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44: Poultry Slam 1996
Nov. 29, 1996

Act One: Duki

When Danielle's family serves poultry at their dinner table, no one utters the word "chicken." Instead, it is always called "fish." Danielle explains why with the help of her friend "Duki." (16 minutes)

Act Two: Television Man

Campaign diarist Michael Lewis, on his transformation into a television reporter, and on an inspiring moment in American politics between two supposed political enemies from the 1960's.MIT Professor Henry Jenkins, on how candidates today campaign on cable and govern on the networks. (19 minutes)
19: Rich Guys
Apr. 12, 1996

Act One: The Grizz

Corporate CEO Maurice "Morry" Taylor, Jr. was a Republican candidate for President, and he never had a chance to win the nomination. That didn't stop political reporter and author Michael Lewis from covering Morry's bizarre campaign.
9: Julia Sweeney
Jan. 10, 1996

Act Two: Julia Gets Cancer

In the second half of the show, she talks about her own cancer — cervical cancer that was diagnosed six months after her brother got sick. Julia eventually turned some of these vignettes into a one-woman show called God Said, Ha!, which Quentin Tarantino made into a movie and Julia released as a book.
42: Get Over It!
Nov. 15, 1996

Act Three: Finding Amnesia

Who among us has not wanted amnesia to help get over someone or something? But the problem with amnesia is that it happens a lot more in TV shows and movies and novels than it does in real life. We send reporter Scott Carrier to find someone who really has had amnesia.
14: Accidental Documentaries
Feb. 21, 1996

Act Three: Chicago

Nora Moreno with tapes of her father, a pioneer in Spanish-language broadcasting in America. Her mother fell in love with her father because of his poetic character on the radio, but in real life, the very things that attracted her to him over the radio drove them apart.
47: Christmas and Commerce
Dec. 20, 1996

Act Two: Santaland Diaries

Writer David Sedaris's true account of two Christmas seasons he spent working as an elf at Macy's department store in New York.  When a shorter version of this story first aired on NPR's Morning Edition, it generated more tape requests than any story in the show's history to that point.
24: Teenaged Girls
May 24, 1996

Act One: Texas Girl

Jo Carol Pierce released a CD, "Bad Girls Upset by the Truth," which documents in part her teenage years. Host Ira Glass shares a couple of songs from the CD and some of the stories behind them.