Since they were first introduced in 1847, postage stamps have become a staple of American life and taste. On today’s show, a look at America’s most memorable stamps, and why some were beloved, while others were surprisingly contentious.
Also today, we continue our series Good Gig: conversations with people who have landed their dream job. We’ll talk to a wildfire fighter who rappels from helicopters into raging infernos, and feels lucky!
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
America in 36 Stamps
- Stamps tell a deeper story of American history, preferences, creativity and self-image. Chris West explores all of those layers of narrative in his book A History of America in 36 Postage Stamps.
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America in 36 Stamps
Good Gig: Fire Rappeller
- Jessica Crump is a fire rappeller, or officially, a wild land firefighter for the United States Forestry Service based out of Grants Pass, Oregon.
- You can read more about Jessica's Good Gig at this link.
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Good Gig: Fire Rappeller
Paid Audience Members
- Aitana Vargas went undercover as a paid audience member and wrote about conditions for Narratively in an article: "The Underpaid Grunts of TV Talk Show Land".
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Paid Audience Members
Separated @ Birth
- Two girls adopted and raised on two continents found each other on social media 25 years later. Anaïs Bordier and Samantha Futerman are working on a documentary film of their experience and have together written: “Separated @ Birth: A True Love Story of Twin Sisters Reunited.”
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Separated @ Birth
StoryCorps: Twins
- And now, a tale of love, marriage, and two sets of twins from StoryCorps. It was the summer of 1946...Hunny Feller and her identical twin sister, Bunny, were waitresses at a hotel. Another set of identical twins, Elliot and Danny Reiken, worked as musicians in a band there. Hunny and Elliot share the story.
- You can listen to this story at storycorps.org.
