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This American Life: Hope & FearThis American Life: Hope & Fear

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My father and I sat down during Christmas break to take in Chicago Public Radio's This American Life: Stories of Hope & Fear. It's a 2-disc compilation of highlights from the ongoing weekly program that reaches 1.7 million listeners a week since 1995. While both of us were familiar with the program, neither of us had ever listened to it on the radio, so we went into this with no expectations. The format is simple and easy; Ira Glass, the interviewer, helps a person along in narrating a personal story.

What really caught my eye with the packaging and PR email I recieved was the soundtrack that these stories laid over: Thurston Moore, Blonde Redhead, RZA, Calexico, Philip Glass, Morcheeba, Mogwai, Tom Ze, Tortoise and others. Unfortunately, they are only brief cuts that tied various segments together, or served as background music to portions of the narratives. Don't buy this for the bands or their music, you'll be disappointed.

The first disc is entitled "Hope" with 6 stories ranging from 6 to 20 minutes long. Don't let the title fool you too much though. Both of these discs lie on the melancholic side of life (with interjections of humor and wit). The stories covered everything from living in the slums of NYC, telling ill-timed comedy karaoke, what it's like to be a man (when you were a woman) and doing drugs and sleeping around as a early teen in Miami. My dad and I agreed that the disc's highlight story was also it's longest, "The Babysitters". If you thought you told a fib or two to your parents growing up, listen to this tale of just how far one could go with a tall-tale.

The second disc is entitled "Fear" with 5 stories ranging from 8 minutes to 22 minutes. It opens with an entertaining and humorous, yet down to earth, list of various peoples fears. "On Hold No One Can Hear You Scream" is a two-part interview with a 'This American Life' producer and her battle with the phone company. She uses her position as a member of the media to influence the outcome of her problem by putting it out there for all 1.7 million listeners. It would be nice if you didn't need that kind of clout just to get a resolution, but I am glad that an unhappy consumer found salvation. The disc continues with stories of a son and his beautiful love for his mother, an amusing tale of a chipmunk and squirrel in love (the only fictional tale in the set), and closing with a story by Mr. PC (of Apple Ad star-dom) John Hodgman.

The artwork is frame-worthy (if it weren't so small) and was done by the awesomely talented Divya Srinivasan. She did Sufjan's artwork, and music videos for Spoon, Zero 7, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.., and They Might Be Giants. She rocks.

So. Two discs full of eleven sad, funny, self-reflecting and moving stories that made me smile and (almost) tear up plus awesome artwork. Some drag on, but those that pay off, really pay off. You probably wouldn't listen to these stories over and over again, but this is the perfect thing to take along on a road trip with some friends or spend the quiet times of the holiday season laughing with your father with. When you're done, pass it on. It's also more than enough to make you fall in love with This American Life series. I know I'll be tuning into Ira's show again.

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