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@thisamerlife

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I was just listening to the @thisamerlife ‘Coincidence’ episode and though I’d post the coincidence that still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up: It’s 2004, I’m in college and I’m driving at night listening to the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company’s cast recording of The Mikado as prep for an assignment. I’m at a stop sign and see something that looks like a book laying in the middle of the road. There’s no one around. I put the car in park, hop out, grab the thing and throw it in my backseat in the dark. When I get home, the light comes on and I see that it’s not a book. It’s a record album: The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company’s cast recording of The Mikado.

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You
Cannot
Stop
Listening
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended by Shazia my friend, and @theshamelessbookclub this is a triumph of complex narrative building and constantly unseating your listener. Narrated by a full cast, you feel you are listening to another viral sensation from @thisamerlife

A fictional account of an 18 year old that goes missing, but later is found dead...I will not say more as it unfurls so brilliantly. The entire book shares snippet accounts of interviews with everyone but the six immediate family members of the Sharaf clan. This alone is worthy of applause for its execution in managing so many characters and voices so well, it felt all so real.

The Sharafs are refugees from Afghanistan post 9/11, and have settled in Virginia, and in many ways succeed in the American dream of working hard and building and building their riches, to give their children a life worthy of the disruption of moving from Afghanistan, going through war and hardship. The four children, include second child and eldest daughter, Zorah who is by her teen age living the all American girl life, while this is not a rebellion of many punk songs, it is the quieter pushing of boundaries that push on which culture to conform to as she ages.

It is an exploration into our judgement of culture, separate, fused and otherwise, in the court of public opinion. Very much a story of our time, and tribalised societies.

I have a definitive answer on what happened to Zorah, for myself. But @patmeenasabit allows you to assess the information gathered, for yourself and that itself is a device of confronting our judgements/biases/experiences.

The second half runaway steam train of the country whipped up frenzy, reminds me so much of 'the bonfire of the vanities' where similarly the story is more about our society than the tragedy of a lost 18 year old woman.

I thoroughly recommend!

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“Solo: A Show About Friendship” is the hit Off-Broadway solo show by @gabemollica featured on “This American Life.” This is the final tour of “Solo” as it will be filmed as a special on November 1st in New York City and will be directed by Chris Gethard (HBO, The Chris Gethard Show, @chrisgeth). Come see the show the New York Times called “very funny, sweet not sappy, intricate Birbiglian storytelling.” Directed Off-Broadway, and produced by Greg Walloch. #solo #offbroadway #hartford

“Very funny, sweet not sappy, intricate, Birbiglian storytelling.”

Jason Zinoman, New York Times

“A huge treat. Gabe is a master storyteller—he’s warm, self-deprecating and truly hilarious. I was hooked from the moment he started speaking.”

Catherine Burns, The Moth

“I love Gabe’s show. I watched him pour blood, sweat, and tears into it. Now you get to see it. Grab tickets ASAP!”

Chris Gethard

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Your weekly dose of podcasts to inhale🧘‍♀️😮‍💨

A mix of narrative stories, head-to-heads, and a cornerstone of a wider debate:

@jeremyoharris on Fair Game - @vanityfair
Couples therapy with an AI partner? - @abcaustralia
Intergenerational Space Travel - @thisamerlife
Why will.i.am says human creativity will survive AI - @mishalhusain
That ‘No Influencers’ debacle - @shamelesspodcast

#podcastrecommendations #podcastdiet #newpodcast

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The group chat is moving fast this week. Queue these up now if you plan on defending your title as The Friend Who Knows Everything. 🧠

@kerrywashington has a question for you: What street did you grow up on? 🏘️ On her new podcast @thestreetyougrewupon, Kerry and her superstar guests have intimate conversations that uncover deeper truths about how our early environments shape us.

If you don’t go to @chicksintheoffice after every award show, reality TV elimination, and celebrity gossip bombshell, what are you even doing? 🗞️ In this episode, @francescamariano and @gia.mariano recap all of the hottest stories in music and film before @tiffanithiessen stops by the studio.

Won’t you join @jessieware and her mum @thelennieware for this fine meal? On each episode of @tablemannerspodcast, the mother-daughter duo invite a new guest to their table, where the conversation flows over fabulous food prepared by Lennie herself.

Buckle up, because Venus Retrograde is here. 🌌 @astrolotea.pod host @alizakelly is breaking down how our neighboring planet’s journey might affect your life and relationships. Then, she’s schooling her listeners on the bizarre mythology and symbolism of this astrological phenomenon.

While @oliviarodrigo is filling arenas on her Unraveled Tour, she’s also offering a more intimate glimpse into her songwriting process in this episode of @hrishihirway’s @songexploder. Listen as Olivia breaks down the steps she took to bring “the cure” to life, including a never-before-heard snippet of an early demo.

How did Luis Valdez go from staging productions for California farmworkers to becoming the first Chicano director to have a play on Broadway? His incredible legacy, from El Teatro Campesino to La Bamba, is highlighted as journalist @maria_la_hinojosa interviews Valdez and documentary director David Alvarado in this episode of @latinousa.

This season of @youmustrememberthis may cover a 100 year-old Hollywood story, but @karinalongworth makes it feel uncannily modern. Over the course of eight episodes, listeners meet Libby Holman, the multitalented performer whose biography touches on issues that still dominate the discourse, from racial politics to sexua

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🍂 A little reminder to slow down.

There’s something about this time of year that makes me want to get outside and just… walk.

Put on a podcast like @thisamerlife . Leave the phone in my pocket. Shut out some of the noise and pay attention to what’s actually around me.

Like this giant leaf that many would prob not even notice…
Or a little brown bunny sitting quietly in the grass…. 🐇

We spend SO much of our day looking at a screen, answering notifications, listening to everyone else’s opinions and trying to keep up with all the noise.

Sometimes we just need to put it down and look up.
Take the walk. Notice the leaves. Listen to the birds. Watch the bunny.

You might be surprised by what you see when you’re actually paying attention. 🍂

Fall is a pretty good reminder that slowing down is part of the season, too 🧡 …

#tistheseason #fallvibes🍁 #LauraRogersTravelmation #Travelmation #leaves

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#newyork welcomed Dear Sondos by @dnlreads and @sondos_tales as yesterday's hybrid launch including attendees joining from Germany, Portugal, Argentina, UK, Switzerland to name a few and in person in New York! Thank you @milmundosnyc for hosting the event and being this story for our time's American debut!

Stay tuned for more news.. And BUY THE BOOK!

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"Racial segregation within the American school system has been top of the news feed for many of us this week, following Nikole Hannah-Jones’s autobiographical New York Times article “In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?”

In a podcast interview with “This American Life,” Nikole concluded:
"The base of the argument is that what we are doing to Black children is immoral. I want us to understand that we chose this. I don't want us to be absolved by it, not even me. I want us to come at the end of this story sharing my sense of devastation.”

For everyone who tuned in for part 1 of our timely Back To School Summit, thank you.

The conversation about military children – their varied, complex, and unique experiences within the American education system – and how that experience has evolved since the Armed Forces integrated 78 years ago continues tomorrow during our part 2.

Tune in to our live event and meet our next panel https://www.facebook.com/share/1FCfJLp6mL/

And listen to the podcast interview with @thisamerlife
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-argument/id201671138?i=1000791700308

#militarylife #education #militarychildren #militaryspouse #community

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Nikole Hannah-Jones appeared on This American Life to discuss the process behind her recent New York Times essay about her daughter’s public school experience.

We do a disservice to the strength of our society when we shame people for being honest about their experiences. I would rather someone be honest about the times they fall short than for them to lie simply to appease their ideological camp. Folks should be given the room to wrestle through their convictions, and learn from the moments where they don’t reach their intended goals.

We can learn just as much from “failure” as we do from “success.”

#education #family #school

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A few thoughts from my weekend podcast listening. What do you think about the increase in supervision in our kids’ lives? How have you seen the impacts of it play out? Let me know in the comments below and share with a friend who’d find this discussion fascinating. #lighthouseparenting #parentingishard #parentingtip #raisingadults #thisamericanlife

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From kids secretly using the comment sections of NPR podcasts to a host of new YouTube updates, here’s what you missed in the creator economy this week.

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Nikole and Najya came into the studio willing to be honest about a deeply personal, ongoing conversation in their home - Nikole’s educational choices for Najya.

It's rare to hear a person truly reckon with her choices for their kid. And profound to hear that child face her mother and be honest about what those choices meant to her.

It’s all very brave, obviously.

What I couldn’t get over was Nikole and Najya’s commitment - their commitment to each other and to the conversation. They want to hear each other. They don’t agree. And they don’t want to turn away.

You can hear the episode on This American Life. It's called: An Argument.

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