What is it about them, our mean friends? They treat us badly, they don't call us back, they cancel plans at the last minute, and yet we come back for more. Popular bullies exist in business, politics, everywhere. How do they stay so popular?
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Return To The Scene Of The Crime
Jonathan Goldstein interrogates the girls, now grown up, who terrorized him and his classmates years ago in school—and finds they can be just as scary as ever. Jonathan Goldstein is the author of the novel Lenny Bruce is Dead. (18 minutes)
Does Niceness Pay?
In which we conduct a little scientific experiment—on tape, with hidden microphones—about whether niceness pays. We wire two waitresses with hidden microphones. They're superfriendly to half their tables; and aloof to the other half. They examine their tips to see which generates more profits. Thanks to owners Jason Hammel and Lea Tshilds and the staff at the Lula Cafe in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. (10 minutes)
Song:
And What's Going On With You?
Keeping It In The Family
An excerpt of Bernard Cooper's story about the bill he got from his own father, for the entire cost of his childhood. Actor Josh Hamilton reads. The story first appeared in Los Angeles Magazine and will be in Cooper's forthcoming book The Bill From My Father. Bernard Cooper is the author of several books, including Truth Serum: Memoirs and Guess Again: Short Stories. (19 minutes)
Related
Act Three: Lucy And The Bike Girl
Act Four: The Way To A Boy's Heart Is Through His Stomach
Act Two: The Conversation
Staff Recommendations
Act V
A group of inmates at a high-security prison stage a production of the last act of Hamlet.
Mistakes Were Made
Freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds.