Welcome to strangers from KCW and Radiotopia. I'm Leah Tao.

We're posting this on February 13th, which means that tomorrow is Valentine's Day.

And as you may know, love has been kind of a big theme on this show in the past year.

Mostly bad love, you know, heartbreak, my heartbreak. But today we're going to hear a piece

from someone else on this theme. It's actually the first time ever on this show that I'm featuring

a story not produced by me, but I just loved it. In November,

I went to the Third Coast International Audio Festival, which happens every two years in Chicago,

and it pretty much brings together every creative radio person in the world. And this young woman,

Annie McEwen, won best new artist at the festival with the piece you're

going to hear.

It's quite different from the stories I usually do, less narrative, and it's a different approach

to heartbreak than the one I took in my weepy, confessional, woe is Me series that I did in the fall.

Annie's piece is not in the first person,

but it just pierced me somehow.

So I contacted her to ask if I could share it with you,

and then I called her up,

and we talked about heartbreak and love and radio,

what we've been through and where we are now

in our quest for healing and new love. So you'll hear that conversation later in the program.

But first, here's Annie's piece, as she put it together. It's called Here I Am and Here Be Danger.

Music called Here I am and Here Be Danger. Foghorns are interesting things really in phenomena in that they aren't saying come here.

They're saying, I care about you and go away.

...