Stories of people trying to save the world one person at a time, and stories of sudden truths delivered by complete strangers.
-
Download Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
- Transcript
The Rundown
The story of one girl's mission to bring people together everywhere by eliminating small talk forever. This American Life producer Starlee Kine has been going around lecturing audiences on the subject. She encourages them to switch to a new system she's invented, called The Rundown. Recorded at The Little Gray Book Lectures at the Galapagos Art Space in New York City. Thanks to Sheila Heti and the Trampoline Hall Lecture Series. (6 minutes)
Heather Help Me
Fools Rush In, Where Mommies Fear To Tread
An art history professor tries to talk with his fists. (9 minutes)
The Science Of Good And Evil
Susan Drury reports from Tennessee on a test that provides sudden truth from a stranger. It's based on a science whose goals could not be grander—to aid in the fight between good and evil. It was invented by a guy named Robert Hartman, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for his work back in the 1970s. What's most amazing about the test is how effective it is. (16 minutes)
Learn more about the personality test mentioned in the show, the Hartman Value Profile. Or, contact the testing company featured in our story, Axiometrics International.
Related
Act Two: The Invention of Cheese
Act Four: Your Name Is Ointment Poured Forth
Act Three: Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Be Alarmingly Familiar
Staff Recommendations
Will They Know Me Back Home?
Stories of people who've grown so accustomed to wartime that the lives they've left behind no longer make sense.
How I Got Into College
How a stolen library book got one man into his dream school and changed his life forever. Or at least that's the story he tells himself.