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794
March 24, 2023

So Close and Yet So Far

People ​so close to each other, ​in ​extremely intimate situations​,​ who are also a million miles apart.

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Madison Ketcham

Prologue

Prologue

Valerie Kipnis tells Ira about riding the subway, shoulder-to-shoulder with someone she knows quite well, pretending she doesn’t see him. (8 minutes)

By Ira Glass and Valerie Kipnis
Act One

Love and Other Exports

How much can you trust whether somebody who you think is close to you really is close to you? Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr.’s been thinking about that question since a recent visit with some of his childhood friends in Sierra Leone. (37 minutes)

By Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr.; Produced by Alix Spiegel

Song:

“Tell Me It’s Real” by K-Ci & JoJo
Act Two

Fire Sale

Comedian Tig Notaro has the story of someone as close as her actual bedside yet who, in another way, is impossibly far away. (9 minutes)

To read more about the kids stuck in the sewer, check out Jake Offenhartz’s story in Gothamist.

By Tig Notaro

Song:

“Close to You” by Potsu

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Act Two: We At The Hotel, Motel, Very Locked In

A recording of comedian Tig Notaro in the process of trying to catch up to the present and absolutely not being able to. (8 minutes)Tig’s new stand-up special, Hello Again, comes out in two weeks on Amazon.
128: Four Corners
Apr. 30, 1999

Act Four: How To Become An American

Writer Achy Obejas reads a piece of short fiction from her book, We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (11 minutes)

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