This American Life

871: The Thing About Things

October 26, 2025

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  • The episode "871: The Thing About Things" explores the strange, sometimes servile, power inanimate objects hold over people, compelling them to act in ways they wouldn't for other people. 
  • The prologue features Nunzio's decades-long, obsessive relationship with a 1966 Honda scooter, highlighting how objects can tie people to specific moments in their past. 
  • Act One details the story of Ted, who believed a piece of petrified wood he took as a child cursed him with decades of bad luck, illustrating how objects can become focal points for explaining life's misfortunes. 

Segments

Podcast Support Pitch
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: This American Life requires Life Partners to cover 50% of its budget to maintain its high production standards amidst declining advertising revenue and loss of federal funding.
  • Summary: The show relies on listener support to fund its labor-intensive production process, which includes extensive story development, drafting, fact-checking, and scoring. This level of production is noted as being atypical for most podcasts. Becoming a Life Partner provides benefits like ad-free listening and bonus episodes.
Scooter’s Servile Relationship
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(00:03:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Nunzio’s 24-year delay in restoring a 1966 Honda scooter, purchased at age 13, stemmed from an inability to afford the necessary parts and a deep need to keep the object original to his childhood memory.
  • Summary: Nunzio bought the broken scooter for $50, but discovered major engine issues, forcing him to set the project aside for 24 years. When he finally pursued the repair in 1999, the mechanic disappeared with the engine box, leading Nunzio to track the mechanic down in prison to retrieve the original part. The entire project, started in 1975, was finally completed three decades later, with Nunzio admitting the point was not riding it, but maintaining the connection to his past.
Petrified Wood Curse Story
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(00:11:48)
  • Key Takeaway: Ted attributed nearly 30 years of accumulated personal disasters—including a house fire, Hurricane Katrina flooding, hearing loss, and car accidents—to a curse resulting from taking a piece of petrified wood at age six.
  • Summary: Ted’s daughter informed him of a local legend that taking petrified wood from the Petrified Forest National Park results in a curse, which resonated with his history of bad luck. He mailed the rock back with an apology, praying for forgiveness from God, the park, and the US public. Rangers archive these returned rocks, which they call the ‘conscience pile,’ noting that many letters detail similar misfortunes.
Family Clutter and Letting Go
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(00:29:48)
  • Key Takeaway: Gregor’s artist mother, Edda, is incapable of downsizing her vast collections, including 200 antique egg beaters and thousands of inscribed bottles, because she views them as essential to her identity and inspiration.
  • Summary: Edda’s husband, Milt, supports her artistic endeavors but recognizes the paradox of her art, which preaches letting go while she clings to her possessions. Gregor’s initial plan to convert a barn into a museum for her work was met with skepticism by his siblings, who favored a psychological solution like hypnosis. A turning point occurred when Milt collapsed after Edda’s successful art opening, prompting Edda to begin intentionally giving away her inscribed bottles to find them ’the right home.'