What It's Like To Be... with Dan Heath

Shooting cat-three landings in the fog, using the “voice of God” on unruly passengers, and declaring Mayday after an engine fire with Paul Drusch, a commercial airline pilot. Why does the pilot’s paycheck start with the parking brake? And what does “sterile cockpit” mean? (Spoiler: it doesn’t mean “clean.”)

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Athletes get all the glory, but there are countless people around them making the games happen - from referees making judgments, to vendors in the stands hawking snacks and beer. In this episode from The StoryCorps Podcast, drawn from our archive of the largest single collection of human voices ever recorded, you’ll hear from the people on the sidelines.

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Untangling who gets to speak for a dying patient, weighing a treatment's benefits against its burdens, and searching for clarity in the grayest corners of healthcare with Esther Berkowitz, a clinical ethicist. What is the "dignity of risk"? And how do you know which "version" of a person to trust?

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Grinding through 16-hour shifts, standing behind inmates (never in front), and trying to stay human in an inhuman environment with Bill Farrell, a correctional officer in Massachusetts. What happens when an officer gets "frozen"? And why does the sound of scuffling sneakers stop him in his tracks?

LINKS & REFERENCES

• Bill was the co-creator of a short documentary about the physical and mental toll of being a correctional offic...

Harvesting five million bushels of wheat and corn from Texas to Montana, outrunning hailstorms that decimate a year's income in 20 minutes, and running a multimillion-dollar convoy of equipment down the highway with Josh Beckley, a third-generation custom harvester from Kansas. Why do farmers outsource the harvesting of their own crops? And what happens when you drive a combine into a ditch?

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Guiding grieving families through arrangement meetings, orchestrating meaningful memorial services within days, and preparing bodies for viewing with Heather Hill, a funeral director in North Carolina. What's different about doing makeup on a dead person? And what is it like to field a death call?

LINKS & REFERENCES

• Heather writes about her work on her website.
• She's a funeral director at Renaissance Funeral Home in Ralei...

Landing the Perseverance rover on Mars, working in clean rooms to minimize the microbial bug count, and slogging through hundreds of engineering trade-offs with Swati Mohan, an aerospace engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. What are the "seven minutes of terror"? And is there evidence of past life on Mars?

LINKS & REFERENCES:

• Watch Swati voice the landing of Perseverance in 2021.
• Swati's official NASA bio
• More about th...

Defusing a crisis after an ambassador hinted at a preemptive strike on Russia, delivering demarches in multiple languages, and surviving the frantic evacuation of the Kabul embassy with John Johnson, a retired diplomat who spent more than twenty years in the US Foreign Service. Do diplomats still send "cables" in the 21st century? And what does "not/not" mean?

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Wiring a neighborhood back to life after a tornado, coveting the work of helicopter linemen in Faraday suits, and surviving the collapse of a rotten utility pole with Elden Rivas, a journeyman lineman in Houston, Texas. What is the one sound on the crew radio that stops every lineman cold? And why does a squirrel on a transformer mean easy money?

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Suspending the licenses of unsafe restaurant operators, hunting down the origins of foodborne illness outbreaks, and eliciting truthful answers from anxious managers with Justin Dwyer, a health inspector in Peoria, Illinois. What happens when a restaurant locks the door on an inspector? And why should you never wash your Thanksgiving turkey?

LINKS & REFERENCES

• Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan He...

Hurtling down an ice track at nearly 100mph, perfecting the practice of visualization, and shaving off hundredths of a second with Kaillie Humphries, an Olympic bobsledder. What's the most feared track in the world? And how do athletes practice when there's no ice in the summer?

This episode originally aired on December 17th, 2024.

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Negotiating cases in which neither spouse wants custody of the cat, setting clients' expectations about what's legally possible (versus what feels "right"), and finding hope in people's ability to bounce back from dark times with Lucy Stewart-Gould, a divorce lawyer in London. What simple question can break open a deadlocked settlement? And what's a "jurisdiction race"?

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Tinkering with the recipe for gingerbread cake until it's right, adjusting to the variability of local grains, and cherishing the quiet mornings when the sun fills the bakery windows with Sophie Williams, a baker in Bellingham, Washington. What happens when you bake all your sourdough starter by accident? And what's a "starch attack"?

Links & References:

• Sophie owns and operates Raven Bakery in Bellingham, Washington.
• The...

Sculpting mullets on Havanese, enduring countless bites, and surviving level-five furnadoes with Aaron Williams, a dog groomer in Alabama. Why is the grooming table his most powerful psychological tool? And which part of the grooming process is most dreaded by dogs?

You can see Aaron in action at his YouTube channel.

Want more episodes featuring professions who work with animals? We've spoken with a veterinarian, a cattle rancher, an...

Judging the permissibility of real-time battle decisions, advising commanders how to handle soldier misconduct, and assessing "hostile acts" and "hostile intent" with Lieutenant Colonel Susan Upward, a Marine Corps JAG. What does "dispo" mean in military justice? And how do you tell a commander his idea is colossally stupid -- while keeping your job?

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Weaving songs and dances into classroom lessons, having difficult conversations with parents, and navigating the second-day meltdowns of kindergarten students with Yaronda Kilgo, an elementary school teacher. What did a backpack full of snacks teach her about empathy? And what makes her "extra"?

We're teaming up this month with GiveDirectly to collect money that will go directly to Rwandan families. Dan will match every dollar raise...

Managing Ebola treatment centers in Sierra Leone, coordinating with government officials and local leaders, and advocating for the radical simplicity of cash aid with Grace Jackson, a humanitarian worker. When low-income families are given money, what's the first thing they often buy? And what is “CMCoord”?

This episode is part of a fundraising effort called Pods Fight Poverty. We're teaming up with GiveDirectly to colle...

Reinterpreting centuries-old classical music, marking up symphonies with notes on phrasing, and turning mid-performance disasters into unforgettable moments with Carlos Miguel Prieto, a music director and conductor. How do you get an orchestra to pick up the tempo? (Spoiler: Not by waving your hands faster.) And how does a performance of Beethoven's Fifth sound different today from a century ago?

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Calculating electrical loads, getting zapped by 277 volts, and savoring the freedom of the skilled trades with Doug Powell, a master electrician. Why are blue-collar professions growing increasingly more attractive? And what are the telltale signs of a hack electrician?

Doug runs Lumen Brothers Electric Company with his business partner, Josh.

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