Stories from acclaimed storyteller Spalding Gray and others.
Ski Lesson
An excerpt from Spalding Gray's monologue It's a Slippery Slope. Gray has been called "America's premiere storyteller." His monologue Swimming To Cambodia was made into a feature film. This story is about finding the zen of skiing. Note that this piece is not included in the streaming audio version of this show. (16 minutes)
Swimming Lesson
Scott Carrier's wife and mother-in-law insist that Scott's three-and-a-half year old daughter enroll in swimming classes. This story was produced by Jay Allison. (10 minutes)
Shooting Lesson
Kitty Felde explores the mystic link between boys and guns when her cousin's husband, a liberal in Berkeley, gives her lessons in his newest toy: a gun that shoots potatoes 450 feet in the air. The "spud gun" has a special property: Any man who sees it instantly wants one. (10 minutes)
Found Tape
Excerpts from lessons found on old record, especially a Helen Gurley Brown disc called How to Love a Man, which instructs men on how to have an affair. (8 minutes)
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Act Two: Sunrise, Sun-Get
Mark Oppenheimer reports on agunah in the Orthodox Jewish community.
Act Three: Leased Volvo Sedan
Jay Allison and his 12-year-old daughter discuss what radio station to listen to.
Act One
Former Harpers magazine editor and TAL contributor Jack Hitt wrote an editorial about Susan Smith, who murdered her two children in South Carolina.
Staff Recommendations
Arms Trader (2009)
The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man suspected of being an illegal arms dealer.
Abdi and the Golden Ticket
A story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American.