It’s amazing just how much drama can take place in the mini-universe of a neighborhood. This week we bring you stories of neighbors watching out for each other, for better and worse, including a story from CBC's WireTap.
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![](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/default/files/styles/square/public/episodes/images/420.jpg?itok=gaFhwTcj)
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![](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/default/files/styles/square/public/episodes/images/420.jpg?itok=gaFhwTcj)
In one story, a mother goes to her neighbors with an incredible request—to help care for her son after she dies—and is shocked by their response. Also: One woman’s valiant effort to fight the ultimate neighborhood plague—dog poop.
Prologue
Wary Home Companions
Reporter Ruth Padawer tells the story of a woman goes to her neighbors with an incredible request—to help care for her son after she dies—and is shocked by their response. Ruth Padawer writes for the New York Times Magazine and teaches at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. (16 minutes)
Baby Steps
The story of a father who relies on the help of his neighbors in order to take his baby daughter out on a walk. Actor Daniel Beirne reads this excerpt from Ryan Knighton's book C'mon Papa: Dispatches From a Dad in the Dark (which is not yet available in the US). This story originally aired on CBC's WireTap, distributed in the U.S. by Public Radio International. It was produced by Jonathan Goldstein and Mira Burt-Wintonick with Cristal Duhaime. (9 minutes)
Witness for the Poo-secution
There Go The Neighbor Hoods
In the midst of a real estate dispute, Jim O'Grady becomes the target of an unusual neighborhood watch group. He told this story onstage at the Moth. For more Moth stories listen to The Moth Radio Hour from PRX, which airs on public radio stations across the country, or check out The Moth's free weekly podcast. Jim O'Grady is a reporter for WNYC Radio and co-author of the biography Disarmed & Dangerous: The Radical Lives and Times of Daniel and Philip Berrigan. (7 minutes)