For our 400th show, we try something harder than anything we've ever tried in the previous 399. We take the random ideas that members of our own families have told us at weddings and family gatherings would be "perfect for the show"...and we actually try to make those ideas into stories.
Seth Lind
We Have a Winner!
Thank you to the 13,000 listeners who voted for their favorite stories.
Prologue
Host Ira Glass talks to his dad and stepmom about a story his dad thought might be good for the radio, concerning a mishap with a lost suit on a train. Ira then gathers the This American Life producers in their conference room, and announces a contest: Whoever makes the best story out of their parents' pitches wins. At the end of the show we announce the staff favorite. But what do we know? (7 minutes.)
Nancy's Dad's Story
The Erie Canal. (6 minutes.)
Alex's Dad's Story
Corporate Personhood. (6 minutes)
In the broadcast, we interrupt Alex's story in the middle. Listen to the whole thing.
Alissa's Mom And Sarah's Mom
Two short ideas that didn't work out so well as full stories. (3 minutes.)
All the songs in this episode prompted Senior Producer Julie Snyder to sing the unofficial This American Life jingle.
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Rebecca was 16 years old when her mother Elizabeth died of cancer.
Act One: Straight Eyes On The Quirin Guys
Chris Neary tells the story of how a bungled Nazi sabotage operation from the early days of World War II has become the legal foundation for the Bush administration's current push to try U.S. citizens in military tribunals.
Act Three: When Worlds Collide
John Perry Barlow, a founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and former rancher and Grateful Dead lyricist, on an experience that began at the boundary of two conventions.
Staff Recommendations
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There’s one thing that has been proven to cut the achievement gap between black and white students by half: integration.
Simulated Worlds
Civil War reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle, and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America.