Ruining It for the Rest of Us

Measles cases are higher in the U.S. than they've been in a decade, mostly because more and more nervous parents are refusing to vaccinate their kids. Contributing Editor Susan Burton tells the story of what happened recently in San Diego, when an unvaccinated 7-year-old boy returned home from a trip to Switzerland, bringing with him the measles. By the end of the ordeal, 11 other children caught the disease, and more than 60 kids had to be quarantined. (22 minutes)

There's this haven on the U.S. railroad—the Amtrak Quiet Car. You can't yammer on your cell phone in the Quiet Car, or yuck it up with your friends, or even talk above a murmur. For This American Life Producer Nancy Updike, who commutes between New York and Washington, D.C., it's bliss. But then Nancy began to notice that the more she rode the Quiet Car, the more she was becoming like an enforcer in a fascist fraternity. (8 minutes)