The pleasure of being in a rampaging, angry mob...and the terror of being in a rampaging, angry mob.
-
Download Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
- Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
- Transcript
Prologue
There's a TV ad so popular in Canada right now that people chant it in bars, stand and cheer it in theaters and at hockey stadiums. The ad taps into our desire to be part of a mob...and provides a safe way to do it, without fear. Host Ira Glass talks with the vice president for marketing for Molson's beer, which made the ad. (4 minutes)
Act One
Among The Thugs
Writer Bill Buford reads from his book Among the Thugs. In it he sets out to try and understand the soccer hooligans who were rioting in ways large and small on a regular basis after soccer matches. It's a remarkable book—in turns funny, and then horrifying. By the time Buford's done, you understand that the thrill of being in a violent mob is as hardwired into us, as basic to us as a species, as the ability to love. (18 minutes)
Act Two
One Tin Soldier Rides Away
What happens when seventh graders become an angry mob? Karen Bernstein reports on her own seventh grade class from small-town Connecticut. In 1973, a teacher turned them into an angry mob, an event they all remember decades later. She tracks down her classmates...and the teacher. (20 minutes)
Act Three
The Hissing Of Winter Lawns
What happens when a crowd converges over something they strongly believe in, for weeks, and months, in front of television cameras that never go away? To what degree does that change the character of being in a crowd? A few days before Elian Gonzalez was seized by Federal authorities, reporter Alix Spiegel went to the lawn of his home, where activists camped out 24 hours a day. (14 minutes)
Related
If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
Act Five: Waiting For The End Of The World
We end our show with a story of city life and the natural world co-existing peacefully.
Act Two: Meanwhile, In America
Host Ira Glass spent America’s presidential election in the swing state of Michigan, where he found very little dispute over the ballot count from Republican poll challengers in Detroit now that they are doing the counting themselves. (8 minutes)
Act Two: Mike's Account
Host Ira Glass has a lot of questions for Mike Daisey, beginning with why Daisey lied to Ira and This American Life producer Brian Reed about how they could fact-check his story with Cathy Lee.
Staff Recommendations
Mapping
The world redrawn by the five senses.
The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar
In 1912, a four-year-old boy went missing in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found. But two grief-stricken mothers both claimed the same boy as their own.