Is the mixtape episode of This American Life available anywhere online?

December 5, 2006 11:20 AM

Is the mixtape episode of This American Life available anywhere online? I think it was done by Sarah Vowell, I remember hearing it sometime before 2003, and probably much before. But it doesn't appear on the show's archives. Am I going crazy? Maybe it wasn't TAL but I'm almost positive... Please help!

Also I'm curious if it's the same as the mixtape chapter included in her book, Take the Cannoli.

posted by maniabug to media & arts (15 comments total)

She covers mixtapes in her book Radio On, but it's been a while since I read Take so I don't remember if there's anything in there.
posted by drezdn at 11:32 AM on December 5, 2006

A data point: I'm pretty sure I've heard that TAL episode via their web site.
posted by cmiller at 11:33 AM on December 5, 2006

Is this it?
posted by drezdn at 11:36 AM on December 5, 2006

That is so not it. This is making me crazy. Can anybody describe the content of the episode further?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:46 AM on December 5, 2006

I remember getting snippets of an NPR mix tape segment featuring Amy Sedaris ... on a mix tape. I am sorry I can't be of any more help than that, but she talked about the history of her mix tape making, and how she hoped that the lyrics would convey the message of how she was feeling to the person she was giving the tape to, etc., and then she'd get a tape back that was all meaningless pop or whatever.
posted by wells at 11:56 AM on December 5, 2006

Try the episode called Media Fringe aired 12/6/96
posted by serazin at 12:02 PM on December 5, 2006

Is there any way to substantiate that they have shows that are not online?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:02 PM on December 5, 2006

Here's the link.
posted by serazin at 12:02 PM on December 5, 2006

Oh shoot. Sorry - someone else had the same idea as me, but first.

I'm pretty sure I've listened to every single episode of the show at least once and often more. I don't know of another one involving Sarah Vowell and mixtapes.
posted by serazin at 12:04 PM on December 5, 2006

Wells, what you describe is what happens in the first half of the Media Fringe story (which I'm listening to right now).
posted by drezdn at 12:05 PM on December 5, 2006

Wow, strike my first comment! I think my blood sugar was low.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:16 PM on December 5, 2006

Is there an opening to one of the episodes where SV is talking with Ira about music and maybe making him a mix tape? I could be imagining this. I mean, something separate from the SV story linked above where SV hires herself out as a mixtape artist to her friend who has a new girlfriend, who he subsequently breaks up with. But I don't remember a WHOLE tal episode about mixtapes.
posted by onlyconnect at 3:15 PM on December 5, 2006

Is there any way to substantiate that they have shows that are not online? Yes.
posted by holgate at 3:42 PM on December 5, 2006

hogate - those episodes might not be available to listen to online, but they are still listed on the site. So this theoretical 'mixtape' episode should still be on the list, just without one of the little listeny icons next to it.
posted by serazin at 4:13 PM on December 5, 2006

Ack sorry so late ... thanks everyone that was exactly it. It's the Media Fringe episode from 12/6/96, and it's just as funny and charming as I remembered it. I went on to make my girl a fun and well-received mix CD. :-)
posted by maniabug at 10:21 AM on January 14, 2007