From the Archive: Josh's Diary

Radio Diaries

Radio Diaries & Radiotopia

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 June 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Twenty-five years ago, Josh Cutler was a 16-year old living with Tourette’s Syndrome, a brain disorder that often causes physical and verbal tics. For several months, he recorded cassette tapes of everything from conversations with his parents and classmates, to prank calls. This is his diary, which chronicles his attempts to live a normal teenage life with a brain that often betrays him.

Josh’s diary first aired as part of the Teenage Diaries series on NPR in 1996.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	From PRX, this is Radio Diaries, I'm Joe Richmond.
0:13.0	If you've been listening over the last few episodes, you know that here at Radio Diaries
0:17.0	we are celebrating 25 years on the air.
0:20.6	To mark this moment, the team here has been trying to come up with a list of our top
0:24.4	stories from the archive.
0:27.9	For me, choosing a favorite story from the last 25 years is a bit like choosing a favorite
0:32.4	child.
0:34.1	But there is one story that has really stayed with me.
0:38.1	Back when we were launching our original Teenage Diaries series 25 years ago, I met a
0:42.5	kid named Josh Cutler.
0:44.6	Josh has Dretzendrum, which is a brain disorder that often causes physical and verbal
0:49.0	ticks.
0:50.0	Josh sometimes says or yells things that he can't control.
0:53.9	He was just starting his sophomore year in high school when I asked him if he'd work with
0:57.0	me on a story about his life with Tretz.
1:00.0	He was a game, so I gave him a tape recorder, and over the next few months he recorded dozens
1:04.3	of cassettes.
1:05.3	This was 1996.
1:07.8	More than any story I've ever done, this one still makes me smile.
1:12.3	Here's Josh's Teenage Diary.
1:15.3	I'm getting ready for school right now.
1:19.3	Just got out of the shower and got dressed.
	...

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