Stories about people who were told that they're different. Some of them were comfortable with it. Some didn't understand it. And some understood, but didn't like it.
-
Download Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
- Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
- Transcript
Prologue
Host Ira Glass talks with a bunch of special ed students. By and large, they thought of themselves as regular kids—until each experienced a shocking moment of revelation when they discovered that they were not the same as other kids, and that the other kids already knew that...and had known for a long time. (5 minutes)
Act One
Get On The Mic
Ira interviews three of the people involved in making the documentary How's Your News?, about a team of developmentally disabled people who travel across the country doing man-on-the-street interviews. He talks to two of the developmentally disabled reporters, Susan Harrington and Joe Simon, and to the film's non-disabled director, Arthur Bradford. Songs are sung.
Funny, endearing clips from the film are played. In 2009, How's Your News became a TV series on MTV. In 2010, Ron Simonsen passed away after a long
battle with Leukemia. Before he died, Ronnie realized his dream of meeting —
and befriending — actor Chad Everett. (19 minutes)
Song:
“The Grand Canyon” by Susan Harrington
Act Two
Black Hole Son
We hear from a mother and her son. By age seven, he'd had heart failure and been diagnosed as bipolar. And then — after a period as the world's youngest Stephen Hawking fan — he got better. (15 minutes)
Act Three
Walkout
Veronica Chater tells the story of her developmentally disabled brother Vincent, who one day quit his job and then quit everything else, mystifying everyone in his life. Veronica is author of the memoir Waiting for the Apocalypse. (16 minutes)
Song:
“9 to 5” by The Hammond State School Performers Group
Related
If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
Act Three: The Lessons Of Tomorrow, Today
For all the discussion in Congress about withdrawing troops, there seems to be very little serious discussion about why, about what'll happen to Iraq once we leave, about responsible ways to withdraw.
Act One: Two Possibilities, Both Bad
When Gene Cheek was ten years old, his mother began dating a black man.
Act Two: Fists And Guns
Geoffrey Canada, author of the book Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America, talks about what it's like to carry a gun. He also talks about what poor neighborhoods in New York were like before the proliferation of handguns among young people. When he grew up in the South Bronx, kids had fistfights in a very formal arrangement with formal rules that everyone lived by.
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.
Our Friend David
Favorite stories by our longtime contributor and friend David Rakoff.