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439
June 24, 2011

A House Divided

m Including one story about nine public officials whose constituents are trying to throw them out of office, and another story about a man's very physical battle with himself.

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Prologue

A few years back, when he and his family were driving home from a vacation in Texas, John Nova Lomax realized that the police were aggressively tailing him. And he was definitely not prepared for the reason they pulled him over. John is a writer for the Houston Press, and has a book called Houston's Best Dive Bars. (6 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

War of Northern Aggression

Producer Ben Calhoun heads to his home state of Wisconsin, a place currently turned against itself in the form of Senate recall elections. Ben found that the old way of doing politics in Wisconsin has been flipped completely upside down. (25 minutes)

By

Ben Calhoun

Song:

“The One on the Right Is on the Left” by Johnny Cash
Act Two

Split a Gut

One night on stage, comedian Julian McCullough had an intense pain in his stomach, which he assumed was food poisoning. But it turned out to be a much more serious internal battle. Julian's story was recorded at Told, a storytelling show in New York City hosted by our production manager Seth Lind, presented by Horse Trade Theater Group. (11 minutes)

Song:

“I Get Along Without You Very Well” by Chet Baker
Act Three

Don't Make Me Separate You

Jeanne Darst was 16 when her parents split up. But it turned out they just weren't too skilled at the whole divorce thing. A version of this story is included in Jeanne's forthcoming book Fiction Ruined My Family.

By

Jeanne Darst

Song:

“Dysfunctional” by Honeycut

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