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The current “free” download of This American Life, a rerun from July of 1997, is entitled “Dreamhouse” and is a new favorite of mine. Two stories of families who packed up and moved to a new place, to start new lives in new homes. Told by the (now adult) children of the familes, who at the time of the moves were just old enough to record their memories.

The first is a tale of a family of four who gave up everything they had on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and settled on an untouched plot in the mountains of Maine. Looking back on the events of that summer and the years that would follow in the mountains, the four family members, now living their separate lives, reminisce and take a shot at drawing the line that separates bravery from insanity.

The second story, the last third of the episode, centers around the suburban pioneers who, in the early 1960′s packed up and moved to what has now become Northern California’s Silicon Valley. While not as dramatic a story as the first selection, this piece, mostly excerpted from David Beer’s memoir “Blue Sky Dream: A Memoir of America’s Fall from Grace” contributes to my romanticism for that place and time and all of its promises of a “modern” future.

Download Dreamhouse
Subscribe to Weekly This American Life Podcasts
Buy (the newly released) First Season of Showtime’s This American Life TV Series.

Friday, July 6th, 2007 | 5:48 pm | Best | Jeff