We live in a time of media dominated by the thirty second story, the ten second soundbite, the quick teaser followed up by a minute of coverage including a clip and a couple of quotes.That's why the in depth exploration of The Story on NPR is so wonderfully refreshing.
The hour-long show focuses on two stories each day, each taking up roughly half of the hour. The stories aren't about anybody famous, not about anyone that you've ever even maybe heard of. Instead, they're the stories of regular folks who have had something interesting happen to them.
One last week was about a young man who grew up in Warrenville, IL and was deported to Mexico when he was arrested for a drug offense at the age of eighteen. He is the child of two legal immigrants. His sister is a US citizen. His paperwork was just never filled out when he came across at the age of one. He has been sent 'home' to a country the he's never known to speak a language he doesn't know, and he's not allowed to see his family for five years.
At thirty seconds, his story would be an interesting glimpse.
At half an hour, in his own words, his story is heart-wrenching.
If your local NPR station doesn't carry The Story, it's also available as a daily podcast.
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