You can't get much better than David Isay as producer and for that matter Susan Stamberg as host. The production is sound rich and lively. The stories are personal and unusual. I think the individual stories would work well in any news magazine but as a special it's an odd length (1:13:28). You might be able to take out a couple of pieces to create an hour special. The Longest Diary piece was too happy frantic OCD for me. The better Pullman Porter piece ends short but then it segues into one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching pieces I've heard - Tossing Away the Keys about lifers in Angola Prison. That piece alone is worth the whole hour. The Bell Museum piece is a welcome relief to the emotions of the Keys piece and is a pleasant musical piece. The Castle Builder is more of a traditional NPR feature. The Mississippi Jews fares better as a slice of life documentary. The Marriage Broker was a nice light follow-up. Great music on Dr. Hepcat though who'd a thought hep would be so quaint? Joe Franklin falls into the frantic happy category for me though I was glad to learn that the Saturday Night Live skits were based on a real person. And frankly, I can live without the sound of fox hunting which is the final story. Should stations run this as a special? Perhaps... if you can make the formatting work and if you like all the pieces. Should they run most of the pieces as features? Certainly! It's all a matter of personal taste and there's a lot to choose from.