About Nauru: This American Life

You may have noticed that we post fairly frequently here about things we hear on NPR. That’s because some stories on public radio are so well done, and so interesting, that we’d feel like we were cheating you out of a great experience if we neglected to mention them. That’s really what blogs are about, after all. Spreading the word about specific stories and ideas, bringing them to the attention of a wide audience. Bloggers are filters, editors, arbiters of good taste. You trust us to help you sift through the clutter. And MAN is there a lot of clutter these days.

So with that said I want to provide you with a link to a radio story by Jack Hitt that I know you’ll totally dig. It comes from a broadcast of This American Life that aired back in December of 2003. But don’t let that put you off. It ain’t stale. The story I want you to hear is the second piece in the broadcast about the island of Nauru. It’s a slice of history, a bit of intrigue, a dose of humor. But in the end you’ll be gratified. Now, chances are you have never heard of Nauru. But I guarantee you once you listen to the story here, you’ll never forget it. And if by chance in the future someone does mention Nauru, I’ll bet this story will come to mind.