This American Life - That American Show

This American Life is, undeniably one of the best news magazine programs out there. If some people call it liberal or patronizing because the show's producers and host are predominantly, if not all, liberal I would heartily disagree. I mean, why can't journalism and good 'ol documentary style story telling be just that. Why does EVERYTHING have to be evil or wrong from one point of view or another simply because of one person's political or social stances. (This is a subject that I'll gladly get into at another time.)

I will say that the best "criticism" I've heard of TAL, is taken from the old Fox show "The OC" where Summer says all snobbishly:

Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are?" and, with a dismissive snort, "Gawd!" (taken from Wikipedia)

Recently I listened to a great show from their archives about, as Ira Glass puts it, a Hardy Boys type mystery. Young boys discover an abandoned house, that has seemingly been sitting there rotting for decades. Throughout the course of the hour long show, that in real life took decades, we discover the history of the family that occupied it, their status in the community and most importantly, what happened.

The House on Loon Lake

Enjoy!