Apm: The Story

Karl Marlantes was a young Marine lieutenent man when he was sent to Vietnam, and he did what he was trained to do: kill the enemy and survive. Also on this show: Musician Tom Irwin found a diary squirreled away in a cupboard in the family home, which inspired his latest CD.

When other kids were out riding bikes, Anthony Mangieri was in his grandmother’s kitchen experimenting with ancient dough leavening methods. Now he makes some of the best pizzas in the country. Also in this show: A trip to the Capitol Pool Checkers Club where men with nicknames like the Hammer, the Pressure Man, and the Razor gather to play checkers; and how one woman stopped being a ring girl, and started treating the wounds of boxers.

Rojelio Garcia was a teenager in jail, playing chess behind bars, when he remembered the fifth grade teacher he used to spar against. He wrote a letter to the teacher, Paul Karrer, and eventually the two started playing chess, writing on pieces of paper and sending it over the mail. Soon it became clear that, for both of them, it was more than a game. Also in this show: Ron Carter, a jazz double bass player, has been recorded in more than 2,000 albums.

Andrew Chin, a.k.a. Brushy One-String, has crafted a unique style playing a one-string guitar and singing in an utterly original voice. Also in this show: A sculptor recreates Rome’s Trevi Fountain - in cardboard.

 The recession has made new jobs few and far between, and applicants for entry-level positions can range in age from baby boomers to current college grads.  In 2008, Liam Daniel Pierce had an offer to intern at The New Yorker and a degree from an Ivy League school in hand. But then he got the news that his internship had been cut under new budget restraints. Undeterred, he moved to New York anyway and began a several month stretch of temp work and odd jobs. But this former college newspaper editor has more than a proficiency in Microsoft Word on his resume: he is a trained gondolier. Also in this episode, Deb Burgess operates what's thought to be the last pack station of its kind in the United States.  And every time the price of gold heads towards $1000 an ounce, Debra Graham is reminded of the adventure she had back in the 80s. It all began when she was unemployed and took out an ad offering a reward for information leading to a job.

James Morrow had some problems growing up and ended up in foster care. That experience was a nightmare. He returned home to try living with his mother again, but ended up dropping out of high school. Shortly after, his family was evicted. For a time, James was living completely on his own - staying with a friend's family, avoiding both school and the state foster care program. That's when he met Dianne Reinhardt, an artisan baker who gave James a job. Also in the show: Life as a school resource officer.

Anna Bliss and Linda Lehmann both lost their jobs last year. They went to unemployment support groups but found the groups to be all about networking, not helping one another get through the anxiety and sadness of being jobless.So started the Dung Sisters—a small group of unemployed women who meet weekly to share their highs and lows as they try to lift themselves out of unemployment. 

Stacy Nakell has one of the toughest jobs there is. She's a social worker. But she has an extra edge when she tells women that they can find the courage to stand up to a violent person in their lives. Stacy is a boxer in her off-hours. Also in this episode, Lucy Carnaghi about her favorite job, we couldn't resist. For a time, Lucy drove a horse-drawn carriage through the streets of Chicago. 

Host Dick Gordon visits the home of Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty and finds piles of books, letters from other writers of her time, and a type writer.

Back in 1970, Rich Preyer was on a return flight from Europe when a group of terrorists boarded the plane. He and the other passengers narrowly escaped with their lives. In the years since, Rich has thought often about his chance encounter with a then-nascent militant Palestinian group. He talks with Dick Gordon about what it was like to find himself in the middle of an international terrorist incident long before the world was so familiar with terrorism. Also in this episode: a brush with fame, Michael Rosen meets Dave Brubeck.

Dick speaks with Andrea Morales, a photographer who captured the lives of young people in a small town of Ohio. Also in this show: photographer Nina Berman; and the story of a photo of the Cincinnati River in 1848.

A bartender talks about working to bring clean water to people in Darfur. Also in this show: A visit with Cyro Baptista, a percussionist who plays with objects most people wouldn’t consider instruments.

Celebrating the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.

Rick Jackson takes his dad out fishing every year on his dad's birthday, February 22. One day, Rick took his father out, and they caught more bass, and bigger bass, than either one of them had ever seen. Rick's a serious fisherman and he couldn't make sense of it, until he realized that they were fishing on the anniversary of his younger brother's accidental death. Also in this show: Getting Home Again

Bill Ferris grew up in Mississippi, going to church with his family's housekeeper and falling in love with the music and drama of the church. He discovered the blues and made recordings in the 60s and 70s that capture the roots of Mississippi blues.

We remember the Katyn Massacre, the killing of over 20,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia at the start of World War II. Anna Wojtowicz’s father perished on that plane. Also in this episode, Bob Porto is a member of the Tea Party.

Poet Kathleen Flenniken says her book “Plume” is an attempt to make sense of the pride and betrayal she feels from growing up near a Cold War nuclear plant. Also in this show: After World War II, Warsaw wasn’t restored. It was re-imagined.

Three-decades of photographs, depicting the tough life and descent of "Uncle Charlie." Plus, an eerie coincidence captured on film, and a story about distance on the highway.

Hundreds of people are now attempting to climb Mt. Everest every year. National Geographic's Mark Jenkins says the mountain, once tackled only by professional climbers, has become accessible to anyone who can afford to pay to go up and down.  And as a result, the mountain is being ruined by garbage, human excrement, and even bodies of deceased climbers. Also in this show, we learn about a new kind of aircraft, the “Aeroscraft."  It’s a space-age looking machine that’s almost as big as a football field and able to carry 50 tons or more.

Betty Brown was a teenager when she heard distress radio transmissions of the aviator Amelia Earhart. Decades later, what she heard became a key in the search for the famously disappeared pilot. Also today: One half of the legendary comedy duo Smothers Brothers on how to develop jokes and timing.