535: Origin Story
Mar 09, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 535
Summary
This episode explores the origin stories of institutions, ideas, and personal identities. It delves into the myths of entrepreneurial beginnings, a copywriter's fight for recognition, a restaurant as a memorial, the transformation of a film script, and a refugee boy's search for identity. The stories reveal the complexities of creation, legacy, and belonging.Episode description
Little-known and surprising stories of how all sorts of institutions began.
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- Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks to business professor Pino Audia and Fast Company magazine columnist Dan Heath about corporate creation myths and why so many of them involve garages. (7 minutes)
- Act One: Sarah Koenig tells the story of her father, Julian Koenig, the legendary advertising copywriter whose work includes the slogan "Timex takes a licking and keeps on ticking" and Volkswagen's "Think Small" ads. For years, Sarah has heard her dad accuse a former partner of stealing some of his best ideas, but until recently, she never paid much attention. Then she started asking her dad for details of this fight for his legacy, and what she learned surprised her. (20 minutes)
- Act Two: Producer Sean Cole visits Chad's Trading Post in Southampton, Massachusetts. One person who works there wears a shirt that says "Chad's Brother;" other shirts say "Chad's Best Friend," "Chad's Cousin," and "Chad's Father." Pictures of Chad are everywhere. Chad's dead. The family explains. (14 minutes)
- Act Three: Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, tells Ira the origin story of one of the worst movie sequels ever made. (5 minutes)
- Act Four: Reporter Mary Wiltenburg tells the story of a little boy stymied by the question "Where do you come from?" (8 minutes)
Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org
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