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.
Related
If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
Act Three: Giving Up The Ghosts
Writer Shalom Auslander reads his short story about how he decided to start forgetting the dead, even though his job required him to remember.
Act One: Where The People Walk Around Upside Down
More stories from Wen Huang that contradict what you think you know about the 1989 student uprising in China.
Act Three: Rosie’s Paradox
One night Rosie’s father, busy working, told Rosie, then 9, to stop distracting him with her questions.
Staff Recommendations
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.
Mapping
The world redrawn by the five senses.
