I don't care if The New York Times is calling This American Life preciously hipster, maybe they are just jealous because Chicago Public Radio often accomplishes what The Grey Lady has failed to do most days: turn complex problems into a compelling narrative.

Today at the gym, I listened to this episode on how a global tidal wave of capital led to an excess of demand for mortgage backed securities which led to nonsense like No-Income-No-Asset loans and our present troubles. I love This American Life. A lot. To a point that I get a little crazy about it, but this may well be one of the best episodes I have ever listened to. I follow the sub-prime issue very closely, and I learned a lot from this episode. I also laughed several times.