Episode 44: Poultry Slam 1996

Aye aye aye, yet another Poultry Slam. I was not very impressed with the 1995, first anniversary version (as is documented here), so I had high hopes for 1996's edition.

Well, no point in even hoping- this episode is the same as the 1995 episode, minus one different story, so here's the rundown on that one....

Following David Sedaris' story about buying a turkey head with a foot attached, Ira gets a message from Michael Stumm, an actor who moved from the US to live in South Africa. Stumm was given the task to investigate how chickens are used by witch doctors in that area. He describes a practice that is supposed to be the key to getting your paperwork lost in court, a practice which includes poking out a chicken's eye and burying it alive.

The act is a pretty cool little snippet and worth a listen if you've got the time, but if not, just avoid the Poultry Slams all together...I'll let you know when they start getting better (and I'm trying to like them...).

Episode 39: Halloween

Ahhh, Halloween...means we're trekking along through 1996's episodes at a good clip.

For Halloween that year there's not a whole lot that just blew me away, causing the episode to be filed under "It's alright".

There's six smaller acts this time around, covering people who work in haunted houses and look to scare people, and why. There's the talk of how fear is related to sexual desires and those stinkin' screams that popped up on an earlier episode (and, frankly, just freaked me out).

There are two acts that are noteworthy, atleast. The first act is about folks who watched the old show, "Dark Shadows" for entertainment in the mess ups. The interviewed people are die hard "Dark Shadows" viewers, watching 4-5 hours a week of the show (sounds like someone doing a radio podcast listening project...) and trying to find the small nuances in the show, such as flies flying around.

When Ira and Nancy (Updike) go to the apartment of one of the viewers to watch the show with them, the feel of a party is almost palpable. The group sits around and points out flub ups and has a genuinely fun conversation about the show. It may be somewhat geeky, but I totally get it and wish I could be in there.

(It should also be noted that there is a report from one of these "Dark Shadows" guys at a convention on the episode "Conventions" in the 1997 season, so there will for sure be more talk of the cult classic tv show!)

The second of the acts that stood out is number five, speaking with a female mentor to girls involved in gang activity. The story that she tells is somewhat chilling, but not in a "jump out from behind the corner and yell 'boo!'" kind of way. I'll just share with you what the show archive has the description as:

Act Five. Gang Girl.

                      Gang Girl, on a body they thought was fake that turned out to be real. (10 minutes) 

So there you go, Halloween 1996. I do really suggest the two stories highlighted here...so just skip around some.

Episode 34: Democratic Convention

I guess if you do a Republican convention show, you have to do a Democratic convention show, right? Fair and balanced, that is NPR!

The episode didn't have the Dan Savage spin that I loved so much from the Republican convention episode, but Michael Lewis comes back into the picture to share his thoughts from this convention and Danny Drennen, who is introduced as a writer of a "90210" blogger (but this was 1996, so blogger wasn't quite the term) talks about what he saw on the C-Span coverage of the convention.

These two stories make the show pretty good. It's not quite as up there as the Repbulic episode, but pretty good- and that's just the entertainment side I got out of it, not political.

Honest.

Episode 26: Father's Day '96

Father's day in 1996 covered the topic of fatherhood- from fathers who are more so out there (Sandra Loh's dad...remember her talking about his hitchiking in episode 22?) to dad's who left their family to the very functional relationship of Ira and his own father. Throughout the episode, which Mr. Glass co-hosted with Ira, it is a great showing of the very functional relationship.

Overall, the Glass gentlemen keep the show rolling and the interaction between the two was very enjoyable. As I've been growing up I'm really getting the message about getting to know your elders and spending the time you can with them, while they're still around, and to get what all you can from them.

Episode 16: "Economy"

Considering that I'm not a highly political person, this episode was produced in 1996 and at that point I was still enjoying my elementary school years, I enjoyed episode 16 quite a bit. I was skeptical when reading the synopsis of the different acts, talking about presidential elections and such, yet the story on the economy was very reminiscent of something that would be reported on, say, a year ago. The unemployment that is represented in this episode was actually presented in a bit scarier way than it was in the recent recession we are recovering from.

Act 1, eh let's skip it. Dole vs. Clinton...yadda yadda yadda...moving on.

Acts 2 and 4 were my favorites- 2  told from the point of view of two temps that TAL hired for a few days (and then Ira hustles for them to get some work, via the show). It was a great look into the lives of guys who are just trying to earn a living and make it in the world but they can't catch quite the right break. It's obvious they wanted to do the work and wanted to succeed- more than once they say that they will work anywhere, for any price. Frankly, I think if more people had the opportunity to get to know folks more than just on the surface, as is seen through this story, the people who deserve the best things in life would get them- and to them the best things would simply be what is necessary to just get by comfortably.

Act 4 is a rundown of the $156 million renovation of the Navy Pier in Chicago and the economic influence that projected onto the city and state of Illinois. It is a pretty interesting listen, considering it is the place that WBEZ studios are located and Ira gets a kick out of explaining the layout to the listeners.


(Oh, and Act 3..eh...those poets and their artistic writings...I prefer the straight forward and straight talking...like the Johnny Cash song getting played in Act 2).

And one other note for this episode- Ira exhibits an underlying sense of humor for this week's show. Plus now he'll make me giggle everytime I hear the "Market Place" 'doing the numbers' music...

Malcolm Gladwell Lecture//Episode 9: "Julia Sweeney"

I've finally hit the next episode, after getting the opportunity to see Malcolm Gladwell speak (for free! Score!) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga last night (I highly suggest seeing him if you can. Good stuff). I felt like I was in a real life episode of "This American Life" or something. He spoke on leaders who are so sure of themselves that causes the missteps. Comparing the financial meltdown to a Civil War battle was something I would have never thought of, but made total sense. I feel very enlightened and admittedly, slightly hipper, having gotten the chance to see such a popular and awesome speaker.

Anyways, onto the episode...

Julia Sweeney was on Saturday Night Live back in the day and this episode of  TAL is parts of her stand up from 1994-1995, speaking on her experience having cancer, while her brother also has the disease. I won't ruin the episode by saying too much about what goes down in her story, but it is a very interesting one and I can't hate on it because it is such a strong episode. Much of the hour, I almost couldn't stand how personal and real her stories are and I had such a response to it, but then I considered my thoughts on art: if it makes you have a strong response, it's good.

Well, I had a strong response, so I guess it could be considered art. The nonchalant way that
Julia tells the story is almost painful at moments, yet it is worth the listen. As Ira notes in the show, the stories lighten up some when Julia begins speaking about her diagnosis of cancer, which is appreciated after the utter dark cloud over part one, but it is still clear it isn't all sunshine in her life and her families lives.

Overall, even if it doesn't sit easy with you, listen to this one. It's pretty good.