As someone who earns his weekly paycheck from spinning prose, and who is extremely opinionated when it comes to entertainment, I find it extremely frustrating when I have difficulty expressing my thoughts as to why someone should take in some sort of media.
This, however, is where I am with
This American Life. This radio show, syndicated weekly on National Public Radio -- and available as a free, yes FREE, podcast via iTunes. So, maybe you should just go to the website and listen to an episode. That's a pretty lame recommendation though.
In the words of host Ira Glass, "each week on This American Life we choose a theme, and bring you a variety of stories on that theme." These stories can be fiction or nonfiction, and they run the gamut in style and presentation -- lots of journalistic documentary, some short fiction read by soothing voices, some stand-up comedy, and some David Sedaris (who is a genre and entity unto himself).
If you become a regular listener of the show, chances are you'll choose a favorite contributor. Mine is Sarah Vowell. Mainly because I think I'd like to marry her, if the opportunity presented itself. She's quirky, dorky, funny, and into history. She wrote a book (Assassination Vacation, which I should do a Read: about at some point) where she told of her adventures in historical tourism focusing on the Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley assassinations.
It's often difficult to recommend a starting point for the show. I have my favorites -- the last segment of
Episode #74, Conventions, in which a man meets the love of his life at a convention center in San Francisco -- he's at a computer convention (for Steve Jobs' NeXT), she's at a psychiatric convention... and they just happen to live in the same building in New York City.
Episode #125, Apocalypse, is all about the Rapture. Yes, that rapture. The evils of bar codes, the religious right, and a group of born-again Christians who are working in conjunction with some crazy orthodox Jews to breed a red heifer.
Episode #107, Trail of Tears, in which Sarah Vowell and her twin sister Amy trek across the country, along the route of the sad march of the Cherokee people. The Vowell sisters are 1/32nd Cherokee, grew up in Oklahoma, and have no love for Ol' Hickory. None at all
And yes, I've liked more than three episodes. I've also disliked quite a few. I've never really bin a fan of the annual Thanksgiving Poultry Slam series, aside from one piece about a
photographer who took a series of portraits of chickens.
So don't take my word for it, give it a listen. I'm even going to recommend a starting point.
Episode #168, The Fix is In, an hour about an international price fixing conspiracy. It's entertaining, tragic, funny, and scary -- it's got the FBI *and* Japanese businessmen. Give it an hour, and then, hopefully, keep listening.
