We use cookies and other tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. If you continue to use our site, you agree to the use of such cookies. For more info, see our privacy policy.
Skip to main content

Hi. We love you. Be our Life Partner.

Support the show to get ad-free listening, bonus content, and our new Greatest Hits Archive.

Learn more
This American Life Partners logo
00:00
00:00
  • Transcript
  • Share
This American Life
  • Life Partners
  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Follow Us
  • Life Partners
481
December 7, 2012

This Week

This week we take on ... this week. Stories united by one thing: They all happened in the seven days prior to broadcast. We try our hand reporting the global stories in Egypt and Afghanistan; and take on super local stories, too, like a man who tries valiantly — valiantly! — to actually get out of bed when his alarm clock goes off. 

  • Download
    Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
  • Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
  • Transcript
Hyder Akbar’s car after he was ambushed in Kunar Province.
Episode Extra

This Week on Instagram

We sifted through thousands of images on Instagram and chose a selection of events, big and small, that people captured over the course of this week.

Prologue

A 17-year-old Ethiopian girl who is just learning English goes with her teacher to face her fears head-on: She orders tea in a local coffee shop. A woman in America talks to Ira about her husband, in Syria, who is currently negotiating with kidnappers for the release of two of his employees. In Doha, Qatar, the lead negotiator for the Philippines at the United Nations Climate Change Conference implores world governments to take action now. The Missoula Community Theater puts on a special performance of their Christmas musical, adapted to an audience of people on the autism spectrum. A group of 10 year-old girls in Charlottesville, Virginia, talk smack while competing in a local step competition. And a man on the Airtrain at Newark Airport gets ready to meet his newly-discovered half-brother. (11 minutes)

Act One

Kabul, Afghanistan

This American Life contributor Hyder Akbar heads into Kunar Province in Eastern Afghanistan to report back on life there this week. Things look good until he gets ambushed, shot at and his car catches on fire on his way back home. (15 minutes)

Song:

“Mind Playing Tricks on Me” by Geto Boys
Act Two

Tucson, Arizona

Lisa Pollak goes to the Enchanted Snowfall at La Encantada Mall, where the snow is "98 percent magic; 2 percent soap." (4 minutes)

By

Lisa Pollak
Act Three

Washington, D.C.

Ira asks Washington-insider Norman Ornstein if we actually need to be paying attention to all of the Fiscal Cliff political news. Or can it wait until next week? Ornstein is the author of the book It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism. (3 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act Four

New Orleans, LA

A group called NO/AIDS heads into bars to offer free HIV testing for high-risk people. Writer Nathaniel Rich tells the story of one man's test. Nathaniel is the author of the forthcoming book Odds Against Tomorrow. (6 minutes)

Act Five

Cairo, Egypt

It's been a tumultuous week of protests and demonstrations in Egypt. Nancy Updike talks to two Egyptian men whose ideologies are completely opposite, except one thing unites them: Their anger at the United States. (6 minutes)

By

Nancy Updike
Act Six

Boston, Logan Airport; Chicago, IL; Springfield, OR

We hear from the people in the land of the non-working: Fred Beaton on his last shift driving a shuttle bus at Logan Airport before he retires; Linc Cohen and Sandi Weisenberg talk about what chores get done once retirement begins; and Angela Jane Evancie tries to get her boyfriend, Morgan Peach, to stop relaxing quite so much. (5 minutes)

Song:

“Lover to Lover” by Florence and The Machine

Related

If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
148: The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Suit
Dec. 24, 1999

Act Four: Santa In Handcuffs, Prometheus In Chains

What if do-gooders patrolled department stores, keeping tabs on the Santas? We hear this story, of The Most Fantastic Crimefighter The World Has Ever Known: Chickenman.
418: Toxie
Nov. 5, 2010

Act Five: Toxie In a Coma. I Know. It's Serious.

David and Chana's toxic asset, which has acquired the nickname Toxie, gets sick.
370: Ruining It for the Rest of Us
Dec. 19, 2008

Act One: Shots In The Dark

Measles cases are higher in the U.S. than they've been in a decade, mostly because more and more nervous parents are refusing to vaccinate their kids.

Staff Recommendations

View all
472
Aug. 17, 2012

Our Friend David

Favorite stories by our longtime contributor and friend David Rakoff.

261
Mar. 26, 2004

The Sanctity of Marriage

A generation of researchers has revolutionized the way we see marriage.

This American Life

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

  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Contact
  • Life Partners
  • Serial
  • S-Town
© 1995 - 2025 This American Life Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Subscribe

  • on Spotify
  • in Apple Podcasts

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email