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From NPR.

Hey, it's Mariel.

Normally, my intros for episodes come together pretty quickly.

But for some reason, I got in my head about this one.

I was trying to drum up an anecdote for you, a time I was struggling with a big decision.

I was like, do I talk about health stuff?

Nah, too personal for this one.

What about a breakup?

Yeah, let's not dredge all that up.

What about my friend's breakup?

I had someone in mind, but they definitely listened to this podcast, and they would know I was talking about them.

So I went over to Tony Kavin's desk.

He's the managing editor of Standards and Practices at NPR.

Asked him to brainstorm with me.

And he pointed out the obvious irony here.

I can't make a decision about this episode, which is about decision making. See, sometimes you

get stuck in your head, trap between all the options, and you just need an outside perspective.

That's the job of people like Tony, editors, and people like Nell McShane Wolfheart.

If you've ever agonized over a decision, maybe for days on end, you've gone back and forth a million times, looked at every possible angle until you finally threw up your arms and yelled into the ether.

Somebody just decide for me.

...