I’ll admit it: I was late to the party. I had heard about PRI’s This American Life for years, but it wasn’t until I started regularly subscribing to Podcasts that I became a regular — and utterly addicted — listener. I don’t actually have Showtime right now (yeah, yeah … it’s actually far more disturbing to me than possibly surprising to you) so I haven’t seen the recent TV show, but every weekend without fail, my little Podcast subscription downloads the current week’s This American Life to my iTunes and then it becomes regular listening to/from work.
Strangely enough, for a listener-come-lately like me, one of the coolest things about the show is that brand new episodes air only every three weeks. In the interim weeks, they replay hours from the entire history of the show. And since the only episode that is ever downloadable for free (although I believe they’re all available via streaming) is the most recent, it’s nice to be able to hear older — and yet still interesting and even topical — episodes that remain new … at least to me.
This week’s episode was, it turns out, to be one of the earliest broadcasts of this 12-year-old program. It’s number 14 of a total of 336 broadcasts, but you’d never know it. It’s called “Accidental Documentaries” and features several found recordings: tapes discovered in thrift shops, basements, etc. While the entire show is interesting, the first act is the most compelling as we listen to a midwestern family who recorded “letters” to their male son/brother who was in medical school in California at the time. The recording perfectly depicts a family that was likely not all so unique at a very specific time in our country’s social history. I highly recommend you check out this (and other) episodes whether you’re a regular listener or not.
While I’m at it, there are two other old-but-new episodes which I found particularly fascinating and, if you have the time, you should consider streaming. “Notes on Camp” is a must-listen for anyone who went to summer camp growing up. The final piece, called “Color Days” is especially riveting — humorous and entertaining, but truly revealing as well about adolescent social structures and rituals. The other episode that comes to mind is “81 Words” which is fairly unique to the program as the entire hour is dedicated to one story. The episode takes a look at the history of the American Psychiatric Association’s treatment of homosexuality: before 1973, homosexuality was officially considered a mental illness. The story told is a personal one; a family history from the perspective of a woman named Alix Spiegel whose grandfather was not only a one-time president of the APA, but also a member of a secret group of gay psychiatrists who worked to change the official designation. Before that time, it was not possible to be a psychiatrist and openly homosexual. Check them out if you have the time.
Out of Focus 