CD Review: This American Life

Public radio has been, unfortunately, an on-again off-again phenomenon in Detroit. WDET is the Detroit public radio station, but depending on where you are, the other public radio stations in the state (such as in Lansing, Flint or Ann Arbor) may be more accessible on the dial. Frustration in the car, where I spend a lot of my time, almost killed public radio for me; I long ago turned to Canadian public radio (CBC Radio 2) as a constant.

One Saturday last summer, I happened to flip to WKAR in Lansing, and picked up "This American Life." I was more than pleasantly surprised; this program was astonishingly good! Now every Saturday, when I can, I try to tune in.

Since then, I've picked up the CD "This American Life-Stories of Hope and Fear" presented by Chicago Public Radio. Narrated by Ira Glass, this CD is a "greatest hits" compilation of the program on two CDs. The first, "Hope," contains six stories which are not only hopeful, they are touching, moving vignettes of life. The other, "Fear," includes five stories which explores little fears that soon become something larger.

My favorite "hope" story is "Miami Vices" by Sascha Rothchild. In it, she's reading the diary she wrote as a 13 year old transplanted Jewish princess in Miami. She deadpans her experiences of a lot of sex and drugs, and although true and serious, the delivery is hilarious. You can't help but laugh. Thankfully, Ms. Rothchild went into rehab and is now a productive member of society.

The "fear" story which touched me most was "Anti-Oedipus" by Nancy Updike. Ms. Updike explores a mother and son relationship which is fraught with many perplexing problems. The son is gay; the father, who is Palestinian, cannot accept it, and for that and other reasons, the parents divorce. In the end, the son is faced with taking care of his aging mother, even bathing her, because she is now very sick. He now has the fear of eventually losing her hanging heavily over his head.

What I found very interesting was that, though the CDs were labeled "Hope" and "Fear," there was a fair amount of both emotions in all of the stories. I also found myself drawn into the process of the actual story telling. The narrators (usually it's Ira Glass), do an exceptional job in reading or interviewing. Since the stories are read, it adds and entirely different dimension that would not be present with the written word. I'm not a fan of books on tape, but this is an entirely different animal altogether.

All the pieces are accompanied by background music befitting the stories, by artists including Blonde Redhead, Ben Webster, Aerial M, Calexico, Caleb Simpson and RZA, to name a few.

If you are a fan of "This American Life" this CD makes an excellent addition. This is a great CD to pop in on a long drive, and I would recommend adding it to your collection, especially if you're looking for something a little different.

Public radio has been, unfortunately, an on-again off-again
phenomenon in .
WDET is the public radio station, but
depending on where you are, the other public radio stations in the state (such
as in ,
or )
may be more accessible on the dial. Frustration in the car, where I spend a lot
of my time, almost killed public radio for me; I long ago turned to Canadian
public radio (CBC Radio 2) as a constant.

One Saturday last summer, I happened to flip to WKAR in , and picked up "This American
Life." I was more than pleasantly surprised; this program was
astonishingly good! Now every Saturday, when I can, I try to tune in.

Since then, I've picked up the CD "This American Life-Stories of Hope and
Fear" presented by Chicago Public Radio. This CD is a "greatest
hits" compilation of the program on two CDs. The first, "Hope,"
contains six stories which are not only hopeful, they are touching, moving
vignettes of life. The other, "Fear," includes five stories which
explores little fears that soon become something larger.

My favorite "hope" story is "Miami Vices" by Sascha
Rothchild. In it, she's reading the diary she wrote as a 13 year old
transplanted Jewish princess in .
She deadpans her experiences of a lot of sex and drugs, and although true and
serious, the delivery is hilarious. Thankfully, Ms. Rothchild went into rehab
and is now a productive member of society.

The "fear" story which touched me most was "Anti-Oedipus"
by Nancy Updike. Ms. Updike explores a mother and son relationship which is
fraught with many perplexing problems. The son is gay; the father, who is
Palestinian, cannot accept it, and for that and other reasons, the parents
divorce. In the end, the son is faced with taking care of his aging mother,
even bathing her, because she is now very sick. He now has the fear of losing
her eventually hanging heavily over his head.

What I found very interesting was that, though the CDs were labeled
"Hope" and "Fear," there was a fair amount of both emotions
in of the stories. I also found myself drawn into the process
of the actual story telling. The narrators (usually it's Ira Glass), do an
exceptional job in reading or interviewing. Since the stories are read, it adds
and entirely different dimension that would not be present with the written
word. I'm not a fan of books on tape, but this is an entirely different animal
altogether.

All the pieces are accompanied by background music befitting the stories, by
artists including Blonde Redhead, Ben Webster, Aerial M, Calexico, Caleb
Simpson and RZA, to name a few.

This is a great CD to pop in on a long drive, and I would recommend adding it
to your collection, especially if you're looking for something different.