Ira Glass

Some deep part of me that just pulls away from other people in all kinds of situations. I feel so much more comfortable when I'm alone. That kind of thing isolated my dad from people who cared about him, from love and experiences that he could have had. And it's done that to me as well, at times. When was the day he taught me that?

I think most of what we learn from our parents, they never intended for us to learn. The stuff just shows up inside of us, like a virus. One that they never meant to transmit, and we didn't mean to catch. Then we look up, later, and they're in us. While we watch them, on morphine, struggling with their breathing. And after they're gone as well.

I think most of what we learn from our parents, they never intended for us to learn. The stuff just shows up inside of us, like a virus. One that they never meant to transmit, and we didn't mean to catch. Then we look up, later, and they're in us. While we watch them, on morphine, struggling with their breathing. And after they're gone as well.

Today on our show, we have stories where kids grapple with their dad's legacies. Stuff about them, consciously and unconsciously, good and bad, that they left behind. Okay, for this next line, I have an old recording of my dad.

Today on our show, we have stories where kids grapple with their dad's legacies. Stuff about them, consciously and unconsciously, good and bad, that they left behind. Okay, for this next line, I have an old recording of my dad.

Dad, you are such a pro. Stay with us.

Dad, you are such a pro. Stay with us.

This is American Life. For this holiday weekend, this family weekend, we have this show about parents and kids that we first broadcast last year. Act one. Am I my father's trapper, keeper, keeper? Before we get to the father in this story, let me play you this ad. It's from the 80s. Two teenagers in a crowded library. They stand up and, oops, bump into each other. Papers fall to the ground.

This is American Life. For this holiday weekend, this family weekend, we have this show about parents and kids that we first broadcast last year. Act one. Am I my father's trapper, keeper, keeper? Before we get to the father in this story, let me play you this ad. It's from the 80s. Two teenagers in a crowded library. They stand up and, oops, bump into each other. Papers fall to the ground.

Such good acting. Then this realistic piece of dialogue.

Such good acting. Then this realistic piece of dialogue.

Say, what is that thing?

Say, what is that thing?

This is an ad for a trapper-keeper notebook. One of the main selling points? Keeps all your papers trapped. Get it? So they don't fall out.

This is an ad for a trapper-keeper notebook. One of the main selling points? Keeps all your papers trapped. Get it? So they don't fall out.

That last line kind of gets to me. What is wrong with me? Ads like this are the kind of thing that either evoke nostalgia or complete bafflement. But if you were around in the 80s, you knew the Trapper Keeper. The Velcro sound when you open it, the pictures on the covers, the rings of the binder, they sort of smoothly slid open and shut instead of snapping so you wouldn't catch your fingers.

That last line kind of gets to me. What is wrong with me? Ads like this are the kind of thing that either evoke nostalgia or complete bafflement. But if you were around in the 80s, you knew the Trapper Keeper. The Velcro sound when you open it, the pictures on the covers, the rings of the binder, they sort of smoothly slid open and shut instead of snapping so you wouldn't catch your fingers.

According to a press release from the time, half, of all middle school and high school students had a Trapper Keeper in 1989. I don't know if I believe that, but there are a lot of them around. Anyway, when the inventor of the Trapper Keeper died in 2022, it got a lot of attention.

According to a press release from the time, half, of all middle school and high school students had a Trapper Keeper in 1989. I don't know if I believe that, but there are a lot of them around. Anyway, when the inventor of the Trapper Keeper died in 2022, it got a lot of attention.

NPR, The Today Show, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the all-around stories. And then we got this email. It was from a woman who was very surprised by this obituaries because as far as she knew, the inventor of the Trapper Keeper was very much alive. And he was her father. She said her dad invented it, not the guy in the obit. And she was not happy about it.