About this episode
The episode features four stories exploring themes of mistaken and true identity, ethical lines, and the realization of asking the wrong questions.
A Philadelphia writer spends one unforgettable weekend believing he'd won a $50,000 arts grant — only to discover the cruel coincidence of sharing a name with a famous jazz critic, and the humbling task of confessing the truth to a room full of fellow dreamers. A Native activist and artist traces the long, painful arc from a little kid flipping through Easter dresses in a Kmart to finding the ancient Cheyenne word that finally named who he always was — and the hard-won sobriety that made it possible to get there. A freelance journalist races to small-town Montana to cover a Capitol Hill shooting, sweet-talks his way to a killer scoop, and then watches the whole thing unravel over a $50 expense on an invoice. And a philosophy grad student boards a fishing vessel in Bristol Bay, Alaska chasing clarity and the spirit of Into the Wild, only to find himself standing on the bow in 24-hour gray daylight, teetering on the edge of a psychotic break — and finally understanding that the answers he'd been hunting were never waiting at the destination. Four stories about mistaken identity, true identity, ethical lines, and the moment you realize you've been asking the wrong question all along.
People in this episode
Host: Tell Us Something
Topics covered
- identity
- self-discovery
- ethical dilemmas
- personal growth
- storytelling
Keywords
- arts grant
- identity
- sobriety
- journalism
- Capitol Hill
- Bristol Bay
- self-discovery
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Into the Wild
Places: Montana, Bristol Bay, Alaska
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