Anonymous
01/19/2025 20:19
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
The ep about college counselors helping inner city kids get full ride scholarships to really good schools. I want to say one girl was going to Williams for free and she quit or transferred out to go to a junior college nursing program to be back with her high school boyfriend!
Another male they featured quickly flunked out and was kicked out of college. But he still went back to his dorm after winter break and it sounded like they had him trespassed from campus. Going for free to an elite college and he said he didn’t bother going to class or buying books. He said he didn’t realize they had actually kicked him out. Crazy. He had a ex girlfriend from the same high school who also got a full ride to college but she took it seriously and graduated.
Another male they featured quickly flunked out and was kicked out of college. But he still went back to his dorm after winter break and it sounded like they had him trespassed from campus. Going for free to an elite college and he said he didn’t bother going to class or buying books. He said he didn’t realize they had actually kicked him out. Crazy. He had a ex girlfriend from the same high school who also got a full ride to college but she took it seriously and graduated.
Anonymous
01/19/2025 20:14
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
The alleged smartest kids at a poor high school kids visiting peers at ritzy $60k yr Fieldston (?) day school, which is I think where Seinfeld sent his kids.
Anyways, the poor kids said they felt like zoo animals. And then the producer looks them up like 10 years later and the alleged smartest poor girl was working at Whole Foods and she said she wasn’t smart, she was just the “smartest” at a low achieving high school full of dumb kids, basically.
Anyways, the poor kids said they felt like zoo animals. And then the producer looks them up like 10 years later and the alleged smartest poor girl was working at Whole Foods and she said she wasn’t smart, she was just the “smartest” at a low achieving high school full of dumb kids, basically.
Anonymous
01/18/2025 23:02
Subject: Re:This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:The one about coincidences was really good.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/489/no-coincidence-no-story
I really liked this. Thanks for the rec.
Anonymous
12/27/2024 22:23
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:Jews for Jesus, for Just One Day. A very Jewish family decides to make Christmas for a Christian neighbor. (Second story in the linked episode.)
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/787/babys-first-christmas/act-two-9
This one is so good!
Anonymous
12/26/2024 07:53
Subject: Re:This American Life: best episodes?
The one about coincidences was really good.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/489/no-coincidence-no-story
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/489/no-coincidence-no-story
Anonymous
12/26/2024 05:00
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
I loved this one about fighting a bill with phone company MCI.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/253/the-middle-of-nowhere/act-two-0
On hold no-one can hear you scream.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/253/the-middle-of-nowhere/act-two-0
On hold no-one can hear you scream.
Anonymous
12/25/2024 17:14
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:Jews for Jesus, for Just One Day. A very Jewish family decides to make Christmas for a Christian neighbor. (Second story in the linked episode.)
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/787/babys-first-christmas/act-two-9
This is part of a larger show called Just for Us that was on Broadway, but I think the TAL version is better. I played it for a group of Jewish high school students and the discussion we had afterwards was one of the best I've ever had in years working with teens.
Anonymous
12/25/2024 17:10
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:The feather heist, which is insane.
One of the best. I recently got my college-age daughter to listen to it and she ended up doing down a rabbit hole about the whole world of feather collecting after hearing it.
Anonymous
12/25/2024 16:51
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:The interstitial by the Christian Dad explaining what happened when he introduced his 4 yo to the story of why there is an MLK holiday. Gets me in the throat every time.
“Kid Logic,” starts at 13 mins in.
Also the part of that episode about the kid who started hating babies after seeing The Lion King because her dad was dying.
Anonymous
12/24/2024 21:15
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anything appropriate for tweens?
TAL is a staple for our car drives up and down the east coast. Our children have listened to almost all of them. [/quote
Middle school dance.
Anonymous
12/24/2024 21:12
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
The interstitial by the Christian Dad explaining what happened when he introduced his 4 yo to the story of why there is an MLK holiday. Gets me in the throat every time.
“Kid Logic,” starts at 13 mins in.
“Kid Logic,” starts at 13 mins in.
Anonymous
12/24/2024 16:37
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
Jews for Jesus, for Just One Day. A very Jewish family decides to make Christmas for a Christian neighbor. (Second story in the linked episode.)
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/787/babys-first-christmas/act-two-9
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/787/babys-first-christmas/act-two-9
Anonymous
12/20/2024 22:17
Subject: Re:This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:Anatomy of Doubt. It won a Peabody award. Some parts were hard to listen to, but it was very good.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/581/anatomy-of-doubt
This story was also made into a series on Netflix, Unbelievable. It is also really good.
Anonymous
12/20/2024 21:32
Subject: This American Life: best episodes?
Anonymous wrote:The month at the car dealership.
I don't listen to a ton of TAL but happened to hear this one and it was unforgettable.