Comments on: This Week’s This American Life

By: This Week’s This American Life, II | Cosmic Variance

This Week’s This American Life, II | Cosmic Variance — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 18:41:35 +0000

[...] Recall that I mentioned listening out for the show This American Life, in a post last week, and pointing to where you can get archived audio of it. [...]

By: Ed Hessler

Ed Hessler — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:42:45 +0000

I listened again, heard more this time–taking notes throughout was very helpful–and was bitten much more deeply. My response this time was a stunned and reflective silence. What a curious country we are and I wish we could be more honest about this incredible experiment in government. We aren’t quite who we say and think we are. I hope this experience will help us close the gap between reach and grasp or make it narrower but I worry a lot about the divides in our society. What a deeply touching and moving program.

Take care.

By: Clifford

Clifford — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:50:19 +0000

Thanks Ed! Extremely well said. I’m actually planning to listen to it a second time on Sunday.

-cvj

By: Ed Hessler

Ed Hessler — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:20:02 +0000

I seldom miss “This American Life,” sometimes listening twice. It never disappoints me. This week was exceptional. You were right it is not to be missed.

It informed me as well as my anger and renewed my belief in the incredible decency shown by most people in circumstances that can only be imagined and then dimly, at best. I couldn’t help but think and hope that in a similar circumstance and in the face of pronouncements by “officialdom” (”dumb” seems more apt), outright lying, accompanied by direct and all too frequent threats to one’s life by the “authorities,” the very people we expect to protect and assist all of us–to go beyond the rules of work, to help rather than using them to hide behind that I would be (perhaps) half as decent, civil, caring, compassionate, humane, competent, thoughtful, smart, resourceful, perservering and adaptable. At times, the racism was covered by the thinnest of tissue paper.

I was struck by Ms. Nelson’s descriptions of her thoughts and feelings. Ah, kids, what do they know?! It would be a privilege to talk with her; the pundits should from time-to-time, although it would require getting out of A/C studios.

I hope that this edition of TAL might find use in training/seminars/simulations for officials charged with developing disaster plans. And I so wish that members of this insensitive administration would have been among the listeners and had the capacity and empathy to do just that: listen rather than assert and declare all too often with an indignity that is staggering (but mighty revealing). What an important counterpoint to “You are doing a great job, Brownie.”

Thank you to Ira Glass (again) and to the people who reported so gracefully.