This Amazing Life

as not just the new year but also a new decade began, i thought about all the fantastic things that came about over the year leading up to this moment. i listened to every episode of NPR's This American Life that was broadcast during 2009. i even listened to some extra archives here and there. for those of you who are not familiar with the radio show, it is a show where, according to them, every week, the staff choose a theme and bring you a number of stories based on that theme. I don't know how they find half they people that they do, in order to make these shows, but people have incredible stories to tell. Stories about themselves, their families or people they just bumped into on the street. Stories that start as innocently as a super who is not taking good care of an apartment building to that super turning out to be a hitman for the landlord and many others. i smile at my super all the time now.

my goal, initially, was to list my favourite This American Life episodes in 2009 but, as i browsed the list, i realised that choosing favourites is very difficult - so many are that good. There are the stories that help make sense of big things going on in the world, such as the financial collapse and health care reform. the first such story was "the giant pool of money" that first aired in 2008 and was put together just as it looked as though the financial boom was not coming along so well. what makes the series on the economic crisis and health care so interesting are the stories the reporters choose to tell when explaining the effects of the financial collapse. in one episode, the this american life team look at people who bought condo units in complexes where very few units were sold, the developers defaulted and skipped town and people ended up living in virtual ghost complexes. when these stories are told, we hear the stories told in the first person and what is sometimes told as a cold story of faceless millions gains life and relevance as faces come into focus.

there are stories like "switched at birth" that are so incredible that you barely believe they are true. but somehow it is no lie that two babies in a small Wisconsin town were switched, almost at birth and given to the wrong families. one mother realised the error pretty early but decided to keep quiet about it until the babies were over 40 years old. but is it as incredible as people who are so active while asleep that they not only walk and eat and maybe drive in their sleep, they also fight demons and end up bursting out of second floor windows and living to tell the tale? i don't know but maybe if you try "fear of sleep" you might be able to make a choice that i couldn't. but be careful; the tale of the building that can't get rid of bedbugs or the cockroaches that crawl into ears while people are trying to sleep may leave you paranoid for a very long time. how long? i don't know - i'm still paranoid.

i often try to figure out which i prefer - episodes that tell one story or episodes that have several stories about one theme. a great favourite of mine is not even from 2009, technically, but i have listened to it more than once - the story of harold washington, who was the first black mayor of chicago. he won an historic campaign and is a hero to many. his story is inspirational and fascinating. just as interesting, in a completely different way, is the story of mark whitacre upon whom the book and recent film "the informant!" are based. the fix is in is an amazing story with so many twists you might not be able to untangle yourself at the end of it. they speak with mark whitacre and still nothing is clear or resolved at the end of it except for the fact that you have laughed and snorted in disbelief more than you thought was possible in an hour.

thankfully i don't have to pick favourites; all i have to do is tune in for the stories. all i have to do is put my headphones on and take in tales of road trips and rest stops; stories of mind-boggling liars and those who love them; yarns that make you want more more more. but what am i saying - i always want more.