I listened to this piece and then took a minute to think about it. And the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.
It's just this kind of quirky, strange-but-true story that makes This American Life so fascinating.
And the fact that Susan's whole online adventure led to a new life, and a new outlook, makes it more appealing to others. Especially women who might be in the same situation.

I first listened to this piece when it aired on Morning Edition in early December, 2006. I was half asleep.
I lay under the covers, listening to Mary's voice as she quizzed her father, and to her father as he replied, and I was very touched.
I found his comments to her, describing his feelings when he and his wife learned that Mary had Down's Syndrome, to be moving and admirable.
I'm a big fan of StoryCorps. And pieces like this are the reason I think it works so well.

I am now a bona fide Mary Jo fan. The simplicity of each piece, as well as the usable information in each one, grabs you and before you know it you're hungry for whatever it is she is talking about. Good work.

I laughed when Aaron Sanders explained that his inability to read the pamphlet, and get to the job of tiling the bathroom, left him feeling less than "manly."
As one whose feminine self esteem has been dented by cookbooks, sewing patterns and gardening guides, I feel his pain.

In a DIY culture, it's nice to hear from a DGID (Didn't get it done.)

This is short (Perhaps, just a tidge too short?) and sweet but Norman makes a good point.
As a serial "forgetter," I'd like to think people forgive me, but I can't remember to ask...

I liked the way this piece gently made fun of our slavish devotion to tradition, and at the same time made it all sound like so much fun.
The commentator took us through Christmases past in his family, as old traditions grew older and new were added. He teases his parents for holding on to those traditions.
And, just as you'd expect, now that he is an adult and a father, he's doing the same thing to his family.
Hope this gets some air time. It's fun.

This is the season of clear, cold nights. Perfect for stargazing.
After listening to this piece on the loss of dark skies at night due to artificial lighting, one statistic stuck with me...Two thirds of the people in the world can no longer see the Milky Way from their backyards.
The piece also explores the connection between bright night skies, greenhouse gasses and the loss of the natural day and night rhythm of life.

I know exactly how she feels!
The home party business gets old very quickly. Why call it a girls night out when it's a business transaction?
Buying out of guilt or "peer pressure" as Sussingham notes, is the only polite way out. After a while, the lure of a glass of wine and homemade goodies palls and you start inventing excuses...
I had to go underground to escape Pampered Chefs, Mary Kay and Tupperware.
Sussingham's suggestion that we drop the pretense of getting together out of friendship, and instead pay a cover charge to cover the cost of goodies and bring in a little cash for the host, is perfect. A simple solution.

Probably a much better picture of the real holidays than the sweet stuff so many ( like me ) will submit.
It's quirky and a little tipsy and funny to listen to.

The "spend and waste season" is an excellent description of the modern holiday season.
Dr. Shana Weber offers timely suggestions for reducing consumption and for recycling materials over that might be discarded after the holidays.

(Makes me appreciate my grandmother who used the same paper, boxes and bows year after year.)

Lisa Wojna uses the words all parents come to use to describe parenting: "It humbled me."
In a straightforward and compelling voice, she shares the experience of dealing with the drug use of her children. The children she thought she could "love into a good home."
Wojna draws us in and offers a peek into her bewilderment, and frustration. Her sons narrate their own memories of that time.
With the sounds of a family meal being prepared in the background, she comes full circle. The ending isn't picture perfect, but it is real.

Cute piece. Pat Kent Gulya puts a positive spin on the Singing Santa that serenades her from the closet.

A light, but well constructed piece.
I like the idea of sweeping for the things that scare us, sticking them to the "spider trap" and then relocating them.

To be honest, I had never thought about "gum polution."
I liked this little piece. The earnestness of the speaker and the convoluted - but very serious - language used to describe the act of removing gum from the sidewalks of New York, hooked me.

This piece captures the mystique of the Ivory Billed woodpecker, and the hopes of the fading small town that has pinned its survival to the bird's "resurection."

The soft cadence of rural southern voices, accompanied by the haunting melody of the original song, lingered in my ear and in my mind, bringing to life
a complex part of the country and the reality of an almost mythical bird.