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:
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Act Three: Crime and Tutus
Act Two: Economic Integration
Act Four: The Sweet Year After
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I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to Help
Nancy Updike goes to Iraq to try to figure out what it's like to be a private citizen working in the middle of a war zone.
The Sanctity of Marriage
A generation of researchers has revolutionized the way we see marriage.
