June 2, 2000

Million Bubbles

Imagine that you could somehow look down from above, onto all the streets and avenues and country roads and highways of this nation...each car below its own tiny subculture on wheels...glass and steel worlds rolling down the street alongside each other. We hear what's going on inside some of these cars.

Download

Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
Transcript

Prologue

Host Ira Glass explains the premise of the show, and we hear what's actually going on inside five of these cars. (7 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Act One

The Number 66 Bus

Linnel Peterson drives the Number 66 bus in Chicago, on Chicago Avenue. She grew up just blocks from the route, still lives near the route, and says it's strange whenever she drives her car on Chicago Avenue these days. She sees people waiting for the bus and momentarily heads over to pick them up. (5 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Song:

“Baby Are Yeng” by Nancy Jacobs & Her Sister

Act Two

Emerald Green Peugeot

Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy, explains the travails of driving his autistic son to the park. (6 minutes)

By

Nick Hornby

Act Three

Leased Volvo Sedan

Jay Allison and his 12-year-old daughter discuss what radio station to listen to. She wants music. He wants...public radio. She sighs in exasperation. And then—on public radio—comes a defense of everything she holds dear. Sort of. This story is one of Jay Allison's Life Stories series, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (9 minutes)

By

Jay Allison

Song:

“Satisfaction” by Cat Power

Act Four

Three More Bubbles

An '88 Grand Marquis that Senator Conrad Burns inherited from his mother; a New York taxicab whose driver, Jeff Perkins, tape-records his passengers to help pass the time; a 1980s-era BMW 5 series in which film producer Rob Levine had his first job as driver and assistant to movie producer Edgar Sherrick. (5 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Act Five

1991 Silver Toyota Camry

Ernest Castle and his best friend Clarence tool around the neighborhood where they grew up—the Chicago suburb of Hazelcrest—drinking and running into friends on a Sunday morning. (9 minutes)

By

Ernest Castle

Song:

“Passenger Side” by Wilco

Act Six

Bubble Five

David Sedaris, author of Me Talk Pretty One Day, explains how the most important moments of your life can happen in a car...and you can miss them. (4 minutes)