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Anyone remember a NPR/PRI 'search for a baby sitter' story?

rlm-job — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:53:05 -0800

NPR or PRI story- About a year ago, I heard a story in which the narrator was attempting to find his long lost baby sitter- a woman named Susan or Sharon?! It seemed like a TAL type story but I don't believe it was Ira Glass. Sadly I missed the ending and have been searching for it ever since. Has anyone heard of the story?

Best episode to introduce someone to This American Life?

exhilaration — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:49:27 -0800

Best episode to introduce someone to This American Life? I'm a big fan of This American Life and I'd like to introduce my friend to it by pointing him to a truly great episode. I know this sounds suspiciously like a chatfilter question, but I'm looking for suggestions of the most moving and compelling episode/segment you've heard on the show.

Point me in the right direction...

chrisfromthelc — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:50:10 -0800

I need to find a Phone Number Bank-type service that works for Houston, TX phone numbers. I've got a 281 (Verizon) number that I absolutely cannot lose (business). Apparently, our long-distance PRI carrier cannot port in a local number,...only the toll free one.

I've checked out Phone Number Bank (https://www.phonenumberbank.com/), but, they cannot service our area (apparently, they are limited to East Coast numbers.

Anyone out there have any ideas short of getting on Vonage and doing a call forward?

Why does NPR sound so unique?

kaytwo — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:33:49 -0800

Why do people's voices on NPR sound so dramatically different from those on any other radio station? I might be crazy, but whenever I hear someone talking on an NPR station I can instantly tell that it's an NPR program; it's just something about how the person's voice sounds so intimate and soft spoken. So assuming that this isn't just my own ears, what causes this effect? Is it post production, an NPR "manual of style" that dictates whispering into a microphone a quarter inch from your mouth, or perhaps exclusive use of some "just you and me in this quiet log cabin" brand microphones? Both real answers and "you're just crazy" replies are welcome. Thanks!

Town with stars on their roofs for Christmas?

mikepop — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:41:41 -0800

Trying to track down a town where a resident makes Christmas-light star decorations for the roof of every house in the town. Vaguely remembered details from an NPR story inside. I heard this story on NPR in California in December somewhere between 1998 and 2000. There was a small town somewhere, and one resident had made stars out of Christmas lights and given them to everyone in the town over the years. People in town displayed them on their roofs. As new people built houses, he would make and give them their star.

The conflict in the story was some new development that was built on the edge of town, and the fact that people weren't really accepting them as part of the "real" town. The star-maker guy delivers a massive truckload of roof stars to them.

That's about all I remember. The town may have been in California, but I wouldn't swear to that detail.

A link to any article/info would be great; a link to the NPR story would be even better.

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

maniabug — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:20:17 -0800

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.