Such a big delay between new podcasts--not sure why, except people just haven't been very funny or profound lately. And that definitely includes me most of all....

Thank heavens for Tina, coming to the rescue with this story about lying to children. It has drama, repentence, and even a moral for the ages. For comparison, listen to the Dec. 2007 piece called Terrible Babysitters!

(Music by Solana from the album Shaka Island.)

Seems like some of those old-timers really knew a thing or two. Here's a dinner-table of people recalling some of the good old-timers and their good old ways. Kerosene, anyone?

(I'm Still Here by John Hartford.)

Kathy & Fred go walking on Halloween night and realize there's nothing to be scared of. Even zombies are just ordinary folks trying to get by.

(Music from Zombie Dance by The Cramps.)

Jean Parker is an independent radio journalist who lives in India. She told this great story about visiting Libya while sitting in our kitchen this summer.

File this one under "It's a big, strange world," I guess.

Okay, the title is a little misleading. This is really just some musing about the kinds of people I like to think I'm not really one of, and some thoughts to steady myself for the upcoming election, whatever the outcome.

(Music by The 747s.)

A kitchen table chat between childhood friends--Listen to realize how very very very lucky young people are when their adults regard them as real people and have real expectations of them.

Ahh, technology. Is there anything it can't improve?

Here we have some madness as our pal Rachel adds pal Jack to her list of cell phone contacts using the miracle that is "voice recognition." It turns the process of dialing someone who is sitting in the same room into something like an international incident. It also shows that New Yorkers don't back down from a fight!

My sister Nance and I got the chance to take a weekend trip together recently. During the middle of it, we were thrown back in time to another, far more fateful, trip we'd taken long ago. To this day, the mention of Rolla, Missouri sends an icy chill up our spines--for reasons you will see!

Another drum extravaganza caught live. Dude, this guy is awesome!! And the crowd is crazy!!

This is from the song Air Dry, No Heat, available only in our laundry room.

You can flop down on a sofa in a department store and wait it out, or you can go the the street and get out among 'em! Here's a clip from Chicago's Michigan Avenue.