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January 16, 2004

What I Should’ve Said

People return to the scene of the crime where they should have spoken clearly, plainly, forcefully...to review what the hell went wrong, and in a few cases, to fix it. Jonathan Goldstein tries to stop time. Charles Monroe tries to figure out how to teach a lesson to the President of the United States.

Prologue

Host Ira Glass talks about trying to figure out what to say to his dying mom. He's sure that someday he'll wish he said something different than what he actually said. (5 minutes)
Act Two

In The Bush Leagues

The true story of a young activist, Charles Monroe-Kane (now a producer at WPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge), who, in his very first political action, heckled the leader of the free world...and failed horribly...leaving him mulling it over late at night, for years. (16 minutes)

Act Four

Life Sentence

The President of the Maryland State Senate, Mike Miller, a veteran political operator, talks about the off-the-cuff remark in 1989 that many people say changed his life forever. (7 minutes)