October 29, 2025 • 28 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:33):
Mine.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to a half hour of mind wat short stories
from the world of Speculator section. This is Michael Hanson,
(01:25):
the mind Web story that would begin this half hour.
Why It comes from clarion Io, a collection of speculators
of fiction and criticism, edited by Robin Scott Wilson. This
is a story by Molly Daniel called Winter Housekeeping. At first,
(01:46):
there was no traffic along the street where Sarah lived,
and when the treetoad stopped chirping, the house lay still
and quiet behind its overgrown shrubs. Sarah lay in the
unbearable dark silence of the bedroom, listening. Age was seeping
through the house like an orderless gas permeating the foreboards
and rising slowly to the ceiling.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Mm.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
It wasn't all the rooms, getting stronger every minute, and
it ached. Sarah could feel the ache of old age
posting all around her, m brushing against her face as
she lay in bed. A current of it swept her cheek,
and she held her breath until finally she had to inhale.
She felt age burn her nostrils and throats, finally impacting
(02:33):
on her lungs. Her chest rattled with a force, and
she crossed a labored weeping sound. She felt her husband's
weight shift on the bed, and a voice came out
of the darkness.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
MM, did you forget to take your medicine again?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Hate me?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I knew?
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Said get to take my nut mis set.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
His hands slid over to touch hers under the sheep.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
You mean you'll never remember.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
The hands was heavy and dry and trembled in hers
until she pulled away. Henry's voice came again, louder and closer.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
MM. It isn't the same thing, is it.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
She lay very still on the bed, blotting out everything
and trying to think herself far away. She felt herself
slipping into the darkness when Henry's words brought her back sharply.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
It is, isn't it? I thought you were over that, Sarah.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
We we've done all we can do. You've got to
quit thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Age was swirling around her neck, tugging at the folds
of flesh that hung there. She shivered and pulled the
covers up under her chin.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Sarah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
She didn't answer, and he began to talk in a
low voice.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Sarah, there's no point in trying to start over. We've
had our life, and we have had most of it.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Together.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
Now that's something, isn't it, And.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
We can't throw it away. No matter how hard you try,
you can't throw it away.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
She had thrown away the dishes when she had realized
about the food. It was poisoning them. She knew it
in the slight, barely perceptible wrongness that made familiar food
stick in her throat. She changed the cooking habits of
fifty years, adding spices and fruits with exotic names, but
the wrongness persisted, and even Henry began to complain. In
(04:43):
the end, she saw that it was the dishes. The
heavy china that had been a wedding present, was releasing age,
saturating their food with a pent of years. She threw
it away, bought new china with a bright floral pattern,
and found that she could eat again. The rugs were
the next to go, and her feet quit hurting. At
(05:06):
the end of the day, the old wallpaper was stripped away,
all the pictures were replaced, and suddenly she found that
her eyes didn't burn whenever she tried to read m
Piece by piece. She routed out the years and scoured
them away. Age had lulled her into complacency, sucking her
(05:26):
gently into death. Now she was awake. Every day, she
worked harder and felt younger through it all. Henry stood by, unquestioning,
seeming to understand. He didn't seem to care that she
was working to save them both, but he didn't try
to stop her. He just stood by shaking his head,
(05:48):
always with the same sad smile, and he didn't get younger.
Every time she finished the project, she would come to
him a little, stronger, a little, and he was always
the same. He was like the house, heavy solid and
rotting away inside on his firm foundations.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
She accused him.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Of not wanting to grow younger with her, and he
only said, mm.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I don't ever want to lose you.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
M She didn't know what he meant. Finally, when everything
in the house had been replaced, she realized that she
had failed. She felt better than she had in many years,
but she was still an old woman. Her skin was
still mottled, her hair was still yellowed and sparse. Inside,
she was eighteen, but her body was still seventeen, rushing
(06:42):
toward death. She couldn't die inside this ugly old woman.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
She had to get out.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
She told Henry what they had to do, and he refused.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Oh, sir, we can sell the house. The house is
all oh, we have left.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
It's us and we can't live anywhere else. Clean us.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Failure and age closed in around her, and she suddenly
felt very tired.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Going but kill us soon.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
I tied.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
He came closer until he was leaning over her, talking rapidly.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Sarah, I don't want to lose you. I can't put
you away. I can't do it, but I'm going to
act her if you don't stop it. I let you
have your way and it didn't help, and now you're
just going to have to quit it.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
He was breathing hard, and she could feel the warm,
sour breath on her face. It felt like the currents
of age that were poisoning the house. His breath was age,
and he was age. They had grown old together, and
he was killing her with his memories. Go to sleep,
(08:09):
I'll be better, I think, carrying on like a crazy woman.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
Don't know what came over me.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Go to sleep. She waited until he had been asleep
a long time before she slipped out of bed, felt
her way to the closets, and retrieved the plastic cleaning bag.
He didn't wake up. She had known he wouldn't. For
a moment, she wondered sadly, how he could be so
(08:41):
willing to die. She would have to find someone, she thought,
who needed to live as badly as she did. She
crossed the room and drew back the curtain so that
a little pale light fell across the bed, and then
straddling him, she watched her arms grow from her and
(09:02):
her skin grow smoother as she held him down. That
(09:30):
was Winter Housekeeping, a story by Molly Daniel that comes
from Clarion to edited by Robin Scott Wilson. This is
Michael Hansen reading with me j fitzm.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
School School School.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
This half hour of mind Webs concludes with a story
from Judith Merrill's collection s s The Best of the Best.
This is The Public Hating by Steve Allen. The weather
was a little cloudy, and that's at number ninth, and
here and there in the crowds that surged up the
ramps into the stadium, people were looking at the sky
(11:05):
and then at their neighbors and squinting and saying, hope
she doesn't rain. On television, the weather man had forecast
slight clottiness, but no showers. It was not cold all
over the neighborhood surrounding the stadium. People poured out of
street cars and buses and subways in ants like lines.
They crawled across the streets through turnstiles, up stairways, along lamps,
(11:28):
through gates, down aisles, laughing and shoving restlessly, damp palms
with excitement. They came shuffling into the great concrete bowl,
some stopping to go to the restroom, some buying popcorn,
some taking free pamphlets from the uniformed attendants. Everything was
free this particular day. No tickets had been sold for
(11:49):
the events. The public proclamations had simply been made in
the newspapers and on TV, and over sixty five thousand
people had responded. For weeks, of course, the papers had
been suggesting that the event would take place all during
the trial, even as early as the selection of the jury.
The columnists had slightly hinted at the inevitability of the outcome,
(12:11):
but it had only been officials. Since yesterday the television
networks had actually gotten a slight jump on the papers.
At six o'clock the government had taken over all network
facilities for a brief five minute period, during which the
announcement was made. The premiere had said, very calm, very
handsome in the gray double breasted suit. But we've all
(12:33):
followed with great interest the course of the trial of
Professor Kettidge. Early this afternoon the jury returned a verdict
to guilty, the verdict having been confirmed within the hour
by the Supreme Courts. In the interests of time saving,
the White House has decided to make the usual prompt
official announcement there will be a public hating tomorrow the
(12:55):
time two thirty pm the place Yankee Stadium in New
York City. Your assistances earnestly requested. Those of you in
the New York area were fined, and the voice had
gone on filling in other details.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
And in the morning, the early.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Editions of the newspapers included pictures captured broncs, couple first
in line and students wait all night to view waiting.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
And early birds.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
By one thirty in the afternoon, there was not an
empty seat in the stadium. When people were beginning to
fill up a few of the aisles, special police began
to block off the exits and word was sent down
to the street that no more people could be admitted.
Hawkers flipped through the crowd selling cold beer and hot dogs.
Sitting just back of what would have been first base
had the Yankees not been playing in Cleveland. Frederick Trub
(13:46):
stared curiously at the platform. In the middle of the field.
There was about twice the size of a prize fighting wing.
In the middle of it, there was a small rays
section on which was placed a plain wooden kitchen chair.
To the left of the chair, there were seating accommodations
for a small group of dignitaries. Downstage, so to speak,
(14:08):
there was a speaker's lectern and the battery of microphones.
The platform was hung with bunting and pennants. The crowd
was beginning to hum ominously. At two minutes after two o'clock,
a small group of men filed out onto the fields
from the point joshed back of home plates. The crowd
buzzed more loudly for a moment, and then burst into
(14:30):
a pause. The men carefully climbed a few wooden steps,
walked in single file across the platform, and seated themselves
when the chair set.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Out for them.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Trub turned around and was interested to observe high in
the press box, the winking red lights of television cameras,
and he said softly to his companion, remarkable, Yeah, I suppose,
but uh, pretty effective.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
I guess that's right. Still, it seems a little strange
to me. We do things rather differently.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Crub listened for a moment to the voices around him. Surprisingly,
no one seemed to be discussing the business at hand, baseball, movies,
the weather, gossip, personal small talk at hasn't and one
subjects were introduced. It was almost as if they were
trying not to mention behaving. Crub's friend's voice broke in
(15:27):
Traub's reverie.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Oh you think it'd be okay when we get down
the business and I've seen him keel.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Over, I I'll be all right.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
But I still can't believe it. What do you mean?
Speaker 6 (15:39):
Oh, you know, the whole thing, how it started, how
you found you could do it beats the hell.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Out of me. You know.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I think it was a guy at Duke University. It
first came up with the idea the mind over mattered
Thing's been around a long time, of course, but this guy,
he was the first one to prove scientifically that mind
can control did.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
It with dice?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I believe? Yeah, that's right. First he found some guys who,
you know, could drop a dozen or so dice down
a shoot or some kind and actually control the direction
they'd take. Then they discovered the secret. It was really simple.
The guys who could control the dice were simply the
guys who thought they could. Then one time they got
the idea of taking the dice into an auditorium and
(16:23):
having about two thousand people concentrate on forcing the dice.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
One way or the other. That did It was the
most natural thing in the world when you think about it.
See if one horse can pull a heavy load so
far and so fast, the figure is that ten horses
can pull it a lot father and a lot faster.
They had those dice falling where they wanted them eighty
percent of the time.
Speaker 6 (16:44):
When did they first substitute a living organism for the dice?
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Damned the fly though it was quite a few years ago,
and at first the government sort of clamp down on
the thing.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
There was a little last.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Ditch fight from the churches, I think, but they finally
realized you couldn't stop it. This unusually large crowd, nah,
not for a political prisoner. And you take a rapist
and a murderery some of them don't pull more than maybe
uh twenty thirty thousand. The people just don't get stirred
up enough. The sun had come out from behind the
(17:16):
cloud now, and Troub watched silently as large map shaped
shadows moved majestically across the grass.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
She's warming up. Someone said, yeah, that's right. A voice agreed,
you gonna be real nice. Troub leaned forward and lowered
his head as he retired the laces on his right shoe,
and in the next instant he was shocked to attention
by a guttural roar from the crowd that vibrated the floor.
(17:45):
In distant right center field, three men were walking toward
the platform. Two of them were walking together, the third
was slouched in front of them, had down his gate unsteady.
Troub had thought he was going to be all right,
but now looking at the tired figure being prodded towards
second base, and looking at the bare bald head, he
(18:06):
began to feel slightly sick. It seemed to take forever
before the two guards jostled the prisoner up the stairs
and toward the small kitchen chair. When he reached it
and seated himself, the crowd roared again. A tall, distinguished
man stepped to the speaker's lectern, then cleared his throat,
raising his right hand in an appeals.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
For quiet, and he said, all right, all right.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
The mob slowly fell silent. Trub clasped his hands tightly together.
He felt a little ashamed. The speaker went on.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
All right, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of
the President of the United States, I welcome you too.
Another public hating is this particular affairs, you know, is
directed against the man who was, yes today judged guilty
in the United States District Court right in New York City,
(19:05):
Professor Arthur Ketterich. At the mention of Kettridge's name, the
crowd made a noise like an earthquake rumble. Several pop
bottles were thrown fultily from the centerfield bleachers. They will
begin in just a moment, but first I should like
to introduce the Reverend Charles Fully of the Park Avenue
(19:30):
we Born Church, who will make the invocation. A small
man with glasses stepped forward, replaced the first speaker at
the microphone, closed his eyes and threw back his head.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
Our Heavenly Father to whom we are indebted for all
the blessings of this life. Grant we besiech the that
we act today in justice and in the spirit of truth. Grant,
(20:04):
O Lord, we pray thee that what we are about
to do here today will render us the humble servants
of thy divine will. For it is written the wages
of sin his death searched deep into this man's heart.
(20:30):
For the seed of repentance.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
If there be such, and if there.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Be not, planted therein, O Lord, in thy goodness and mercy. Amen.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
The crowd, which had stood quietly during the prayer and
now sat down and began to buzz again. The first
speaker wise.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
All right, you know we have a job to do,
and you know why we have.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yes, screened thousands of voices. Then let us get to
the business at hand. At this time, I would like
to introduce to you a very great American who, to
use the old trace, needs no introduction, Former president of
Harvard University, current advisor to the Secretary of State, Ladies
(21:30):
and gentlemen, Doctor Howard S.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Welthmer.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
A wave of applause vibrated the air. Doctor Welmer stepped forward,
shook hands with a speaker and adjusted the microphone.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Now, we won't waste any more time here, since what
we are about to do will take every bit of
our energy and concentration if it is to be successfully accomplished.
I asked you all to direct your unwavering attention toward
the man seated in the chair to my left ear,
a man who, in my opinion, is the most despicable
(22:10):
criminal of our time, Professor Arthur Kettridge. The mob shrieked,
I ask you to rise. That's it, everybody stand up now.
I want every one of you. I understand we have
upwards of seventy thousand people here today. I want every
(22:31):
single one of you to stare directly at the schimed
in human form Ketriage, and I want you to let
him know by the wondrous power that lies in the
strength of your emotional reservoirs.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
I want you to let him know that he is.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
A criminal, that he is worse than a murderer, that
he has committed treason, that he is not loved by
anyone anywhere in thy universe, and he is rather despised.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
With a bigger.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Equaling heat to the power of the sun itself. People
around Troub were shaking their fists. Now, their eyes were narrowed.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Their mouths turned down. At the corners, a woman fainted.
Come on, let's feel it. Under the spell of the speaker,
Trub was suddenly horrified to find that his blood was raising,
his heart pounding. He felt anger searching up in him.
He could not believe he hated Ketteridge, but he could
(23:35):
not deny he hated something. And the souls of your
mother's and the future of your children, and of your
love for your country.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
I demand of you that you unleash your.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Power to despise.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
I want you to become ferocious.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
I want you to become his beasts of the jungle,
as furious as they in the.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Defense of their homes. Do you hate this.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Man, yes, roared the crowd feed enemy of the people?
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Do you hear Ketteridge.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Trub watched in dry mouked fascination as the slump figure
in the chair straightened up convulsively and jerked at his collar.
At this first indication that their power was reaching home,
the crowd roared to a new peak of excitement.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
We plead with you people watching today on your television sets.
To join with us in hating this wretch all over America.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Stand up, if you will.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Stand in your living rooms, face the east, face New
York City, and let anger FuG your hearts, speak it out,
let it flow. A man beside Troub sat down, turned aside,
and vomited softly into a handkerchief. Troub picked up the
binoculars the man had discarded for the moment and fasten
(25:00):
them on Kettridge's figure, twirling the focus now furiously. In
a moment, the man leaped into the foreground, and Troub
saw that his eyes were full of tears, that his
body was racked with sobs, that he was in obvious pain.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
He is not set to live.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Turn your anger upon him, channel it, make it productive.
Be not angry with your family, your friends, your fellow citizens,
but let your anger pour out in a violent torrent
on the head of this human devil. Come on, let's
do it. Let's get it over with. At that moment,
(25:38):
Troub was at last convinced the enormity of Cartridge's crime,
and Weltmer said, all right, all right, that's it. Now,
let's get down to brass tacks. Let's concentrate on his
right arm. Hate it, do you hear? Burn the flesh
from the bone. You can do it, Come on, burn
(26:01):
him alive. Trub stared unblinking through the binoculars at Ketteradge's
right arm as the prisoner leaped to his feet and
ripped off his jacket, Howling with his left hand. He
gripped his right forearm and then trob saw the flesh
turning dark, first a deep red, and then a livid purple.
The fingers contracted, and Kettowage whirled on his small platform
(26:24):
like a dervish, flapping his arm against his side.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
You're doing it. You're doing it. Mind over, madder, that's it.
Burn this offending flesh. Be as the avenging angels of
the Lord smite this devil.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
The flesh was turning darker now across the shoulders as
Catterwage tore his shirt off. Screaming, he broke away from
his chair and leaped off the platform, landing on his knees.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
On the grass.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Oh the power is wonderful. We've got him now. Now
let's really turn it on. Come on.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Heading rised down the grass and then rose and began
running back and forth, directionless, like a bug on a griddle.
Croud could watch no longer. He put down the binoculars
and staggered back up the aisle outside the stadium. He
walked for twelve blocks before he hailed a cab. You've
(27:52):
heard the Public Hating a story by Steve Allen. It
comes from an anthology edited by Judith Merrill titled s
S The Best of the Best. I'm Michael Hansen. Reading
with me was Harvey K. Black. Technical operation for this
broadcast by Mary kay Payne. Mind Webbs is a production
(28:16):
of w h A Radio in Madison, a service of
University of Wisconsin Extension
Mine.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to a half hour of mind wat short stories
from the world of Speculator section. This is Michael Hanson,
(01:25):
the mind Web story that would begin this half hour.
Why It comes from clarion Io, a collection of speculators
of fiction and criticism, edited by Robin Scott Wilson. This
is a story by Molly Daniel called Winter Housekeeping. At first,
(01:46):
there was no traffic along the street where Sarah lived,
and when the treetoad stopped chirping, the house lay still
and quiet behind its overgrown shrubs. Sarah lay in the
unbearable dark silence of the bedroom, listening. Age was seeping
through the house like an orderless gas permeating the foreboards
and rising slowly to the ceiling.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Mm.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
It wasn't all the rooms, getting stronger every minute, and
it ached. Sarah could feel the ache of old age
posting all around her, m brushing against her face as
she lay in bed. A current of it swept her cheek,
and she held her breath until finally she had to inhale.
She felt age burn her nostrils and throats, finally impacting
(02:33):
on her lungs. Her chest rattled with a force, and
she crossed a labored weeping sound. She felt her husband's
weight shift on the bed, and a voice came out
of the darkness.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
MM, did you forget to take your medicine again?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Hate me?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I knew?
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Said get to take my nut mis set.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
His hands slid over to touch hers under the sheep.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
You mean you'll never remember.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
The hands was heavy and dry and trembled in hers
until she pulled away. Henry's voice came again, louder and closer.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
MM. It isn't the same thing, is it.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
She lay very still on the bed, blotting out everything
and trying to think herself far away. She felt herself
slipping into the darkness when Henry's words brought her back sharply.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
It is, isn't it? I thought you were over that, Sarah.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
We we've done all we can do. You've got to
quit thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Age was swirling around her neck, tugging at the folds
of flesh that hung there. She shivered and pulled the
covers up under her chin.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Sarah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
She didn't answer, and he began to talk in a
low voice.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Sarah, there's no point in trying to start over. We've
had our life, and we have had most of it.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Together.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
Now that's something, isn't it, And.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
We can't throw it away. No matter how hard you try,
you can't throw it away.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
She had thrown away the dishes when she had realized
about the food. It was poisoning them. She knew it
in the slight, barely perceptible wrongness that made familiar food
stick in her throat. She changed the cooking habits of
fifty years, adding spices and fruits with exotic names, but
the wrongness persisted, and even Henry began to complain. In
(04:43):
the end, she saw that it was the dishes. The
heavy china that had been a wedding present, was releasing age,
saturating their food with a pent of years. She threw
it away, bought new china with a bright floral pattern,
and found that she could eat again. The rugs were
the next to go, and her feet quit hurting. At
(05:06):
the end of the day, the old wallpaper was stripped away,
all the pictures were replaced, and suddenly she found that
her eyes didn't burn whenever she tried to read m
Piece by piece. She routed out the years and scoured
them away. Age had lulled her into complacency, sucking her
(05:26):
gently into death. Now she was awake. Every day, she
worked harder and felt younger through it all. Henry stood by, unquestioning,
seeming to understand. He didn't seem to care that she
was working to save them both, but he didn't try
to stop her. He just stood by shaking his head,
(05:48):
always with the same sad smile, and he didn't get younger.
Every time she finished the project, she would come to
him a little, stronger, a little, and he was always
the same. He was like the house, heavy solid and
rotting away inside on his firm foundations.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
She accused him.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Of not wanting to grow younger with her, and he
only said, mm.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I don't ever want to lose you.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
M She didn't know what he meant. Finally, when everything
in the house had been replaced, she realized that she
had failed. She felt better than she had in many years,
but she was still an old woman. Her skin was
still mottled, her hair was still yellowed and sparse. Inside,
she was eighteen, but her body was still seventeen, rushing
(06:42):
toward death. She couldn't die inside this ugly old woman.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
She had to get out.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
She told Henry what they had to do, and he refused.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Oh, sir, we can sell the house. The house is
all oh, we have left.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
It's us and we can't live anywhere else. Clean us.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Failure and age closed in around her, and she suddenly
felt very tired.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Going but kill us soon.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
I tied.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
He came closer until he was leaning over her, talking rapidly.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Sarah, I don't want to lose you. I can't put
you away. I can't do it, but I'm going to
act her if you don't stop it. I let you
have your way and it didn't help, and now you're
just going to have to quit it.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
He was breathing hard, and she could feel the warm,
sour breath on her face. It felt like the currents
of age that were poisoning the house. His breath was age,
and he was age. They had grown old together, and
he was killing her with his memories. Go to sleep,
(08:09):
I'll be better, I think, carrying on like a crazy woman.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
Don't know what came over me.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Go to sleep. She waited until he had been asleep
a long time before she slipped out of bed, felt
her way to the closets, and retrieved the plastic cleaning bag.
He didn't wake up. She had known he wouldn't. For
a moment, she wondered sadly, how he could be so
(08:41):
willing to die. She would have to find someone, she thought,
who needed to live as badly as she did. She
crossed the room and drew back the curtain so that
a little pale light fell across the bed, and then
straddling him, she watched her arms grow from her and
(09:02):
her skin grow smoother as she held him down. That
(09:30):
was Winter Housekeeping, a story by Molly Daniel that comes
from Clarion to edited by Robin Scott Wilson. This is
Michael Hansen reading with me j fitzm.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
School School School.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
This half hour of mind Webs concludes with a story
from Judith Merrill's collection s s The Best of the Best.
This is The Public Hating by Steve Allen. The weather
was a little cloudy, and that's at number ninth, and
here and there in the crowds that surged up the
ramps into the stadium, people were looking at the sky
(11:05):
and then at their neighbors and squinting and saying, hope
she doesn't rain. On television, the weather man had forecast
slight clottiness, but no showers. It was not cold all
over the neighborhood surrounding the stadium. People poured out of
street cars and buses and subways in ants like lines.
They crawled across the streets through turnstiles, up stairways, along lamps,
(11:28):
through gates, down aisles, laughing and shoving restlessly, damp palms
with excitement. They came shuffling into the great concrete bowl,
some stopping to go to the restroom, some buying popcorn,
some taking free pamphlets from the uniformed attendants. Everything was
free this particular day. No tickets had been sold for
(11:49):
the events. The public proclamations had simply been made in
the newspapers and on TV, and over sixty five thousand
people had responded. For weeks, of course, the papers had
been suggesting that the event would take place all during
the trial, even as early as the selection of the jury.
The columnists had slightly hinted at the inevitability of the outcome,
(12:11):
but it had only been officials. Since yesterday the television
networks had actually gotten a slight jump on the papers.
At six o'clock the government had taken over all network
facilities for a brief five minute period, during which the
announcement was made. The premiere had said, very calm, very
handsome in the gray double breasted suit. But we've all
(12:33):
followed with great interest the course of the trial of
Professor Kettidge. Early this afternoon the jury returned a verdict
to guilty, the verdict having been confirmed within the hour
by the Supreme Courts. In the interests of time saving,
the White House has decided to make the usual prompt
official announcement there will be a public hating tomorrow the
(12:55):
time two thirty pm the place Yankee Stadium in New
York City. Your assistances earnestly requested. Those of you in
the New York area were fined, and the voice had
gone on filling in other details.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
And in the morning, the early.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Editions of the newspapers included pictures captured broncs, couple first
in line and students wait all night to view waiting.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
And early birds.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
By one thirty in the afternoon, there was not an
empty seat in the stadium. When people were beginning to
fill up a few of the aisles, special police began
to block off the exits and word was sent down
to the street that no more people could be admitted.
Hawkers flipped through the crowd selling cold beer and hot dogs.
Sitting just back of what would have been first base
had the Yankees not been playing in Cleveland. Frederick Trub
(13:46):
stared curiously at the platform. In the middle of the field.
There was about twice the size of a prize fighting wing.
In the middle of it, there was a small rays
section on which was placed a plain wooden kitchen chair.
To the left of the chair, there were seating accommodations
for a small group of dignitaries. Downstage, so to speak,
(14:08):
there was a speaker's lectern and the battery of microphones.
The platform was hung with bunting and pennants. The crowd
was beginning to hum ominously. At two minutes after two o'clock,
a small group of men filed out onto the fields
from the point joshed back of home plates. The crowd
buzzed more loudly for a moment, and then burst into
(14:30):
a pause. The men carefully climbed a few wooden steps,
walked in single file across the platform, and seated themselves
when the chair set.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Out for them.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Trub turned around and was interested to observe high in
the press box, the winking red lights of television cameras,
and he said softly to his companion, remarkable, Yeah, I suppose,
but uh, pretty effective.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
I guess that's right. Still, it seems a little strange
to me. We do things rather differently.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Crub listened for a moment to the voices around him. Surprisingly,
no one seemed to be discussing the business at hand, baseball, movies,
the weather, gossip, personal small talk at hasn't and one
subjects were introduced. It was almost as if they were
trying not to mention behaving. Crub's friend's voice broke in
(15:27):
Traub's reverie.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Oh you think it'd be okay when we get down
the business and I've seen him keel.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Over, I I'll be all right.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
But I still can't believe it. What do you mean?
Speaker 6 (15:39):
Oh, you know, the whole thing, how it started, how
you found you could do it beats the hell.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Out of me. You know.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I think it was a guy at Duke University. It
first came up with the idea the mind over mattered
Thing's been around a long time, of course, but this guy,
he was the first one to prove scientifically that mind
can control did.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
It with dice?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I believe? Yeah, that's right. First he found some guys who,
you know, could drop a dozen or so dice down
a shoot or some kind and actually control the direction
they'd take. Then they discovered the secret. It was really simple.
The guys who could control the dice were simply the
guys who thought they could. Then one time they got
the idea of taking the dice into an auditorium and
(16:23):
having about two thousand people concentrate on forcing the dice.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
One way or the other. That did It was the
most natural thing in the world when you think about it.
See if one horse can pull a heavy load so
far and so fast, the figure is that ten horses
can pull it a lot father and a lot faster.
They had those dice falling where they wanted them eighty
percent of the time.
Speaker 6 (16:44):
When did they first substitute a living organism for the dice?
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Damned the fly though it was quite a few years ago,
and at first the government sort of clamp down on
the thing.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
There was a little last.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Ditch fight from the churches, I think, but they finally
realized you couldn't stop it. This unusually large crowd, nah,
not for a political prisoner. And you take a rapist
and a murderery some of them don't pull more than maybe
uh twenty thirty thousand. The people just don't get stirred
up enough. The sun had come out from behind the
(17:16):
cloud now, and Troub watched silently as large map shaped
shadows moved majestically across the grass.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
She's warming up. Someone said, yeah, that's right. A voice agreed,
you gonna be real nice. Troub leaned forward and lowered
his head as he retired the laces on his right shoe,
and in the next instant he was shocked to attention
by a guttural roar from the crowd that vibrated the floor.
(17:45):
In distant right center field, three men were walking toward
the platform. Two of them were walking together, the third
was slouched in front of them, had down his gate unsteady.
Troub had thought he was going to be all right,
but now looking at the tired figure being prodded towards
second base, and looking at the bare bald head, he
(18:06):
began to feel slightly sick. It seemed to take forever
before the two guards jostled the prisoner up the stairs
and toward the small kitchen chair. When he reached it
and seated himself, the crowd roared again. A tall, distinguished
man stepped to the speaker's lectern, then cleared his throat,
raising his right hand in an appeals.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
For quiet, and he said, all right, all right.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
The mob slowly fell silent. Trub clasped his hands tightly together.
He felt a little ashamed. The speaker went on.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
All right, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of
the President of the United States, I welcome you too.
Another public hating is this particular affairs, you know, is
directed against the man who was, yes today judged guilty
in the United States District Court right in New York City,
(19:05):
Professor Arthur Ketterich. At the mention of Kettridge's name, the
crowd made a noise like an earthquake rumble. Several pop
bottles were thrown fultily from the centerfield bleachers. They will
begin in just a moment, but first I should like
to introduce the Reverend Charles Fully of the Park Avenue
(19:30):
we Born Church, who will make the invocation. A small
man with glasses stepped forward, replaced the first speaker at
the microphone, closed his eyes and threw back his head.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
Our Heavenly Father to whom we are indebted for all
the blessings of this life. Grant we besiech the that
we act today in justice and in the spirit of truth. Grant,
(20:04):
O Lord, we pray thee that what we are about
to do here today will render us the humble servants
of thy divine will. For it is written the wages
of sin his death searched deep into this man's heart.
(20:30):
For the seed of repentance.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
If there be such, and if there.
Speaker 6 (20:35):
Be not, planted therein, O Lord, in thy goodness and mercy. Amen.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
The crowd, which had stood quietly during the prayer and
now sat down and began to buzz again. The first
speaker wise.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
All right, you know we have a job to do,
and you know why we have.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yes, screened thousands of voices. Then let us get to
the business at hand. At this time, I would like
to introduce to you a very great American who, to
use the old trace, needs no introduction, Former president of
Harvard University, current advisor to the Secretary of State, Ladies
(21:30):
and gentlemen, Doctor Howard S.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Welthmer.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
A wave of applause vibrated the air. Doctor Welmer stepped forward,
shook hands with a speaker and adjusted the microphone.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Now, we won't waste any more time here, since what
we are about to do will take every bit of
our energy and concentration if it is to be successfully accomplished.
I asked you all to direct your unwavering attention toward
the man seated in the chair to my left ear,
a man who, in my opinion, is the most despicable
(22:10):
criminal of our time, Professor Arthur Kettridge. The mob shrieked,
I ask you to rise. That's it, everybody stand up now.
I want every one of you. I understand we have
upwards of seventy thousand people here today. I want every
(22:31):
single one of you to stare directly at the schimed
in human form Ketriage, and I want you to let
him know by the wondrous power that lies in the
strength of your emotional reservoirs.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
I want you to let him know that he is.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
A criminal, that he is worse than a murderer, that
he has committed treason, that he is not loved by
anyone anywhere in thy universe, and he is rather despised.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
With a bigger.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Equaling heat to the power of the sun itself. People
around Troub were shaking their fists. Now, their eyes were narrowed.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Their mouths turned down. At the corners, a woman fainted.
Come on, let's feel it. Under the spell of the speaker,
Trub was suddenly horrified to find that his blood was raising,
his heart pounding. He felt anger searching up in him.
He could not believe he hated Ketteridge, but he could
(23:35):
not deny he hated something. And the souls of your
mother's and the future of your children, and of your
love for your country.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
I demand of you that you unleash your.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Power to despise.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
I want you to become ferocious.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
I want you to become his beasts of the jungle,
as furious as they in the.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Defense of their homes. Do you hate this.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Man, yes, roared the crowd feed enemy of the people?
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Do you hear Ketteridge.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Trub watched in dry mouked fascination as the slump figure
in the chair straightened up convulsively and jerked at his collar.
At this first indication that their power was reaching home,
the crowd roared to a new peak of excitement.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
We plead with you people watching today on your television sets.
To join with us in hating this wretch all over America.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Stand up, if you will.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Stand in your living rooms, face the east, face New
York City, and let anger FuG your hearts, speak it out,
let it flow. A man beside Troub sat down, turned aside,
and vomited softly into a handkerchief. Troub picked up the
binoculars the man had discarded for the moment and fasten
(25:00):
them on Kettridge's figure, twirling the focus now furiously. In
a moment, the man leaped into the foreground, and Troub
saw that his eyes were full of tears, that his
body was racked with sobs, that he was in obvious pain.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
He is not set to live.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Turn your anger upon him, channel it, make it productive.
Be not angry with your family, your friends, your fellow citizens,
but let your anger pour out in a violent torrent
on the head of this human devil. Come on, let's
do it. Let's get it over with. At that moment,
(25:38):
Troub was at last convinced the enormity of Cartridge's crime,
and Weltmer said, all right, all right, that's it. Now,
let's get down to brass tacks. Let's concentrate on his
right arm. Hate it, do you hear? Burn the flesh
from the bone. You can do it, Come on, burn
(26:01):
him alive. Trub stared unblinking through the binoculars at Ketteradge's
right arm as the prisoner leaped to his feet and
ripped off his jacket, Howling with his left hand. He
gripped his right forearm and then trob saw the flesh
turning dark, first a deep red, and then a livid purple.
The fingers contracted, and Kettowage whirled on his small platform
(26:24):
like a dervish, flapping his arm against his side.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
You're doing it. You're doing it. Mind over, madder, that's it.
Burn this offending flesh. Be as the avenging angels of
the Lord smite this devil.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
The flesh was turning darker now across the shoulders as
Catterwage tore his shirt off. Screaming, he broke away from
his chair and leaped off the platform, landing on his knees.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
On the grass.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Oh the power is wonderful. We've got him now. Now
let's really turn it on. Come on.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Heading rised down the grass and then rose and began
running back and forth, directionless, like a bug on a griddle.
Croud could watch no longer. He put down the binoculars
and staggered back up the aisle outside the stadium. He
walked for twelve blocks before he hailed a cab. You've
(27:52):
heard the Public Hating a story by Steve Allen. It
comes from an anthology edited by Judith Merrill titled s
S The Best of the Best. I'm Michael Hansen. Reading
with me was Harvey K. Black. Technical operation for this
broadcast by Mary kay Payne. Mind Webbs is a production
(28:16):
of w h A Radio in Madison, a service of
University of Wisconsin Extension
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