Ira Glass

Well, the United States of America, of course, does all kinds of things to try to win friends and influence people among the world's nations. We organize sanctions against rogue states. We rally countries on trade issues and once upon a time on environmental issues. And sometimes you get the sense that when we're rallying nations into a coalition for this or that, U.S.

diplomats have to make the kinds of phone calls that are not easy to make. They have to talk to countries that are angry at us for one reason or another. They have to talk to countries that we'd acted all interested in for a while in the past, and then we just kind of stopped calling.

diplomats have to make the kinds of phone calls that are not easy to make. They have to talk to countries that are angry at us for one reason or another. They have to talk to countries that we'd acted all interested in for a while in the past, and then we just kind of stopped calling.

Interesting case in point, shortly after September 11th, back in 2001, as the United States tried to organize nations into a coalition to fight the Taliban, the Secretary of State back then, Colin Powell, was in the paper saying things like, our sudden interest in Pakistan was not, quote, just a temporary spike in American interest.

Interesting case in point, shortly after September 11th, back in 2001, as the United States tried to organize nations into a coalition to fight the Taliban, the Secretary of State back then, Colin Powell, was in the paper saying things like, our sudden interest in Pakistan was not, quote, just a temporary spike in American interest.

that we had, quote, an enduring commitment and that Pakistan was, quote, a great Muslim nation. Which makes you wonder, what were those first phone calls like back then? Well, back in 2001, when we first broadcast today's show, one of our contributors, Tammy Sager, tried to imagine exactly that.

that we had, quote, an enduring commitment and that Pakistan was, quote, a great Muslim nation. Which makes you wonder, what were those first phone calls like back then? Well, back in 2001, when we first broadcast today's show, one of our contributors, Tammy Sager, tried to imagine exactly that.

Tammy Sager, she is a performer and writes for TV, most recently on the brand new show, They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelsey. Lesson three, people like you if you put a lot of time into your appearance. To prove this simple point, we have this true story of moral instruction told by Luke Burbank about something that happened to him years ago.

Tammy Sager, she is a performer and writes for TV, most recently on the brand new show, They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelsey. Lesson three, people like you if you put a lot of time into your appearance. To prove this simple point, we have this true story of moral instruction told by Luke Burbank about something that happened to him years ago.

Luke Burbank. Here's the public radio show Live Wire as well as the daily podcast Too Beautiful to Live. They're available wherever you get your podcasts. And now the final lesson of our show, lesson four, just be yourself. Some people are very clear that they are not Superman and they are at peace with that. And so what if you know that you are just yourself, just regular size, no special powers?

Luke Burbank. Here's the public radio show Live Wire as well as the daily podcast Too Beautiful to Live. They're available wherever you get your podcasts. And now the final lesson of our show, lesson four, just be yourself. Some people are very clear that they are not Superman and they are at peace with that. And so what if you know that you are just yourself, just regular size, no special powers?

We have the story of one such man whose lack of superpowers is pushed into his face all the time because of circumstances that will become all too clear to you. Jonathan Goldstein tells the story.

We have the story of one such man whose lack of superpowers is pushed into his face all the time because of circumstances that will become all too clear to you. Jonathan Goldstein tells the story.

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Jonathan Goldstein. His podcast, Heavyweight, is going to be coming back soon with a brand new season of their show. Our program was produced today by Starlee Kine and myself, with Alex Bloomberg, Wendy Doran, Jonathan Goldstein. Senior producer for today's show is Julie Snyder. Technical director is Matt Tierney. Production help from Michael Garofalo, Laura Smith, and Lily Sullivan.

Jonathan Goldstein. His podcast, Heavyweight, is going to be coming back soon with a brand new season of their show. Our program was produced today by Starlee Kine and myself, with Alex Bloomberg, Wendy Doran, Jonathan Goldstein. Senior producer for today's show is Julie Snyder. Technical director is Matt Tierney. Production help from Michael Garofalo, Laura Smith, and Lily Sullivan.

Help on today's rerun from Henry Larson. Special thanks today to Alan Mazur, Kevin Petrowski, Leslie Zane, and the Carriage House Theater of Montalvo. Thanks to Brian Mandel for real advice on influencing others. Thanks to Edie Rabidewitz, Lee Thompson, BJ Fogg, Dan Lewis. Music help for today's show by Sarah Val.

Help on today's rerun from Henry Larson. Special thanks today to Alan Mazur, Kevin Petrowski, Leslie Zane, and the Carriage House Theater of Montalvo. Thanks to Brian Mandel for real advice on influencing others. Thanks to Edie Rabidewitz, Lee Thompson, BJ Fogg, Dan Lewis. Music help for today's show by Sarah Val.

This American Life is delivered to public radio stations by PRX, the public radio exchange, to become a This American Life partner, which gets you bonus content, ad-free listening, and hundreds of our favorite episodes of the show right in your podcast feed. Go to thisamericanlife.org slash lifepartners. That link is also in the show notes. Thanks as always to our program's co-founder, Ms.