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Full episode
97: Death to Wacky
Act Thirteen

Dr. Jeckyl And Mr. Wacky

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Sarah Vowell with Jim Nayder, host of Magnificent Obsession and The Annoying Music Show, who personifies our culture's split between seriousness and wackiness as well as anyone. (11 minutes)

By

Sarah Vowell

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667: Wartime Radio
Feb. 1, 2019

Act One: Two Dope Kings

Producer Dana Chivvis picks up the story of Dave and Chris and their show “Dopey.” (27 minutes)
646: The Secret of My Death
May 18, 2018

Act One: Dear Dealer

We begin with a woman whose sister has died.
526: Is That What I Look Like? (2014)
May 23, 2014

Act One: Blunt Force

Writer Domingo Martinez tells a story from his memoir The Boy Kings of Texas, about when he was forced to face how he might look in 20 years, if he kept doing what he was doing.

More by Sarah Vowell

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716: Trail of Tears
Sept. 4, 2020

Act One

Sarah Vowell and her twin sister, Amy, retrace the Trail of Tears. They visit the town in Georgia that was the capital of the Cherokee Nation before the Cherokee were expelled. They enjoy a tourist trap hotel in Chattanooga. They go to Ross's Landing, the embarkment point for the water route of the Trail of Tears. (27 minutes)
716: Trail of Tears
Sept. 4, 2020

Act Two

Sarah Vowell's story continues. She and Amy visit the home of President Andrew Jackson, the villain in the Trail of Tears drama. They drive west to Cherokee graves in Kentucky and a commemorative marker that's been placed, oddly, at an Arkansas high school. They head into Oklahoma, where the Cherokee settled and where they were born. Sarah talks with her oldest living relative about the Trail. And she and Amy end their trip at the place where they first heard about the Trail of Tears: an amphitheater where every summer, they saw a dramatic two hour recreation of the Trail. (23 minutes)
574: Sinatra’s 100th Birthday
Dec. 11, 2015

Act Two: One Sinatra Fan ... Versus All Of Network TV.

Before Sinatra died, Sarah Vowell appeared on this radio program and made a prediction about how network news would cover Sinatra's death ... and she made a simple plea.
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