April 21, 2023

What I Was Thinking As We Were Sinking

It's funny the things that go through your head during a disaster.

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Transcript

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

Prologue

Host Ira Glass has fallen off his bike a number of times at this point. He reflects on what goes through his head as he’s going down. (2 minutes)

By Ira Glass

Act One

Pirates of the Cari-BEAN-TOWN

Producer Ike Sriskandarajah revisits a maritime disaster that left an impact on a group of friends from his youth. What he learns forever changes their impressions of that day. (23 minutes)

By Ike Sriskandarajah

Song:

“Ballad of the S.S. Marjorie” by Samson the Truest, Aerial East, Chances with Wolves, and Glasser. Gordon Minette on the accordion. (Original song commissioned by This American Life)

Act Two

Going Down With the Censorships

When to leave Twitter is a question lots of executives faced when Elon Musk took over the company — those who weren't immediately fired, anyway. We hear an insider’s account from the man who ran Trust & Safety at the company, until he couldn’t stand it anymore. (28 minutes)

Casey Newton makes the newsletter Platformer and co-hosts the podcast Hard Fork from The New York Times.

By Casey Newton; Produced by David Kestenbaum and Davis Land

Song:

“Fall of the S.S. Twitter” by Samson the Truest, strings and engineering by Jesse Kotansky (Original song commissioned by This American Life)

Song:

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