Economic Turmoil Explained by TAL

No, TAL is not a friend of mine. Well, they are MY friend, but they don't exactly know I exist. You see, "TAL" is actually an NPR show called "This American Life". I couldn't very well put the initials NPR into my headline as I know some of us were tortured as children, forced to listen to NPR on Sunday mornings while our parents read the paper and we scoured cartoons and coupons. Okay, maybe obsessively clipping coupons and reading the want ads for my dream job at McDonald's was just MY typical Sunday as a six-year-old, but I digress. Prior to this show, I considered NPR to be a curse word worse than the F-Bomb. Yep, it has changed my podcast life.

So, what is "This American Life"? As they describe it on their website, "There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always." I realize this isn't the best description, so you're just going to have to try it out for yourself.



For the two episodes that I am "pitching" today, you'll have to either listen from your computer (free) or pay the big bucks ($.99) and download them to iTunes so you can listen from your iPhone/iPod/iEverything later on. I love to run and listen...for example, today I got through 6 miles by listening to one episode (1 hour in length). In essence: perfection.

The show is not always about money...it covers a variety of topics from being switched at birth to winning the lottery to having a job so ridiculous that you go to a room in Chicago's school district to just WAIT all day...and get paid for it. For the purposes of this pitch (I swear I don't know anyone who works there - I am just a passionate listener), I suggest starting with Episode 355, "Giant Pool of Money", which describes in easy-to-understand, yet factually fascinating, terms of how we find ourselves in this financial crisis, specifically focusing on the Mortgage Industry and their contribution to getting us here.

Episode 355: Giant Pool of Money

I also HIGHLY recommend downloading/listening to this other episode which enlightens us on the Billion Dollar Bailout and the forces around it/what it means to us as individuals.

Episode 365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy

That's it - I am off my pulpit. BUT, I would love to hear your comments with what you think of TAL. I seriously love it (obviously) and look forward to automatically downloading (FREE) to my iPhone every single week. I hope you will too.

Subscribe to the free podcast here.