Jad Abumrad

I got multiple no's at multiple points.

And you're probably thinking, who is this guy?

Is it the president?

Is it a rock and roll hall of famer?

No, it was this humble, unassuming Canadian guy you've probably never even heard of.

But I had just fallen for his story so hard.

I knew I had to tell it.

So when I finally did get that yes, when I finally did interview him, the only time he offered to talk to me was when he was at home on dad duty and you could hear his kid banging on a piano in the background.

And I was like, oh, this audio is terrible.

Like I can't do this.

I could barely hear him.

He wasn't paying attention.

It just felt like one of those moments where the whole thing was going to fall apart.

But then something magical happened.

You'll hear it in the episode.

It's this moment between him and his daughter that felt so intimate, so tender, that it just convinced me, like, oh, this story is going to be even better than I thought.

I hope you enjoy.

It's an episode from 2019, The Punchline.

You're listening to Radiolab from WNYC.

Oh, my God.