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268
June 25, 2004

My Experimental Phase

Three stories about people who decide to try out a new life—the kind of life their parents never wanted for them.

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jabbex

Prologue

How does a person who's not gay convince herself that she is for two years? Host Ira Glass talks to one of the show's contributing editors, Nancy Updike, about her two-year stint believing she was a lesbian, even though she was not attracted to women. (7 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Nancy Updike
Act One

That's Funny, You Don't Look Jewish

Chaim and Billy both lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, just blocks away from each other, in worlds that almost never collided. Chaim was a Hasidic Jew—he'd never heard pop music or watched MTV. Billy Campion, known as the rocker Vic Thrill, was the star of an underground band. Billy put Chaim, who took on the name Curly Oxide, into the band, and in just one year, he leapt from the 19th century into the 21st. David Segal, rock critic for the Washington Post, reports. (39 minutes)

By

David Segal

Song:

“CE-5” by Vic Thrill
Act Two

Miami Vices

A nice Florida girl changes high schools and takes the opportunity to try on a new personality...the slutty kind. Sascha Rothchild reads from her own teenage diary. Her story was first recorded for Mortified, a stage show in Los Angeles produced by David Nadelberg. Its website: getmortified.com. (8 minutes)

By

Sascha Rothchild

Related

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378: This I Used to Believe
Apr. 17, 2009

Act Two: Team Spirit In The Sky

This past Christmas a story swept the internet about a football coach at a Christian high school in Texas who inspired his team's fans to root for the opposition: A team from the local juvenile correctional facility.
244: MacGyver
Aug. 15, 2003

Act Four: A Girl's Guide To Mending The Unmendable

Susan Burton tells the story of how she used a clever scheme to get over a broken heart.
588: Mind Games
June 3, 2016

Act Three: Lonely Hearts Club Band...Of One

Musician David Berkeley has gotten a lot of requests in his life, but none quite like the offer his agent got last year.

Staff Recommendations

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562
July 31, 2015

The Problem We All Live With - Part One

There’s one thing that has been proven to cut the achievement gap between black and white students by half: integration.

563
Aug. 7, 2015

The Problem We All Live With - Part Two

A city goes all out to integrate its schools.

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