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674
May 10, 2019

Get a Spine!

Stories of people standing up for themselves, shaking off their fear, bracing themselves, and doing what they’ve been scared to do.

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  • Transcript

Leigh Guldig

Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.

Prologue

Ira goes to a crowded singles bar where it wasn’t hard to find serial ghosters — people who kiss and disappear.  (8 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Finally

We start with someone getting up the nerve to do something that really, it would be nice to see more often — an apology. And not just any apology. Nancy Updike has this story, about the anatomy of this one particular and unusual instance of, “I’m sorry." (26 minutes)

By

Nancy Updike

A Brief Catalogue of Spines Recently Grown

We put out a call looking for people having to face something that freaked them out. Over two hundred people wrote in, facing big, life-changing moments, and some smaller ones. Here is a brief catalogue of spines recently grown across the country. These voices were collected by Diane Wu and Aviva DeKornfeld. (2 minutes)

By

Diane Wu
Aviva DeKornfeld
Act Two

Because You’re Spine, I Walk the Line

We turn to those who are truly spineless, and I mean literally, they are creatures that have no spines. Also featured in this story: the people who study them who, like us all, could sometimes use a little more spine. Producer Lilly Sullivan explains. (21 minutes)

By

Lilly Sullivan

Song:

“Human Behaviour ” by Bjork

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