This is probably not even interesting to my grandkids who are googling me out of some existential crisis, but in 2007,  I saw a live performance of This American Life alone at Lincoln Center. It was right before their Showtime series started, and I don’t think podcasts were really a thing yet, though maybe you could stream episodes online? It wasn’t the golden era of Ira we have today, where conversations can begin and end with “Did you hear that episode of This American Life?” 

I remember feeling like there was an incredible energy in the theater, maybe one I projected, because I was so excited to be in a room of people who wanted to spend $45 to see Ira Glass. I was almost 24, but I had just come to a place in my life where I knew the things I liked. In terms of verbs, I liked to read, I liked to run, and I liked to write. And like so many people who enjoy those verbs, I also liked This American Life. 

Anyway, Mates of States were the house band for that show, and afterward, I downloaded two of their songs. I was just doing my taxes and listening to Matchbox 20 (naturally) and soon enough, Mates of States came on. I wonder what they’re up to now, though I don’t wonder enough to do a cursory Google search. I hope whatever they’re doing, they don’t have to explain the gap in their resume as that time they were in a rock band. I listened to this song a lot in the spring of 2007, and listening to it again in the winter of 2013, I wish I liked it more.