This American Life -- "Meeting the Pros"

Radio blogging here....

I just listened to this week's NPR program This American Life.
Ira Glass may be the most gifted storyteller of our time and his work keeps getting better and better.

This evening's program has three stories.

Go to the link.

Click Full Episode

It's an hour program and you probably don't have time to listen to it all. All three "Acts" are good, but I recommend the second.

►The first is the story of a youngster who loved basketball so much that he practiced way into the night. Unfortunately, he was just another youngster only 5" 10" and no matter how good he got the chances of hitting the big time on a basketball court were slim to none. But he went to a tryout for a Nike Commercial and handled a basketball so well he was selected and became famous overnight. The You Tube link is not trick photography.

►►►The second story is about gambling. There is no way I can summarize this episode. You have to listen. To do this, drag the time indicator to 20 minutes and listen...It starts with a report on the World Series of Poker and is about professional poker players. This episode takes 26 minutes and is worth every moment. Set aside time, go get a drink and enjoy...

►The end story is okay but struck me as a time filler. It's well-done but didn't catch my imagination. I was pleased to find that someone other than me knows of Michael Csikszentmihalyi. That's another story altogether, so unless you have a lot more time on you hands, it's okay to skip this one.