This American Life : Explored

I took a little time this evening to check out some episodes listed on This American Life's website (www.thislife.org), I was pleasantly surprised. At first when I browsed through the different episodes, I thought that the topics and ideas seemed a little odd and not so interesting, but my thinking changed after actually taking the time to listen to a few pieces. One of the clips I listened too was about people spending 24 hours inside of a diner called The Golden Apple in Chicago. It was extremely interesting the stories they gathered, each sound clip being taken from separate interviews. Some people had very serious stories to tell about their lives and why they have decided to visit the diner, other people seem drunk and find themselves in the middle of a small argument. Throughout the show multiple chance encounters with strangers turn up some humorous and emotional events, who knew that they would be that productive? Another episode that I checked out, was an inside look at stubbornness and the effects that it has. Whether it be beneficial or not. Interviews are performed with people of all ages, and ranging from lover's spats to the antics of a 7th grader talking about discovery of social status.

After listening to these stories, I have found that the stories have a common theme among them as trying to explore the social lives of Americans through an interviewer's point of view. It seems like the writer's of these shows are trying to show a deeper meaning or existence to the lives of the people that talk to. This is definitely something worthwhile to check out, it has good material and good points to make about every day life.