Danielle Alarcon

I don't know about you, but you know what I think would feel great today? An animal story. And not one of the stories where the animals are some metaphor for human beings and we see ourselves through their actions and learn some important lesson. No, no, no, no.

I don't know about you, but you know what I think would feel great today? An animal story. And not one of the stories where the animals are some metaphor for human beings and we see ourselves through their actions and learn some important lesson. No, no, no, no.

I'm talking about an old-fashioned animal story where you hear about some amazing creature in some surprising situation and that creature then does things that have such personality and seem so specifically them, you know, it just gets to you. I am pleased to say we have a story like that for you today.

I'm talking about an old-fashioned animal story where you hear about some amazing creature in some surprising situation and that creature then does things that have such personality and seem so specifically them, you know, it just gets to you. I am pleased to say we have a story like that for you today.

And the creature is not a dog or a cat or a bunny or a horse or any other lovable creatures you usually find in this kind of story. It's an orca, a killer whale, that we humans captured from the wild, took from his mother and trained to be completely tame and live alongside us.

And the creature is not a dog or a cat or a bunny or a horse or any other lovable creatures you usually find in this kind of story. It's an orca, a killer whale, that we humans captured from the wild, took from his mother and trained to be completely tame and live alongside us.

This killer whale was so tame that at night, when his trainers went home and he was all alone, he would watch TV from inside his tank, He liked old Andy Griffith reruns and action movies. And that continued for years until one day we got the idea that maybe this killer whale didn't need to continue as a giant domesticated pet.

This killer whale was so tame that at night, when his trainers went home and he was all alone, he would watch TV from inside his tank, He liked old Andy Griffith reruns and action movies. And that continued for years until one day we got the idea that maybe this killer whale didn't need to continue as a giant domesticated pet.

Maybe it would be possible for him to lead a very different life in the wild again. Today's story comes from our co-workers at Serial. They, of course, have done so many remarkable series that have changed everybody's expectations of what you can do in a podcast. I have been sitting in on read-throughs of drafts of episodes of this new series for a year now.

Maybe it would be possible for him to lead a very different life in the wild again. Today's story comes from our co-workers at Serial. They, of course, have done so many remarkable series that have changed everybody's expectations of what you can do in a podcast. I have been sitting in on read-throughs of drafts of episodes of this new series for a year now.

I'm one of the people who gives editing notes. And whenever we do one of these listening sessions, I have to say it's always one of the best parts of my week. I really love this story. One of my favorite things they've ever done. This new series is called The Good Whale. Six episodes long, including, I'm not kidding, a musical episode. Maybe I'll tell you about that later.

I'm one of the people who gives editing notes. And whenever we do one of these listening sessions, I have to say it's always one of the best parts of my week. I really love this story. One of my favorite things they've ever done. This new series is called The Good Whale. Six episodes long, including, I'm not kidding, a musical episode. Maybe I'll tell you about that later.

They launched their first two episodes this week. And we're going to play you episode one of their show right now. And then after the break, we have another story, not from Serial, but a story that we made about animals and what we expect of them. From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life. I'm Ira Glass.

They launched their first two episodes this week. And we're going to play you episode one of their show right now. And then after the break, we have another story, not from Serial, but a story that we made about animals and what we expect of them. From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life. I'm Ira Glass.

Danielle Alarcon, the novelist and journalist and host of Radio Ambulante, is the host of this new show for Serial. And with that, I will turn things over to Danielle. Here's episode one of their show.

Danielle Alarcon, the novelist and journalist and host of Radio Ambulante, is the host of this new show for Serial. And with that, I will turn things over to Danielle. Here's episode one of their show.

Danielle Alarcon.

Danielle Alarcon.

We pick up the story of Keiko, where we left off. Here's Danielle Alarcon.

We pick up the story of Keiko, where we left off. Here's Danielle Alarcon.