Long-Lost Radio Essay

November 4, 2006 1:46 AM

Long shot, but I heard a story/essay on WBEZ Chicago four years ago that I've not been able to track down since. It was a quite eerie hypothetical about a gathering of "everybody you've ever known."

Setting: October 2002, right after (or possibly before) This American Life, a rerun of the episode about "Recordings for Other People," I believe. It wasn't part of TAL, and I don't think it was part of the show after that, either. It might have been just a random interlude.

The essay was written in the second person and described being invited to a celebration in the park with "everybody you've ever known," who have been in cahoots all along, but now everything's out in the open, and everyone loves you, and everything's going to be wonderful. And you say you need to go home for a minute, so you do, and you know they're all waiting for you, and that not returning "would mean letting down everyone you've ever known." You check the mail but there is no mail since everyone you've ever known is at the park. Then you go and draw and bath and...

The essay was read by a youngish-sounding woman and was fairly short, five minutes long maybe.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

posted by granted to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

I knew somebody who believed this was happening. This was during a heavy depression that turned into a psychotic episode.

And the movie The Game is based on this theme.

Not what you where asking; but still.
posted by jouke at 1:56 AM on November 4, 2006

Don't be alarmed that we're not answering...it's just that we're all here waiting for you, in the park.
posted by bingo at 6:42 AM on November 4, 2006

Reminds me a bit of the ending of Big Fish (which was a novel before it was a movie) but is different enough that that's probably not it.
posted by kindall at 7:13 AM on November 4, 2006

thanks so much for the post. this idea is gorgeous in such a sad way. i'm going to be thinking about it all day...
posted by localhuman at 7:42 AM on November 4, 2006

Have you tried emailing WBEZ? 2002 is recent enough that they may have records. That seems like your best bet.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:06 AM on November 4, 2006

[e-mail]
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:46 PM on November 4, 2006

Response by poster: Thank you for the e-mail address. The thought had occurred to me but I was hoping you guys would have the answer as I avoid direct human contact whenever possible (and everyone knows this users on this website are actually an artificial intelligence experiment.) If I find it, I'll post the deets for the good of the collective.
posted by granted at 1:04 PM on November 4, 2006

also not the answer, but "notes for a story of a man who will not die alone" in how we are hungryby dave eggers is similar. except it's everyone, not just everyone he knows.
posted by kooop at 1:08 PM on November 4, 2006