Making the Cut. And I think, even a couple of years earlier with Tip O'Neill, that would have happened. From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life. If you knew anything about Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, you know he was a bipartisan schmoozer, a big Muppety guy, who took up a lot of space in the room. This is from Rush's TV show. And he says, absolutely. But it's especially fitting that so many of us from so many different backgrounds-- young and old, the working and the retired, Democrat and Republican-- should come together for the signing of this landmark legislation. So I said to her, so would you please give it to me? They can't find the lost and found. And it sounds incredible to us, but the policy of the Israeli army is that if it's at all possible, you go home on leave every two weeks. By free will, I mean, when you're staring at the menu, and you pick the salad over the burger or any other choice you make-- big or small-- who you marry, whether you keep listening to me for another minute. Give to charity. And I said to her, you know you have our bag. Gingrich talked about saving America from liberal politicians. Like when a radioactive atom breaks apart, the exact moment it happens seems random. Producer Zoe Chace tells the story of the man who either reinvented politics or broke it. And they are so disdainful of you everyday Americans that this is how they behave. Others, like Kind World , a podcast from WBUR, are less than 10 minutes. And its C-Span. And the guy says to her, I just want to understand, Mrs. Keret. Finally, a guy at the car rental-- super nice guy-- offers to take them to it. And it is grievously hurtful to our society when vilification becomes an accepted form of political debate, negative campaigning becomes a full-time occupation, when members of each party become self-appointed vigilantes carrying out personal vendettas against members of the other party. Don't do that again. And they will give you some [? For awhile, I couldn't even talk with my wife about it. Newt sees an opening to take Wright down. And you challenge their Americanism. And they leave at the end of the business day. Bob Walker, Republican from Pennsylvania, happens to be speaking right then. Special thanks today to Rob Long, Kelefa Sanneh, Stu Greenberg, Sean Carroll, Jim Naureckas, Charlie Schaupp, Stephen Talbot. In 2014, there were 29 new This American Life episodes.. He could also be cruel. Don't talk about it anymore. Going into the 1994 midterm elections, hundreds of Republican candidates signed on to this thing-- the Contract with America. To be fair, O'Neill had been known to call Reagan a real Ebenezer Scrooge. He's fine now, by the way. We are just collections of atoms. I could just look out there. It wasn't always so zero sum like it's become. It's why people tell each other this story. A special treat, the Democratic leader. I'd open my mouth, but I just couldn't do it. Shut up. People close to him say he always pictured himself as a historical figure, someone who would bend the course of American history, someone who anticipated stories like the one I'm telling you now. If I stop and really think about it, I get slightly panicked. One Republican I talked to this week quoted to me from memory, indignant, something ABC News anchor Peter Jennings said on the air when Republicans finally took the House and installed Gingrich as Speaker. Then the Speaker gets called out in front of the whole country, and he looks arrogant and mean. And for attorney general, the top law enforcement officer in the country, he's nominating a woman who just blatantly flouted social security taxes. Tip O'Neill thinks this will make the guys look petty talking to no one. And she says, yes, I am. And she said to him, what are you doing? It describes how Newt would just fax talking points out to talk show hosts around the country. This means that would Tip O'Neill just said to Gingrich is so offensive, so toxic that he wants the wrongness of it officially acknowledged, perhaps even struck from the historical record as though it had never been said. It'll be a branding exercise for the new aggressive Republican Party Newt was selling. You were looking at the menu. These four forces explain how atoms stick together, how every bit of matter moves, and yes, even the bits of matter that make up us and our brains. Bob Berenz had a good job as an electrician. This is a turning point for Newt Gingrich. There is this one moment, where I think Newt realized maybe he'd gone too far in pushing people apart. And she said to him, listen, General Eitan, I know that you're fighting a war. Was he just avoiding coming out and saying it, like I've been? He's giving his monologue on the decay of the Democratic Party, the decay of American culture, the promise of a Republican Party that embraces opportunity and responsibility, and all these things. He's professorial, pedantic, not a lot of flair. Now, that was gone. It's an empty chamber. It's probably helpful in telling this story to remember for a second what politics was like before today-- how different, informal, and quaint things used to sound. And she said, why would you want to do that? They kind of raised me to say people are good. He just wanted to make the greatest radio show ever. Red versus blue, us versus them. I feel pretty confident about that. You sign up for one issue-- the wall, the Mueller investigation, Colin Kaepernick, climate change-- you basically sign up for all of them. It's more of a pamphlet than a book, actually, but it's a way to give the congressman backdoor donations. These things happen so often that Etgar's wife, Shira, worries that someday, somebody is just going to go nuts on Etgar or something, hurt him. Rush Limbaugh was the perfect tool for Newt's mission. I remember it well. When I think I'm making a decision, what am I actually doing? And no, I don't mean Democratic President Bill Clinton, though, you could certainly argue that that is why Newt gets his wish. And it's like, God, could it be any bigger? Etgar says his brother was coming home every month. Jennings said the voters had a temper tantrum. It was an issue they cared about. This is Reagan talking to William F. Buckley. It's unclear how often this apparent subatomic randomness escapes into the larger world. Season 2, Episode 6. We've arrived at Act Two of our program. There'd be a gap in the conversation. From his teenage years, he thought this way. The code of the House is you don't do this. I said to her, I can actually see it. He seemed to be making the argument that there is no free will. Each week on the program, of course, we choose a theme, bring you different stories on that theme. Just like he worked really hard to make every Democrat into George McGovern, the campaign that the Republicans ran tried to make every Democrat into a caravan-loving, Kavanaugh-hating Nancy Pelosi. The Democrats were amoral, welfare state-loving, politically correct feminists. All right, Zoe Baird is in big trouble. Republicans were never going to take the majority that way. Super Limited Edition This American Life DVD Set/Book! Jim Wright painted his resignation as a sacrifice on the altar of civility. Politics is team sports, no compromises. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly podcast. The Democrats haven't even accepted they lost the election in 2016. I've come to think of my daily existence as kind of like being in a movie, where I'm just along for the ride. A tiny man at the bottom of the screen gestures wildly from a podium as though he's speaking to a big crowd, but he's surrounded by empty chairs. One of the reasons I believe in the end we'll win is the person who's about to talk to you. There isn't always someone in the audience. I mean, I guess it's possible. It was sort of his version of all Democrats want open borders, but less punchy. This American Life is delivered to public radio stations by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange. I never get to see the bag. Well, today, on our program, we have a story about somebody else who can't help himself. 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