837: Swim Towards the Shark
This American Life
This American Life
4.6 • 88.8K Ratings
🗓️ 11 August 2024
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?
- Prologue: Ira talks to two members of a recreational swimming club who intentionally swam straight toward a shark that had just bitten their friend. (9 minutes)
- Act One: Sarah Polley has always been reluctant to jump into challenging situations. Then something happened that changed all of that – something that also made her think her teeth were going to fall out. (19 minutes)
- Act Two: Comedian Josh Johnson tells the story of a “trad wife” who stepped into an incendiary situation. And even as the flames consumed her, she kept stepping. (7 minutes)
- Act Three: This summer, thousands of young people have taken to the streets in Nairobi to protest the Kenyan government. But behind those protestors are thousands of worried parents. Reporter Kimu Elolia talks to a woman whose son keeps lying to her. (17 minutes)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A quick warning, there are curse words that are unbeeped in today's episode of the show. |
| 0:06.4 | If you prefer a beeped version, you can find that at our website, this American Life.org. Maybe you saw this story in the news earlier this summer. |
| 0:15.0 | A man's getting malled by a shark, |
| 0:18.0 | maybe a hundred yards out from a beach near San Diego. |
| 0:21.0 | He yells for help, he yells shark. A woman swimming near him also yells. And some guys hear it. And |
| 0:27.8 | swim towards the shark attack to rescue him. Which they do. He lives, so, you know, happy ending. But here's the question. I couldn't stop |
| 0:37.3 | thinking about this. Who does that? Who hears somebody else shark and swims towards the shark? What kind of person is that? |
| 0:47.0 | So I work in real estate development for a company that's based out of LA and Brentwood. |
| 0:51.0 | We build apartments, hotels, |
| 0:53.0 | resorts, offices. Meet Cameron Whiting. |
| 0:56.0 | 31, single, newly moved to San Diego. |
| 0:59.0 | And it was there the morning of the Shark Attack |
| 1:01.0 | with a group, the North County Ocean Swimmers. That means four times a week to swim a mile, mile and a half or more. |
| 1:07.0 | I was out in the water about a hundred yards offshore just past the breaking waves with another swimmer Kevin Barrett. |
| 1:13.0 | And you guys had you finished your swim for the day? |
| 1:15.0 | Yep, we were done with our swim. |
| 1:17.0 | Most of the group had made their way in, somewhere in the showers, some were kind of playing in the waves. |
| 1:21.0 | Kevin and I were body surfing beyond the break |
| 1:25.0 | and that's when we heard the screaming. |
| 1:26.5 | How far is it from you? |
| 1:28.4 | He was probably 50 to 75 yards from us. |
| 1:31.0 | So just barely within shouting reach. It was hard for us to hear |
... |
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