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"This American Life" Radio Archive Introduction Born out of a car trip listening to "This American Life" on the radio, the idea to use these radio links arose from a desire to allow you to hear and feel - not just read - what people experience with various social problems or how they contribute to bettering the community. For each chapter, you will find one or more links to the radio shows, along with discussion questions created by Anna Leon-Guerrero. "This American Life" is a popular radio show with an unusual format. Each week, the hosts pick a theme and interview people who have some relation to that theme, with the end result of a powerful combination of pathos, humor, and overall learning. To hear the radio links, you must go to the links below to access
the streaming MP3 files. Once you are on the Episode page these
files can be played by clicking on the orange icon next to the show
title labeled "full episode" Chapter 1: Social Problems and Sociology Episode
209 (2002): Didn't ask to be born In Act One, Stephanie and Amanda Gwartney share stories about their lives after their mother, Debra and their father divorced. Debra and her daughters moved from Arizona to Eugene, OR to begin new and better lives, or so they thought. Apply C. Wright Mills' concepts of personal trouble and public
issue to the Gwartneys' experiences. Specifically, explain how
Stephanie and Amanda's rebellion can be transformed from a personal
trouble to a public issue. Episode
188 (2001): Kid's Logic This wonderful episode features examples of kid logic, using logical evidence to come up with reasonable, but incorrect conclusions. It begins with Rebecca's discovery of the secret identity of the Tooth Fairy. [It isn't who you think it is!] Keep in mind as you go through your course and this text, that
sociology is not based on common sense logic. As mentioned in Chapter
1, sociology is a science. Review "Focus On: The Science of
Sociology" in Chapter 1, which identifies the scientific methods
used by sociologists and other social scientists. Chapter 2: The Bases of Inequality I Episode
105 (1998): Take a Negro Home Act One features Rich Robinson trying to figure out his parents' marriage - to what degree did race bring them together or tear them apart? Robinson's mother is white, his father is black. Act Two features the story of Cedric Jennings - a student from the poorest part of Washington D.C. who is accepted into Brown University. According to Loden and Rosener (Chapter 2 of your text), race is defined as a primary characteristic, while income (social class) is defined as a secondary characteristic. Why, according to the authors, is there a difference between both? Based on Act Two: In what ways was Jennings different from his roommate, friends and classmates at Brown? According Jennings, the biggest difference was based on class. Do you agree or disagree? Explain the reason for your answer.Chapter 3: The Bases of Inequality II Episode
207 (2002): Special Ed This story focuses on a basis of inequality not discussed in either Chapter 2 or 3 of your textbook. It features men and women who were told that they were "different" because of being developmentally disabled. Part of their discussion focuses on how the "label" of being different affected their lives. How do "normal" people respond/interact with developmentally disabled? Which sociological perspective - functionalist, conflict,
and interactionist - best explains why the developmentally
disabled are different in our society? Chapter 4: Families Episode
183 (2001): Missing Parents' Bureau Featured in this episode are stories about families who may not fit the traditional image of the American family. In the first act, we hear from single women who are planning to start a family with the assistance of a sperm bank. The women discuss how much they wanted to know about the sperm donor and how much information they would share with their children. How does artificial insemination change society's definition of
"family"? Does it change the notion of what it takes to
be "parent"? Episode
261 (2004): The Sanctity of Marriage In this episode, we hear first from students in Kassie Hannah's Adult Living Class as they work on a mock wedding ceremony. Hannah's goal for the assignment is to teach the students how to plan a wedding, not teach them how to be married. Host Ira Glass asks, "What does it mean to be married today [in the U.S.]?" Apply the functionalist, conflict, feminist and interactionist
perspectives to answer his question. Chapter 5: Education Episode
275 (2004): Two Steps Back Host Ira Glass focuses on school reform at Washington Irving School, Chicago, IL. Glass first visits the school in 1994, identifying it as a model of school reform. In Act Two, he returns in 2004 to document how the school's initiatives have begun to unravel under a new model of reform. Featured in both acts is Cathy La Luz, a woman who Glass considers the best public school teacher he's met in all his years of education reporting. In 2004, La Luz tells Glass she is thinking about quitting her job. Do you believe that the problem in public education is real - or is it socially constructed? In this instance, it appears that school reform did not work. What
would have been more effective? For real change to take place, who
should lead the way? The community, the parents, the school board,
the teachers or administrators? Explain the reason for your answer.
Chapter 6: The Workplace Episode
206 (2002): Somewhere in the Arabian Sea The work of the men and women aboard the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, a U.S. aircraft carrier, is featured. At the time of the interviews, the aircraft carrier was located in the Arabian Sea, waiting for deployment to Iraq. Examine how these men and women describe their work on board the Stennis. What gives their work meaning? If these soldiers were observed by Karl Marx, would he believe that they are experiencing alienation? Why or why not?Chapter 7: Health and Medicine Episode
262 (2004): Miracle Cures In Act Two, we hear from Julia Whitty who broke the law to try to save her father's life. One year's supply of her father's cancer medication would cost $47,000 in the United States versus $1,200 from another country. In addition, the medication was not covered by her father's medical insurance. Intent on doing everything she can to help her father, Whitty illegal sneaks the medication into the U.S. Whitty reports that it is estimated that between 1-2 million Americans are getting prescription drugs from Canada. Why do you believe that U.S. policy (enforced by the Food and Drug
Administration and the recent Medicare legislation) forbids the
import of foreign drugs? Identify the functions and dysfunctions
of this policy. Episode
103 (1998): Scenes from a Transplant An NPR reporter leaves her three-year-old son and heads to Omaha - for cancer treatment - a last chance to save her life. After years of covering stories about medicine, Rebecca Perl enters the hospital as a patient. She moves from the world of healthy people into the world of sick ones. What she sees and what she learns. This piece, which was produced by Dan Collison for Long Haul Productions, received the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) in the summer of '99. It got a perfect score, with one judge saying it was the best documentary he'd ever heard. Chapter 8: Drug Abuse Episode
143 (1999) – Sentencing Host Ira Glass examines federal sentencing laws for drug offenders. He traces the history of how and why these drug laws were enacted and features individual stories of how these laws are enforced, sometimes unfairly. How effective are mandatory drug sentencing guidelines? Do you
believe these drug laws address the problem of drug abuse - why
or why not? If not, what would be a more effective way to address
this problem? Chapter 9: Poverty Episode
236 (2003) – My Two Cents Stories from three different people in different parts of the U.S. economy (working, middle, and upper class) are featured. Do these three people share the same view of the American economy? Why or why not? According to conflict perspective, income inequalities are built
into our social structure. Do you agree with this statement? How
does society create and maintain income inequalities? To put it
another way, how do the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor? Chapter 10: Crime Episode
210 (2002) – Perfect Evidence In this episode, host Ira Glass investigates that role of DNA evidence in crime solving. The science of DNA testing has opened up old unsolved cases and freed many wrongly convicted individuals, including some on death-row. How has DNA evidence also revealed mistakes and wrongdoing on the part of police and prosecutors? Why would innocent people confess to crimes they did not commit?
"To be or not to be." Jack Hitt profiles a group of actors performing "Hamlet". The actors are prisoners in the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. Hitt follows the actors for six months as they rehearse and perform each act of the play. What insights do these prisoners have about the play's characters?
How does the experience of performing Hamlet change these men? Chapter 11: The Media Episode
200 (2001) – Hearts and Minds The power of propaganda is explored in this episode. What functions and dysfunctions does propaganda play in our society? Do you believe everything you hear, see and read? How do you know
what information you can trust? Chapter 12: Cities and Suburbs Episode
177 (2001) – American Limbo In this episode host Ira Glass features people living in "limbo", what he calls "living outside the grid of American life." What or where do you define as "home"? Is home based
on who you live with or where you live? Is home your college dorm
or where your parents are? Life in Cicero, IL is highlighted in this episode. It is a story about a town divided between white residents and Mexican-American residents (about two-thirds of the population). How are the interests of each resident group defined? Are the residents
more alike than they think they are? How does the political and
social structure of Cicero encourage and maintain the dominance
of white residents? Is change possible? Chapter 13: The Environment Understanding garbage is the theme of this episode. Host Ira Glass begins this episode by following the work of two New York City sanitation men. The U.S. government estimates that each person generates 4.8 lbs. of trash per day. One NYC sanitation man, Ramos, tells Glass that in one day on the job, he lifts approximately 7 tons of trash. How can the amount of waste we produce be reduced? Take one week and monitor the amount of trash you produce. Are
there any items that you discarded that would be reused or recycled?
Chapter 14: War and Terrorism Episode
235 (2003)- The Balloon Goes Up What is war really like? This episode features war stories from different perspectives - from wars from the past, from the first gulf war, and from the current U.S.-Iraq war. Review the theoretical perspectives on war and terrorism discussed
in Chapter 14. What perspective best applies to this episode? Explain
the basis for your answer. Host Ira Glass features three different perspectives on the events of September 11, 2001. Act One features a Palestinian college student from Chicago who explains why what you think you know about 9/11 is wrong. What was your perspective on the events of September 11, 2001?
Is your perspective similar or different from those featured on
the program? Why or why not? Chapter 15: Social Problems and Their Solutions Episode
231 (2003) - Time to Save the World Individuals making a difference are profiled in this episode. Ira Glass begins first with a conversation with Michael Beaumier, the "matches coordinator" of the personal section of the Chicago Reader. The story of a definition is featured in this entire episode. Alix Spiegel recounts the events that lead to the American Psychiatric Association's decision that homosexuality was not a mental disease. How do these individual acts make a difference? What difference can you make in your world?
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