Accidental Documentaries

The story of a Michigan family in the 1960s, told entirely through tape of them found in an old Salvation Army thrift store. "I got up to have my worship, and as I did, Daddy came in and sat down beside me. And I felt rather funny, because..." Stories made entirely out of scraps of old tapes. What unites them under that surface--and not far under it--is that they all end up being stories about fathers and the legacies that fathers leave their children.

Banner photo is of Ira Glass's dad, Barry, when he was about 20 years old. Barry, holding the microphone, is interviewing teenagers in a record store. He's speaking to his then-girlfriend/eventual wife (and Ira's future mom), Shirley. She's wearing the dark blazer and white shirt.