Tag: RadioLab

I Cried On My Way Home

She had already lost her hearing. Now she had lost her sight. All hope was lost. Then her boyfriend figured out how to communicate with her.

I am a sloppy sentimentalist. I cried my way home tonight. It was a story on public radio. I was listening to Radiolab on WNPR. This is the best program on radio!

Radiolab is a documentary series. That’s the simple part. It’s how the documentaries are put together that’s so amazing. I have never witnessed more intricately woven stories.

Everything on Radiolab is happening in sync on multiple levels. A sentence might be started by one person, continued by a second and finished by a third. It works.

The off-center vibe is carefully crafted by the two hosts, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. Even their conversation weaves in and out of the interview and actualities.

Today’s show (actually from mid-January) was about Emilie.

In this segment, we take an emotional left turn to a story of a very different kind of lost and found. We begin with a college student, Alan Lundgard, who fell in love with a fellow art student, Emilie Gossiaux. Emilie’s mom, Susan Gossiaux, describes her daughter, and the terrible phone call she recieved from Alan nine months after he became Emilie’s boyfriend. Together, Susan and Alan tell Jad and Robert about the devastating fork in the road that left Emilie lost in a netherworld, and how Alan found her again.

She had already lost her hearing. Now she had lost her sight. All hope was lost. Then her boyfriend figured out how to communicate with her.

Like I said, I cried. It was among the most amazing stories I’ve ever heard.

Entertained On The Plane

It was video coming down. It’s been audio on the way home. I just listened to “This American Life” then WNYC’s “RadioLab.”

Greeting from seat 4A. I have no clue where I am except it’s 10:01 PM and it’s dark outside.

I’m on Southwest which is old school as far as entertainment is concerned. There is no entertainment other than what you bring yourself.

There’s a laptop in my bag in the overhead, but it’s the iPhone I writing this blog entry on that’s been stocked to entertain.

It was video coming down. It’s been audio on the way home. I just listened to “This American Life” then WNYC’s “RadioLab.”

What sets these two podcasts apart is their ability to tell a story in a full and richly detailed way. You just don’t hear radio like this ever. It’s a shame. It’s really entertaining. I’d say it’s also educational, but that would probably turn you off.

The first story was about a young girl who became General Manuel Noriega’s pen pal. The story was fascinating and I’d never heard it before. Second up was a woman whose imprisoned husband wrote a letter every day for eight years. Not as good. Finally I heard the story of a assisted living facility in Germany that erected a faux bus stop to catch wandering patients. I couldn’t stop listening.

Maybe this is an acquired taste? I’m not scared to listen. I can’t see my daughter doing this willingly. She’d probably enjoy them anyway.

“Sully” says 50 miles to go. I can now see New Haven under the plane. Almost home.

It goes more quickly when you’re entertained and busy.