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162
June 23, 2000

Moving

Stories of people who did not want to move but circumstance forced their hands, and so they tried to move without really moving.
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Randy Reichardt

Prologue

Ben Schrank describes what it's like to work as a professional mover. He says that people often go sort of nuts when they see all their worldly possessions—all the stuff that defines them as people—packed into a van. It's a humbling experience for people, and just one of the reasons people hate to move. The other reasons: It's hard starting in a new place; it's dreadful leaving an old place; and the process of moving itself is a hardship. So today...we have stories of people who were forced to move—but who did not want to and tried to thwart it. (5 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Sleeping In Mommy And Daddy's Room

This is a story of people wanting to change and not wanting to change at all. A Minnesota family builds the same 1970s-era suburban house three times, and moves it once, just so they don't have to live in a house that's different than the house that contains all their memories. Susan Burton reports. (22 minutes)

By

Susan Burton

Song:

“You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To” by The Al Cohn and Zoot Sims Quintet
Act Two

Deal Of A Lifetime

Sarah Koenig tells the story of how her stepsister Rue bought a house and moved in—but the former owner did not move out. And won't move out, until he dies. (16 minutes)

By

Sarah Koenig

Song:

“Love Nest” by Hi Los
Act Three

To A De-luxe Apartment In The Sky

Producer Blue Chevigny used to have a job that was all about Moving Day—and people who didn't want to move. She worked for an agency in New York called Project Reachout, part of Goddard Riverside Community Center, that moved homeless, mentally ill people into their own homes. She tells the story of one of her favorite clients, George, and how it took him eight years to get off the streets and into his own place. Blue records his moving day. (12 minutes)

By

Blue Chevigny

Related

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Act Five: Water Bed

Louann Mims, a 78-year-old retiree, planned to leave her New Orleans house before the floodwaters rose, but then the water came rushing in and she was trapped in her house for eight days on the only thing that would float: her extra firm Sterns and Foster mattress.
756: But I Did Everything Right
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Act Three: Bought the Farm

Senior editor David Kestenbaum helps his kids set up an ant farm.
214: Family Physics
May 31, 2002

Act One: Occam's Razor

In Los Angeles, Cris Beam reports on a family named the Paladinos that had a theory that explained their lives.

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This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.

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