True stories that follow the plotline of the old kid's song "The Cat Came Back." It's the simplest plot in the world: Something you thought was gone forever keeps returning, against all odds.
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Prologue
Host Ira Glass talks with producer Alex Blumberg and his parents about a bad dog they once had, and how nothing—not getting hit by cars, attacked by bigger dogs, or being shipped off to live on a farm—could stop this dog from coming home. "The Cat Came Back" is sung by Nedelle Torrisi. (11 minutes)
Act One
Promise Keeper Cat
Dan Savage made a pledge over a decade ago that he hoped would just vanish. But it somehow returns from oblivion. Dan's latest book is The Commitment. (13 minutes)
Act Two
Political Cat
Ira talks about a specter who haunts the floor of the United States Senate and won't go away, who keeps showing up on TV and making speeches. That ghostly figure? John Kerry. Ira says seeing him on these days is kind of like bumping into someone you used to date. It's over; it didn't work out, and you don't want to see them anymore. (8 minutes)
Act Three
Baby Cat
Michael Beaumier tells a story about a family member who keeps vanishing and returning. This is an excerpt from Michael's book I Know You're Out There. (17 minutes)
Song:
“The Cat Came Back” by Mike Treese and DJ Rude One
Act Four
Refugee Cat
We end this show about people and animals who return against all odds with a story about some people who fear they may not be able to return: New Orleans public housing residents whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina and now are slated for demolition by HUD. New Orleans resident Cheryl Wagner asks who should be more ashamed of themselves: The people who think that the public housing complexes in New Orleans should be torn down, or the ones who think they should stay. (7 minutes)
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