They mean something, whether we want them to or not.
-
Download Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
- Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
- Transcript
Pilgrim's Progress
Sarah Vowell takes over the family Thanksgiving dinner by bringing everyone to New York. What results is a series of milestones and family firsts. Everyone in the family is the kind of person who prefers to be alone, so the very thing that binds them together as a family actually makes it hard for them to spend time together. (14 minutes)
Kodak Moments Of The Dead
The story of Tyler Cassity and how he's trying to remake one of our oldest rituals of commemoration.
Tyler is one of the owners of a cemetery called Hollywood Forever, and he's been introducing 20th century technology to American funerals, which haven't changed much since the Civil War. At Hollywood Forever, the cost of a burial includes a video of your life: to be shown at your funeral, to be viewable at kiosks on the cemetery grounds, and to be posted—for eternity—online. (16 minutes)
Happy Birthday to Us
Fresh Air host Terry Gross offers her congratulations and some words of wisdom to This American Life to help commemorate the show's fifth anniversary. (2 minutes)
Birthday Present
Related
Act Four: May Be Hazardous To Children
Act Four: Hollywood-Induced Nightmare
Act Three: Adventures At Poo Corner
Staff Recommendations
What Happened at Dos Erres
A Guatemalan immigrant living near Boston gets a phone call with some very strange news about his past.
Simulated Worlds
Civil War reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle, and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America.