Like many who read this blog, I have been avoiding this weekend’s media hoopla. But driving home from a favorite, serene pond this evening, I caught this weekend’s edition of This American Life. I am glad I did, since I think Ira Glass and the producers have taken the most ‘real’ angle I’ve encountered — besides Planet Waves, of course — in revisiting people they’d interviewed in the first couple years after the Sept. 11 incident. This includes a young American-born Afghani who, as a teen in 2001, moved to Afghanistan when his father was tapped to help lead the new government there. He has since committed his life’s mission to helping his country move forward. It’s a level of devotion I could barely imagine as I listened to what he’s up against.
To give an idea of the show’s angle, here’s how it begins:
Ira Glass: “Okay, just to put this out there, perhaps you are somebody who has not been looking forward to the deluge of 10th anniversary 9/11 coverage on basically every media outlet that exists. But think for a second about what it’s like for the 9/11 families and survivors. Like Lynn Simpson; she was on the first show we did after 9/11, telling the story of working on the 89th floor of World Trade Center One when the planes hit, and how she made it down the stairs and out of the building with about a minute to spare. I caught up with her last week.”
Lynn: “I wish that people wouldn’t make such a big deal about the 10th anniversary. And I’m very happy when September 12th comes along.”
Ira: “You’re saying that in a way that for you, who escaped from the World Trade Center, you’d pretty much rather not be looking back so intensely each year. Then, if that’s so, then who are these commemorations for?”
Lynn: “Well that’s… I… I don’t know.”