Learning to Live: James' Story

04/17/13 • 28 min

Long Haul: Public Radio Documentaries to Go!

"Learning to Live: James' Story" is the story of an ex-felon's transition from prison to the free world. James, who narrates, is 38 and has been in and out of prison all his adult life. After completing a seven-year prison term for burglary, James comes to live at St. Leonard's halfway house for ex-offenders on Chicago's west side. Over three months, James goes through a rigorous education process that includes job training, drug counseling and twelve-step support meetings. His recovery is tested when his eighteen-year-old son, whom he hadn't seen in fourteen years, is arrested on a drug charge. After landing his "dream job" in customer service for a cable company, James leaves the halfway house having begun to "learn how to live." Winner: 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award; 2002 Third Coast International Audio Festival Public Service Award; and the 2002 Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award. Judges in the latter competition called it "a tightly straightforward report that skillfully wove actuality and narration, James telling his story as only he could. It was clear, concise and remarkably comprehensive." (Produced in 2001; this description is from the original broadcast.)

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The House of Pain

The House of Pain was the gang name for a ten-story high-rise at Stateway Gardens, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) development that once sat across from U.S. Cellular Field (a.k.a. Comiskey Park) on Chicago's South Side. The building was demolished as part of an ambitious initiative to replace Chicago's notorious public housing high rises with mixed-income communities. Here, in the first of a three-part series following building residents through the CHA's "Plan for Transformation," families who once lived in the House of Pain try to figure out where they'll live once their building is dismantled. It's narrated by long-time building resident Andre Williams. Produced in 2002. Winner: 2003 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best National Radio Documentary.

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Scenes From a Transplant

In November 1995, journalist Rebecca Perl was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She learned had a tumor in her chest, six months after giving birth to a baby boy. Months of chemotherapy and radiation proved unsuccessful, leaving only one treatment possibility: a lethal dose of chemotherapy followed by a life-saving bone marrow transplant. This award-winning documentary follows her through the transplant. We also produced a film of this story, which was broadcast on HBO. Winner: 1999 duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award; Edward R. Murrow Award; 200 National Federation of Community Broadcasters Award; 2000 Silver Hugo Award; 2000 New York Festival World Medal for Health and Medical Information Award. (Produced in 1998; this description is from the original broadcast.)