Stories about one person single-handedly taking charge of a situation gone wrong—including one man's mission to rescue two kids who were kidnapped by alleged murderers and taken to Mexico, and another about a professor's mission to keep the educators of a liberal arts college from extinction.
Prologue
When Luke Davies was 11 years old in Australia, his family moved from the boring suburbs to an incredibly fun place: A tourist park full of attractions, where his dad had gotten a job. There, he was considered kind of a wimpy kid...until he got his chance to save the day. Luke wrote the novel “Candy” and the films “Lion” and “Beautiful Boy." (12 minutes)
Midlife Cowboy
Correction: In Act One, the victim found in Richard Carelli's van is identified as Carelli's landlord. He was in fact his housemate, not his landlord. We regret the error.
I'd Like To Spank The Academy
For the last 13 years, the University of Montevallo in Alabama has held an event called The Life Raft Debate, where several professors take the stage and each tries to convince the students that his or her discipline—chemistry, say, or communications—is the most essential field of study. But in 2007, a professor named Jon Smith decided that the debate itself needed saving. Producer Nancy Updike tells the story. (14 minutes)
Song:
Related
Act One: The Super Always Rings Twice
Act Three: Only Two Things Are Certain In Life: Death And Tuxes
Act Three: The Geography Of Childhood
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All kinds of little stories that we ordinarily can't use on the radio show because they are just too short.