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2
November 24, 1995

Small Scale Sin

Small-scale stories on the nature of small-scale sin.

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  • Transcript
T.W. Collins

Prologue

Three teenage boys—going under the pseudonyms "K-Rad", "Mr. Warez", and "Fred"—spill their guts about their forays into low-level credit card hacking and computer fraud. Along the way, they talk about the nature of Hell and where they draw the line on their sins. (16 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Act One

The Golden Peacock. Playwright Jeff Dorchen creates an original radio play inspired by the musings of the three boys in the previous story. (10 minutes)

By

Jeff Dorchen
Act Two

Act Two

Poet Michael Warr talks with Ira and reads some of his poems inspired by his childhood. Warr grew up as a Jehovah's Witness and found that he had some problems with the religion's rules. He is the author of several books of poetry. (8 minutes)

Act Three

Act Three

In the 1990s, Eli was a member of MOD, one of the most infamous and accomplished computer hacking groups in history. He was eventually arrested and served time in a minimum-security prison and home confinement. It turns out that the very sins he committed that led him to serve time were more in demand in prison than they ever were on the outside. (26 minutes)

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Act Three: Smell

A story about a device that charts the world through smell — and only smell. TAL producer Nancy Updike visits Cyrano Sciences in Pasadena, California, where researchers are creating an electronic nose.

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