May 6, 2011

This Week

This week we're trying something we've never tried before: An hour of stories about...this week. We take a crack at major news events, like what's happening in Egypt; and at the most minor, like an 8-year-old who's finally taking the training wheels off her bike. The stories are united by one thing: They all happened in the seven days prior to broadcast.

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Transcript

This episode contains original theme music by Cassettes Won't Listen.

Prologue

Ira tells what happened this week to Dan Curry in Odessa Texas on Wednesday, to eight-year-old Ruby Melman on Sunday in New Jersey, to Beau O'Reilly at a bike store in Chicago on Saturday, to Theodosha Alexander at the World Trade Center site on Thursday, to Dr. Wade Gordon in Afghanistan on Thursday, to a high school class at the Grand Canyon on Wednesday, and at a bar in New York City on Saturday. (8 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Act One

Sunday Night, State College PA

Sarah Koenig talks with Lexi Belculfine, who tries to explain why she and her peers had such a loud, excited reaction to the news of Osama Bin Laden's death, a much more visibly emotional reaction than people over thirty. (5 minutes)

By

Sarah Koenig

Act Two

Monday, Cairo Egypt

Nancy Updike reports from Cairo, Egypt about what people were doing there this week, namely: going to meetings to create their new democracy. (11 minutes)

By

Nancy Updike

Act Three

Monday, Tucson AZ

Ira plays a recorded example of American-style democracy, a school board meeting in Tucson, recorded by a high school teacher, Sarah Bromer. (4 minutes)

By

Sarah Bromer

Act Four

Saturday to Wednesday: CA, NY, WI, ME

Ira tells what happened this week to Shirley Everett-Dicko in Oakland on Sunday, to Gabe and Kevin in Brooklyn on Saturday, to Eric and Roz in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on Wednesday night at midnight, and (in the podcast version of the show) to Eugene Rand and Bill True, on Monday in South Portland, Maine. (6 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Act Five

Wednesday, Tuscaloosa AL

This week Southerners were still digging out in the wake of last week's tornados. David Kestenbaum, from our Planet Money team, heads to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he finds that facts are not so easy to hold onto. (7 minutes)

By

David Kestenbaum

Planet Money

Song:

“The Blackout” by G-side featuring Chris Lee

Act Six

Thursday, Greenville SC

Thursday night was a make-or-break evening for candidate Herman Cain at the first Republican Presidential debate. Robert Smith from our Planet Money team talked to him about his strategy. Planet Money is a co-production of NPR News and This American Life. (6 minutes)

By

Planet Money

Robert Smith

Act Seven

Saturday and Sunday, Gainesville and Coral Springs FL

On Saturday, Laura Hucke graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville. The next day she made a trip that four years ago she didn't think she'd have to make.

By

Eric Mennel

Song:

“Helplessness Blues” by Fleet Foxes

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