Original stories from David Sedaris, Jonathan Goldstein, and others, on two animals who don't even seem like they should know each other, much less appear on the same radio show.
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Prologue
Host Ira Glass talks with Rosie Schaap about an unlikely love affair between a dog and a parrot, and how the dog betrayed the bird's trust, never to regain it. (7 minutes)
Act One
Parrot
This parrot story began as a journalism school assignment. Then, for reporters Alex Lane and Eric Holm, it became something much bigger. They tell Ira the epic tale of a rare parrot stolen by "Johnny," or John Bryant Davila as he likes to be called now, from the Central Park Zoo in 1999. They say it's the best story they've ever worked on, but after years of telling it to friends and strangers, Alex and Eric aren't always sure of where the facts stop and the embellishment begins. So they decide to go back to the main characters and find out. (22 minutes).
Act Two
Act Three
Combo Platter
David Sedaris reads a new story that explores the age-old question: Can a parrot and a pot-bellied pig find happiness in a world that only wants to pigeon-hole them? David's most recent book is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. (12 minutes)
Related
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Act One: Twas The Morning After
A Christmas poem from David Rakoff, about holidays in The Big City.
Act Three: And I Love Her
A short story, "Fatso," by Etgar Keret.
Act Three: The Moment When Humans Stopped Being Animals
Anthropologists agree that humans stopped being animals when they started walking upright, on two legs.
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