear. Host Ira Glass talks with the vice president for marketing for Molson's beer, which made the ad. (4 minutes)
Act One
Among The Thugs
Writer Bill Buford reads from his book Among the Thugs. In it he sets out to try and understand the soccer hooligans who were rioting in ways large and small on a regular basis after soccer matches. It's a remarkable book—in turns funny, and then horrifying. By the time Buford's done, you understand that the thrill of being in a violent mob is as hardwired into us, as basic to us as a species, as the ability to love. (18 minutes)
Act Two
One Tin Soldier Rides Away
What happens when seventh graders become an angry mob? Karen Bernstein reports on her own seventh grade class from small-town Connecticut. In 1973, a teacher turned them into an angry mob, an event they all remember decades later. She tracks down her classmates...and the teacher. (20 minutes)
Act Three
The Hissing Of Winter Lawns
What happens when a crowd converges over something they strongly believe in, for weeks, and months, in front of television cameras that never go away? To what degree does that change the character of being in a crowd? A few days before Elian Gonzalez was seized by Federal authorities, reporter Alix Spiegel went to the lawn of his home, where activists camped out 24 hours a day. (14 minutes)
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Act V
A group of inmates at a high-security prison stage a production of the last act of Hamlet.