THIS AMERICAN LIFE: FATHER'S DAY (RADIO)
Summary
One in this weekly series that looks at a different,
specific aspect of life in the United States in each
episode. Episodes contain several segments, or "acts,"
each of which relates to the established theme. This
installment, "Father's Day," presents several different
perspectives on what this holiday connotes for a variety
of writers and performers. This episode is co-anchored
by host Ira Glass's father Barry, who plays his favorite
Frank Sinatra and Eddie Fisher songs throughout the
program. In the first act, "How the World Sees Your
Father," writer Sandra Tsing Loh shares an elaborate
anecdote about discovering a never before seen side of
her father's personality. Loh explains that her dad was
strict and stingy when she was growing up. He rarely
smiled, she remembers, and he once punished young
Sandra for purchasing a comic book. When, one day
twenty-five years later, a friend passed along a tape of
a song called "Mr. Loh" by a band called Boy Hits Car,
Loh thought someone was playing a joke on her. The song
was clearly about her father, but to her surprise he was
portrayed in the lyrics as a symbol of individual
freedom and fun. She learned that the band members got
to know her father outside their beach house in Malibu;
the old man would exercise naked on the beach every
morning, and they were impressed with his
self-confidence. Loh interviews both the band and her
father, commenting all the while on the range of
perspective among the three camps. In the second act,
"Dad's Music," writer Sherman Alexie reads a short story
about his father's love for Jimi Hendrix. Alexie's
Native-American father fit in with the counterculture
scene, he explains, as "all the hippies wanted to be
Indians anyways." Alexie's father took great pride, his
son relates, in claiming that he was "the only Indian
who ever saw Hendrix play the 'Star Spangled Banner.'"
In the third act, "The Monet Dad Left," producer Jay
Allison recounts in vivid detail the moment at which his
father left his family during a mid-life crisis. After
telling his version of the story, Allison interviews his
reluctant father to obtain his take on the scenario. In
the fourth act, "Reconciling With Dad," Chicago-based
actor Beau O'Reilly describes the emotions he felt when
he began performing plays with his respected actor
father James D. O'Reilly. Beau discusses the way in
which the profession of acting can cloud the expression
of true emotions between people.
(Network affiliation varies: local broadcast, November
1995-June 1996; on NPR, June 1996-June 1997; on PRI,
July 1997- .)
Details
- NETWORK: NPR National Public Radio
- DATE: June 14, 1996 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:13
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:16115
- GENRE: Radio - Public affairs/Documentaries; Radio - Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Father's Day; Fathers; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
- SERIES RUN: WBEZ (Chicago, IL) - Radio series, 1995-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ira Glass … Host
- Barry Glass … Guest
- Sherman Alexie
- Jay Allison
- Boy Hits Car
- Eddie Fisher
- Jimi Hendrix
- Sandra Tsing Loh
- Beau O'Reilly
- James D. O'Reilly
- Frank Sinatra