When the best—and perhaps only—way to say something is to write it down.
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Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.
Dear Alice
Writing a letter decades after an event that shaped her life was the only way that Nicole Piasecki could make some sense of it. (18 minutes)
A version of this essay first appeared in Hippocampus Magazine.
Dear Miss
Yorkshire, 1866. A farmer overcomes his timidity and writes a very important letter to a local beauty. (3 minutes)
This letter was performed by Taron Egerton at Union Chapel, London, for Letters Live, which stages live readings of famous and remarkable letters in front of an audience.
Dear Dr. Kestenbaum
When senior editor David Kestenbaum was still a rookie reporter, he wrote an email to a legend. Then he waited...and waited...for a reply. (6 minutes)
Dear US Army
A woman writes an unusual letter on behalf of her husband. (1 minute)
This letter was performed by Crystal Clarke at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for Letters Live.
Dear Zoe
Producer Zoe Chace compares the letters a person gets and the letters they wish they got. (12 minutes)