Today on This American Life there was a  great story about a Russian teenager named Alex who lives in Brighton Beach. He and two friends decided to take a short boat trip around Jamica Bay–with a bottle or rum. Things didn’t go according to plan. They were shipwrecked and young Alex ended up on a desert island (with a view of midtown Manhattan ten miles away) not from from the south tip of Brooklyn called Russell Barr. He was stranded there for seven hours and the story is truly hilarious.

Today’s show was themed: Living Without, stories
of people living without. Nubar Alexanian explains what fish can do for
him that his own ears cannot.

Sarah Vowell explains the cheerful
journalism of deprivation. And a short story about someone called to
donate a heart. It’s by Judith Budnitz, from her collection of stories
called Flying Leap.  Broadcast the weekend of February 17-19 in most places, or here via RealAudio next week.

Check WNYC.org to find out when it’s playing on Sunday. It’s that good. It’s the first story on the show, you won’t want to miss it.