This American Life: “Life After Death”
Recently I ran a series on NPR & Storytelling, noting how there are fantastic resources available there for writers. I kicked that off with perhaps the best storytelling radio show of all This American Life.
This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 1.7 million listeners. It is produced by Chicago Public Media, distributed by Public Radio International, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards. It is also often the most popular podcast in the country, with more than a half million people downloading each week. From 2006–2008, we produced a television version of This American Life on the Showtime network, which won three Emmys. We’re also the co-producers, with NPR News, of the economics podcast and blog Planet Money. And a half dozen stories from the radio show are being developed into films.
Last week’s episode of This American Life is incredible. With the theme “Life After Death,” each story is completely riveting:
Prologue.
One day at church camp, David Maxon challenged the devil to show himself. Just then, a huge thunderstorm started, and David felt sure the devil was behind it. So when the thunderstorm led to two campers getting killed, David couldn’t help but blame himself. Twenty years later, host Ira Glass talks to David about being innocent but feeling guilty. (9 1/2 minutes)
Act One. Guilty As Not Charged.
Everyone told Darin Strauss that there would have been no way to avoid hitting the bicyclist who swerved into the path of his car. When the girl died, the police said Darin wasn’t at fault. He tells what it’s like to live with being the accidental cause of someone’s death. Darin also tells this story in his new book Half a Life. (23 minutes)
Act Two. Soldier Of Misfortune.
When John came back from fighting in Iraq, he refused to leave his house. He was paranoid. He had violent nightmares — the same ones every night. Unlike a lot of vets, John got treatment. His doctor at the Veterans Affairs hospital felt optimistic about his case. And then John attacked his fiancée and her mother. Chris Neary tells the story of one veteran’s struggle to return to being the person he was before the war. (21 minutes)
I’m definitely going to include one of these when I run “A Story Idea Each Day for a Month” series next April.
To listen to the podcast, go here.