837: Swim Towards the Shark

08/11/24 • 65 min

1 Listener

In a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?

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Prologue: Ira talks to two members of a recreational swimming club who intentionally swam straight toward a shark that had just bitten their friend. (10 minutes)
Act One: Sarah Polley has always been reluctant to jump into challenging situations. Then something happened that changed all of that – something that also made her think her teeth were going to fall out. (21 minutes)
Act Two: Comedian Josh Johnson tells the story of a “trad wife” who stepped into an incendiary situation. And even as the flames consumed her, she kept stepping. (7 minutes)
Act Three: This summer, thousands of young people have taken to the streets in Nairobi to protest the Kenyan government. But behind those protestors are thousands of worried parents. Reporter Kimu Elolia talks to a woman whose son keeps lying to her. (19 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

In a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?

Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.

Prologue: Ira talks to two members of a recreational swimming club who intentionally swam straight toward a shark that had just bitten their friend. (10 minutes)
Act One: Sarah Polley has always been reluctant to jump into challenging situations. Then something happened that changed all of that – something that also made her think her teeth were going to fall out. (21 minutes)
Act Two: Comedian Josh Johnson tells the story of a “trad wife” who stepped into an incendiary situation. And even as the flames consumed her, she kept stepping. (7 minutes)
Act Three: This summer, thousands of young people have taken to the streets in Nairobi to protest the Kenyan government. But behind those protestors are thousands of worried parents. Reporter Kimu Elolia talks to a woman whose son keeps lying to her. (19 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

Humans encounter non-human intelligences of various kinds and try to make sense of them.

Prologue: Ira has some thoughts about our country’s long history of alien invasion movies. (2 minutes)
Act One: We’ve witnessed a revolution in A.I. since the public rollout of ChatGPT. Our Senior Editor David Kestenbaum thinks that even though there’s been a ton of coverage, there’s one thing people haven’t talked much about: have these machines gotten to the point that they’re starting to have something like human intelligence? Where they actually understand language and concepts, and can reason? He talks with scientists at Microsoft who’ve been trying to figure that out. (30 minutes)
Act Two: A short piece of fiction from the perspective of aliens who’ve been scouting Earth, from writer Terry Bisson. It’s called “They're Made Out of Meat.” It’s performed by actors Maeve Higgins and H Jon Benjamin. (5 minutes)
Act Three: A species of massive, mysterious, highly intelligent beings have recently been making contact with humanity. Or our boats, anyway. Many people seem convinced they are seeking revenge for past injustices. Producer Chris Benderev wondered if that was true. (7 minutes)
Act Four: Many of us, especially when we’re young, feel like we’re the alien, trying to understand and fit in with the humans on this planet. Producer Diane Wu spent some time recently with a teenage humanoid who feels that way. (15 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

When the best—and perhaps only—way to say something is to write it down.

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Prologue: Ira goes out with a letter carrier, ‘Grace,’ as she delivers mail on her route. He learns about the people who bring us our mail and also how people treat their mail. (11 minutes)
Act One: Writing a letter decades after an event that shaped her life was the only way that Nicole Piasecki could make some sense of it. (18 minutes)
Act Two: Yorkshire, 1866. A farmer overcomes his timidity and writes a very important letter to a local beauty. (3 minutes)
Act Three: When senior editor David Kestenbaum was still a rookie reporter, he wrote an email to a legend. Then he waited...and waited...for a reply. (6 minutes)
Act Four: A woman writes an unusual letter on behalf of her husband. (1 minute)
Act Five: Producer Zoe Chace compares the letters a person gets and the letters they wish they got. (12 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org