I love this NPR segment during This American Life. Ira Glass starts off talking about his own fear of sleep as a kid, and then interviews other people who either have a fear of sleeping or should have a fear of sleeping. Mike Birbiglia starts off talk about his sleeping walking problem that became dangerous, such as seeing animals and striking karate poses in his sleep until his girlfriend could talk him down. He delivers this in a very comedic manor and in the setting of a comedy show in a night club or something. The next two women in the story talk about cockroaches and bedbugs that infested their house. They said they weren't scared but have actually just gotten used to it. The third gentleman talks about how, when he was 11, he trained himself not to fall asleep and therefore started seeing things at night that you weren't meant to see. He talks about a night at another kid's house when he walked in on the kid's parents in the middle of an unmentionable act while just wanting to ask for a glass of water. The second to last interview was with NPR producer Seth Lind who started having nightmares because of watching the Shining with his uncle at a very young age. He said what probably made it so real was the fact that so much of the film was from the perspective of a 6 or 7 year old boy, just like him. The scene he said stands out is when the rush of blood comes pouring from the elevator. Ira Glass closes by saying that the fear of sleep can by tied with the fear of death. I loved these interviews because I have a fascination with sleep and sleep disorders. As a first grader I started having trouble sleeping after the fire department visited my school to talk about house fires. I became so paranoid of my house burning down, I could not fall asleep. I then began hallucinating right as I woke up, like one of the interviewees said she did, as well as felt a bit of paralysis. Mine was at night, but hers was only if she napped during the day. I to this day still have trouble sleeping and have to take prescription sleep medication, so this was an awesome show for me to listen to.
Didn't Ask To Be Born
This NPR segment, also from This American Life (I love Ira Glass) starts off by using an example from the TV show American High where a father and son are arguing about which car the son can take out. He wants to take the Corolla. His dad wants him to take out the other car, claiming it would attract the ladies. Next a woman named Debra talks about her two daughters, Stephanie and Amanda who she loved more than she ever thought possible. After a divorce and relocation, her relationship with her 2 oldest daughters begins to wither. The daughters talk about rebelling by dying their hair strange colors, shaving it into mohawks, wearing chain covered pants and giant leather boots a la Marilyn Manson. They try to retrace and figure out what and when things went wrong. The second part of the show talks about a young boy who had plenty of friends, a great family who loved him and took interest in his life, yet he set himself on fire. He goes into the reasons why he did it and reads excerpts from his book The Burn Journals. I loved this segment because I have felt like an outsider many times, especially when it comes to my family. I'm very outspoken and am an individual and will do what I want no matter what. My mother and father are extremely conservative and I just have never felt like I fit with them with my strange hair colors, piercings, and tattoos. One of my brothers is on my side, covered in tats, piercings, and a multi-colored mohawk that stands about a foot high. It's no fun being an outsider, but in the end, I'm not doing it to rebel or get attention, but to stay true to myself and to express out the outside who I am within.
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