Recently I discovered how to download podcasts, and that's a pretty cool thing. I walk my dog twice a day, so it's nice to have some new listening options. The first thing I downloaded was the current podcast of This American Life. I've listened to TAL before, but only when I stumbled across it on the local NPR station. I never actively tuned in to hear it. Anyway, I've always found the show compelling, and the podcast I'm listening to right now is no different.

The theme is "stories of people leaving the situation they're used to and striking off for something less familiar." One of the segments is about Jerry Springer. Yes, that Jerry Springer. I knew he used to be mayor of Cincinnati, but I had no idea what sort of fall from grace he'd suffered.

Here's the short version: Springer was a young, but very charismatic, political candidate. He supposedly had the same type of magnetism as Reagan, Bobby Kennedy (for whom Springer was a volunteer), and Bill Clinton. Hard to believe, isn't it? On the show, someone described him as a "golden boy." He ran for Cincinnati city council and won. Then he got caught writing a check to a hooker in Kentucky. Stupid, yes, and he resigned. He figured his political career was over. But people still liked him. (Never forget what a powerful variable that is in political life. Just being liked can change a politician's fortunes.)

A year later, he ran for council again, and won again. Then he ran for mayor and won. He eventually ran for governor, but lost. Now he was more or less broke and jobless. He was offered a job as anchor on a local news broadcast, and he took it. He was given a few minutes at the end for commentary, and his segments usually ran fairly liberal.

Then he was offered a national talk show--something that was supposed to be a successor to Phil Donahue. The first shows tackled issues such as homelessness and gun control. Ratings sucked. Then a new producer came aboard, and as they said on TAL, you know the rest. Now his show is one of the vilest pieces of crap on television.

On TAL, near the end, a woman (I didn't catch her name) said that the Springer story was like a Greek tragedy. A very good Greek tragedy. I have to agree.

One of the reasons this interests me: Occasionally, when I'm creating a character in one of my novels, I think I'm going too far. I'll write, for instance, about some senator doing something outrageous, and I'll think, "Nobody will believe this. This is too ridiculous." Then I hear something like the Springer story, and I remember that nothing I create can top real life.