San Francisco’s Spider-Man burglar was remarkable. He dropped into buildings from skylights, leapt 10 feet from one roof to another. But mostly, his talent got him into trouble. This week, his story, and stories of other undesirable talents.
Prologue
Ira talks to Biba Struja – a Serbian man who says that when he was in high school, he discovered that he seemed to have a high resistance to electricity. It’s a power that he’s utilized, but is mostly a curse. Biba is the subject of the documentary Battery Man. (5 minutes)
Climb Spree
Uganda Be Kidding Me
Disbarred
Wendy Whelan was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet until 2014. She explains an undesirable side of having an incredible talent. If you’re an athlete or dancer, you have to give it up while you’re still pretty young. This is an excerpt of a documentary called A Dancer Dies Twice, produced by Eleanor Mcdowall. It was originally a Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio Four.
Related
Act Three: When We Were Animals
Act Three: There Owes the Neighborhood
Act Two: Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 2009
Staff Recommendations
One Last Thing Before I Go (2016)
Ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones.
The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar
In 1912, a four-year-old boy went missing in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found. But two grief-stricken mothers both claimed the same boy as their own.