• 339: Break-Up

  • Feb 9 2025
  • Length: 1 hr and 1 min
  • Podcast

339: Break-Up

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  • Summary

  • For Valentine's Day, stories from the heart of heartbreak.

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    • Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks with Lauren Waterman, who's in the middle of a break-up right now and grappling with totally contradictory feelings. (5 minutes)
    • Act One: In the wake of a break-up, writer Starlee Kine finds so much comfort in break-up songs that she decides to try and write one herself—even though she has no musical ability whatsoever. For some help, she goes to a rather surprising expert on the subject: Phil Collins. (29 minutes)
    • Act Two: Eight-year-old Betsy Walter goes on a campaign to understand her parents' divorce — a campaign that takes her to school guidance counselors, children's book authors, and the mayor of New York City. (10 minutes)
    • Act Three: Ira talks with divorce mediator Barry Berkman about why it's bad when the justice system gets involved in a break-up. (8 minutes)
    • Act Four: What divorce looks like from the dog's point of view. (5 minutes)

    Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

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