489: No Coincidence, No Story!
Summary
Sarah Koenig hosts a special episode of This American Life centered on listener-submitted coincidence stories, featuring tales like a Poopa Trooper landing in a hotel window years after being thrown from the Space Needle. The show includes a segment where a 16-year girl debates her grandmother over the significance of minor coincidences, alongside romantic stories involving a dollar bill with a name written on it and families discovering past connections. Other narratives cover a man finding change stuck to his back in the shower and a teenager witnessing a missing person case that turns ou…
Topics discussed
Ira Glass promo for live show video
Hannah and Lindsay's Space Needle coincidence
Listener submissions and coincidence trends
Show intro and Allianz Travel ad
Act One: Grandma in a photo from 18 years ago
Debating the significance of small coincidences
Act Two: The Immaculate Dollar and love stories
Act Three: Nickels in the shower mystery
Sponsorship breaks for Allianz and HomeServe
Jeff Dunn's mannequin under the manhole cover
More stories: Jazz singer, bus stop, and pyramid
Kerry Weeks' knife and refrigerator stories
Conclusion and promo for Metro with Sarah Koenig
Credits and Easy Cater ad
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