This American Life

This American Life had an amazing segment yesterday. Really, there needs to be more shows like it. Like many other shows on NPR, it's not so much focused on news as it is on people.

The first segment was about an African American male, whose home life was awful, but was trying to make something of himself. He had the kind of charisma that made people, teachers and students like him, and many felt he'd move to bigger things.

He was sent to Boys' State in Tennessee, where the goal is to understand something about politics. The boys, from all parts of the state, vie for political office. Several of them had prepared extensively, though mostly with markers and poster (reducing the act of getting voted not too issues, but to who had the most ads). He wrote his campaign slogan on a t-shirt. People made fun of him for that.

But Chauncey had been preaching at his church, and he made the decision to really run for governor. Giving an electrifying speech, he was voted governor. People off the streets as well as teachers and fellow students were thrilled at the success of someone who looked like they were heading nowhere, mere years earlier.

Despite the charisma and his desire to please everyone with his newfound success (and to take advantage of this success), he still had a poor family life, and wasn't the best academically. Although he had a scholarship lined up, it required him to graduate, which he failed to do, coming up one credit short.

After all the adulation and praise, the failure to graduate on time, burst his balloon and he fell to Earth, not interested in courses, wondering what had happened. Teachers felt guilty at the pressures and expectations heaped on him. He was left working at grocery stores, the boy wonder no more.

He eventually turned to the military, where expectations are in the here and now, and performance, not potential, is rewarded. After two tours of duty in Iraq, six years later, he feels he's getting back on track in his life.

This is the kind of story that you only hear in real life. Stories about almost successes that lead to failure are not something filmmakers show much, or it's made tragic in ways that aren't real to life.

This segment was followed by a man, a heroin addict, who found a treatment in Europe that cured him of his need for heroin. The experience was so transformational, nearly a religious experience, that he felt obligated to help other junkies kick the habit.

The problem was two-fold. First, the drug is illegal in the States since it's a hallucinogenic. Second, he was no doctor, so he didn't know how to administer the drug that well. And there was the potential of the drug causing seizures if he wasn't careful. Still, he felt the risk was worth it because he knew how it felt to be an addict, and how liberating his life had become.

Still, he was dealing with junkies, and he's careful about who he administers the treatment too. Junkies aren't noted for their polite demeanor, so he sometimes worries if his life may be threatened. Yet, he perseveres on because he feels there's no one else to help out.

The story, despite being about drugs, is also a kind of tale of religion, belief, redemption, all based on chemicals. It's nearly science fiction, yet it's real. How chemicals takes you on a dark path, how other chemicals might free you from it.

The last segment was about Noah's Ark, retold. The world is full of artisans. Dancers, painters, poets, who have forsaken hard work for creativity. Noah, however, is old school. He believes in hard work, and complains the world has become lazy and fulfills itself in frivolous ways. He thinks his sons are lacking discipline.

One day, he hears a voice. Indistinct, at first, but then, over the weeks more clear. God plans to bring floods and kill all of humanity, save Noah, his family, and one pair of animals to repopulate the Earth.

His son, Ham, thinks Noah was picked because he was much like God. Irritated at humanity. Noah builds the ark, and thinks perhaps he is crazy for doing so, but then thinks that if he gives up, then he gives up on his faith and lets the world win. And he too decides that only the most worthy animals should be let on board. Ham wonders why the rest of the world must be killed. It doesn't make sense to him. He also wonders how his father must made a decision, much like God, to decide which animals were worthy of living, and which ones weren't.

People know the story of the Flood, and yet, if you ponder the details, it seems needlessly cruel. Since the Flood mythology exists in many people, it is likely that there was some real torrential flood, a rising of the oceans, that so impacted everyone, that it was written for years.

The story is deep and funny. NPR shows archive their stuff, so go take a listen.

This is heady stuff, making you reconsider things you've heard, and that's what good storytelling is all about.