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406
April 23, 2010

True Urban Legends 

Can a rat crawl through your plumbing and end up in your toilet? Can your cell phone give you a brain tumor?

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  • Transcript
A New York City manhole cover on the same block in East Harlem where, in 1935, a group of teenaged boys found something most New Yorkers assume is just a myth: An alligator in the sewer.

Prologue

Host Ira Glass investigates two urban legends—alligators in the sewer, rats in the toilet—to find out if they're true. (7 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

What's That Smell?

A retired millionaire tries to understand the reality of a tough, seedy, inner city neighborhood. But what if the neighborhood is none of those things? Ira Glass evaluates the claims of this millionaire, Steve Poizner, who is also running for governor of California. (18 minutes)

Download a transcript or read much more information about this story. Read an interview with Ira Glass in Mt. Pleasant’s literary magazine, the Cardinal Quill.

By

Ira Glass

Song:

“Gangsta's Paradise” by Coolio
Act Extra

Steve Poizner's Wild Ride to Number Five

Act Two

Fleeing is Believing

Foreigners arrive in the United States believing all kinds of misinformation about us...misinformation that turns out to be true. Mary Wiltenburg tells the story. (10 minutes)

By

Mary Wiltenburg

Song:

“Banking on a Myth” by Andrew Bird
Act Three

Sleeper Cell

Do cell phones give people brain tumors? Ira speaks with Christopher Ketcham, who wrote an article on this subject for GQ magazine. (12 minutes)

Another article on the subject appears in the current issue of Harper's Magazine.

By

Ira Glass

Song:

“Truth Is” by Brother Ali

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This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.

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