My Favorite Hour of the Week

I will admit, I am an NPR (National Public Radio) junky. I fell in love with NPR while in college. I think I was in my junior year at OU when I realized how much I adored KGOU. I listened to several of their shows: Calling All Pets, Morning Edition, Fresh Air, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!, You Bet Your Garden and my very favorite, This American Life. I do not think I truly fell in love with This American Life until the summer of 2004. It was right after Nick and I got married; we often had NPR on in the house. One Saturday at noon, our world stopped and we escaped listening to Julia Sweeney. She did a monologue which later became, "God Said Ha." It was about her diagnosis with cancer. Sounds heavy, but not the way she delivered it. She was hilarious. She spoke so frankly, yet was full of absolute humor. The next week, we listened at noon to hear a story in which a man tried to pitch a cable channel with all puppies all the time to a network...it didn't work out for him, but he tried. Although, I just found out the Puppy Channel is a website now! This American Life was like nothing we had ever experienced before. We were hooked.
This American Life is hosted by a man named Ira Glass. Each week they choose a theme and feature several stories related to that theme. Sound simple? Well, it's not. These stories are truly unique. You never know what you are going to get. One moment you laugh, the next you cry, but with every hour you listen; you change into an arguably better person. It is so refreshing.
When we moved to Borger, I was extremely sad to leave KGOU. Our NPR in West Texas is a little lacking compared to KGOU. I understand why; KGOU has the support of a major university behind it. That is extremely instrumental in a public radio station flourishing. They receive more money, thus provide more programming. West Texas NPR is good, it just offers fewer shows. This American Life is broadcast in West Texas at 3:00 on Sunday afternoons. Most of the time, I cannot pick up our NPR station in our house. But there is a solution, This American Life is available on a podcast. I download it every week. I typically choose to listen to my special treat during a long run. It truly is incredible. There is a television series of This American Life on Showtime. Nick and I rented season one on DVD a few weeks ago. It is very good, but there is something about the radio show that just moves my heart. I urge each of you to give it a try. I can guarantee, it will reach you in some way. Take a listen to This American Life....it will make your week.
If it is your first time listening, click on this link for some episode favorites. The "puppy" one is on there, it is called, "Starting from Scratch." Also, listen to last week's episode, "Going Big." The first act is about Geoffrey Canada and his solution to urban poverty in America. It is truly life changing. We are so blessed to have people trying and actually succeeding in making our world a better place. I have yet to find the Julia Sweeney one, if I ever do, I will let you know...it was classic!