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196
October 5, 2001

Rashomon

In the movie Rashomon, one story is told from four different points of view. The story changes dramatically depending on who's telling it. This week, the events of September 11th, and how their meaning changes depending on who you talk to.

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Prologue

Larry Keeley explains why the Pentagon wants to see things from another perspective...and how hard that is to do. (7 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

1001 Arabian Nightly Newscasts

Producer Julie Snyder reports on a Palestinian teenager from Chicago who explains why everything you think you know about the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks is wrong. (17 minutes)

By

Julie Snyder

Song:

“Satellite of Love” by Lou Reed
Act Two

Bombs Over Baghdad

We hear the story of the Persian Gulf war, as told by Issam Shukri, a family man from Bagdad who was drafted into Saddam's army against his will. He had to explain to his three-year-old son why those usually civilized Americans were bombing their city night after night. (14 minutes)

By

Issam Shukri
Act Three

Toto, I Don't Think We're In Vietnam Anymore

U.S. special operations forces will lead the first part of the coming war we're all bracing for. We hear how a simple half-hour mission turned into a bloody all-day battle in one of the last times special operations forces went out: in 1993, in Somalia. Alex Blumberg interviews Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, an account of the battle. (17 minutes)

By

Alex Blumberg

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Act Four: Runaway Mom

In Seattle, Dan Savage and his boyfriend adopted a son, DJ.
79: Stuck in the Wrong Decade
Oct. 10, 1997

Working In Another Decade [Retracted]

This episode originally included a story by reporter Stephen Glass (no relation to Ira) about an internship at George Washington's former plantation, which we have removed because of questions about its truthfulness.

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We go to the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans to talk to residents about what matters most to them ten years after the hurricane.

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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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