Ode To This American Life

It is part of the algebraic equation we call work. Give someone your time, expertise, brawn, mind,or soul, and in exchange they give you money.

Recently, This American Life devoted a program to Getting And Spending Money. 
 

If you don't have the time to listen to the entire program, take the seven minutes to listen to Marti Nixon's experience at a product placement company.

Prologue. Marti Noxon used to work for a company that did "product placement" for the movie industry. And when some auditors came to check that clients were being correctly billed, the company's bosses took unusual steps. Namely, they hired actors to play the employees who were supposedly on the payroll. (7 minutes)

If you listen to the entire program, you will hear from an artist who was scammed out of  $40,000 -$50,000 from his first "show" in NYC, as well as from a suburban dad who decided the best way to make money was to rob banks.

My favorite story from this particular episode is called That Guy. Here is how This American Life describes the piece.

Cook investigates that moment when you realize you've become "that guy" you've always hated, and how the simple act of purchasing deodorant can lead to that moment. (9 minutes)

It is a story about individualism and the power that advertising messages have on our choices and loyalties.You have a couple of choices when it comes to listening to the program. You can listen on the website. This requires some navigational skill. First, go to their home page .Look at the left navigation bar for a link to the Complete Archive. It instructs you to START HERE.

When you get to that look for the 9/8 episode for 2006.Just click and listen.

If you subscribe to Audible.com you can download episodes on your iPod. That's my preferred listening method. It has become part of my weekend ritual. I walk Uma Thurman along the Mississippi, across the Stone Arch Bridge and listen to This American Life. It  doesn't get better than that.

 

In the spirit of full disclosure.

Some people dream of careers writing for The New York Times, or becoming a network correspondent. Not me. My goal is to become a contributor for This American Life.

That's my confession. It's my time of year for confessions.
I have This American Life envy.