This week, stories where a longtime standoff keeps both sides coming back for more. Including a story about the time in Poland's recent history where the country's two political blocks came together and believed, however briefly, they'd be able to set aside their differences. And another story about a college rivalry gone viral, and personal.
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Prologue
Host Ira Glass speaks with Columbia University professor Peter Coleman, who shares some surprising details about the battle surrounding the abortion debate in Boston during the 1990s. We learn what secret meetings between the warring groups could accomplish, and what they couldn't. Coleman wrote about this topic in his book The Five Percent: Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts." (7 minutes)
Solidarity For Never
After a 2010 plane crash killed dozens of Polish dignitaries, including the president, some thought that the country would cross the political rift and come together to mourn. Reporter Amy Drozdowska-McGuire tells what happened instead. (26 minutes)
A Tale of Two Jerseys
When Chris Gethard was attending a run-down Rutgers University in the late 1990s, another student down the way—at a university called Princeton—became his nemesis. This is the title story of Chris's book A Bad Idea I'm About to Do, which comes out in January. He also hosts The Chris Gethard Show, a public access TV talk show. (20 minutes)
Related
Act Three: The Politics Of Wackiness
Act Two: Uganda Be Kidding Me
Act Three: Aw, Do We NAFTA?
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