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 One: Is This War or Is This Hearts?
David Ellis Dickerson tells the story of heading home to Tucson after six years away, having rejected the evangelical Christianity of his family.
Act Two
Josh Bearman continues his story by looking at how things got so bad for his mother and David in the first place.
Act Two: Pig
A friend tells Jonathan Goldstein how a trip with a pot-bellied pig ended up revealing his character and making his girlfriend leave.
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Three Miles
What happens when of a group of public school students in the Bronx goes to visit an elite private school three miles away.
Duty Calls
Josh's family didn't play much of a role in his daily life—until duty called, and they took over his life.