836: The Big Rethink
This American Life
07/21/24
•59m
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People rethinking some of the most important relationships in their lives — with their sister, their political party, and the nominee for president.
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- Prologue: Ira observes that we are in a moment of national reconsideration. (2 minutes)
- Act One: Zoe Chace reports on a surprising guest at the Republican National Convention: Teamsters president Sean O’Brien. (18 minutes)
- Act Two: Ira talks to Representative Seth Moulton about what it was like to be among the first members of Congress to call for President Joe Biden to step aside. (18 minutes)
- Act Three: Two adult sisters revisit old rivalries when they compete for a world record in typing with their pinkies. (16 minutes)
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Previous Episode
794: So Close and Yet So Far
July 14, 2024
•63m
People so close to each other, in extremely intimate situations, who are also a million miles apart.
- Prologue: Valerie Kipnis tells Ira about riding the subway, shoulder-to-shoulder with someone she knows quite well, pretending she doesn’t see him. (8 minutes)
- Act One: How much can you trust whether somebody who you think is close to you really is close to you? Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr.’s been thinking about that question since a recent visit with some of his childhood friends in Sierra Leone. (37 minutes)
- Act Two: Comedian Tig Notaro has the story of someone as close as her actual bedside yet who, in another way, is impossibly far away. (9 minutes)
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Next Episode
172: 24 Hours at the Golden Apple
July 28, 2024
•58m
We document one day in a Chicago diner called the Golden Apple, starting at 5 a.m. and going until 5 a.m. the next morning. We hear from the waitress who has worked the graveyard shift for over two decades, the regular customers who come every day, the couples working out their problems, assorted drunks, and, of course, cops.
- Act One: In this act, we hear several stories that happened during the daylight hours of the diner's operation. The first is from Nancy Updike, who talks with early morning customers, including one guy who comes in mornings to play his accordion, and another who at the age of 8 was the youngest butcher in Illinois. We also hear from several regulars who come to the Golden Apple every day, more than once. Many of them are old and alone. They say they come for the coffee, and to talk to the waitresses. Reporter Susan Burton talks with two friends who used to be a couple. They stopped dating three years ago, but haven't stopped fighting about whose fault it was. An older lady who grew up in the neighborhood explains her neighbors' feelings towards African Americans and gay people. (29 minutes)
- Act Two: In this act, we hear from the rowdier, drunker late-night patrons of the Golden Apple. A guy walks in with two young women, hoping to go home with one of them. A woman explains the difference between earthly time and other kinds of time. Two teenaged girls, best friends, spend four hours trying to meet a guy named Jeff at the diner. Two cops talk about TV, what they do on their breaks, and how sometimes it's okay to drive around all night on their beat doing nothing. (26 minutes)
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