# Does anyone remember this public radio piece?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-public-radio-piece/674992>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 28, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-public-radio-piece/674992 "2013-11-28T08:41:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-public-radio-piece/674992/1 "2013-11-28T08:41:16Z")

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There’s a story or anecdote I remember hearing on an American public radio station, probably KUOW, likely pre-2006/7. The narrator was a guy; I remember that he sounded younger and more inner city than other radio people- he didn’t have a stereotypical NPR voice. I think it was from one of the programs that does multiple original pieces, such as This American Life, rather than something like Selected Shorts, but I could be wrong.

The narrator talks about growing up in a poor household, with oranges reserved as a medicinal food. The narrator recounts telling his mother that he’s sick, and her immediately shooting back “You mean, you want an orange.”

Literally, that’s all I remember. Does anyone else remember this?

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-public-radio-piece/674992/2 "2013-11-28T11:46:14Z")

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Just out of curiosity, why are you asking about this? Are you wondering about the medicinal virtues of oranges?

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**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-public-radio-piece/674992/3 "2013-11-28T17:06:17Z")

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I’m not sure how you got that idea.

The reason I’m asking is I can remember really liking this story when I heard it, and I’d like to hear it again. The narrator had a great sense of characterization, and I loved the note of skepticism he hits in the line “You mean, you want an orange.”

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-public-radio-piece/674992/4 "2013-11-28T21:22:28Z")

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I see.

Have you tried checking NPR archives? There are a number of websites like this:

[http://help.npr.org/npr/consumer/kbdetail.asp?kbid=99](http://help.npr.org/npr/consumer/kbdetail.asp?kbid=99)

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-public-radio-piece/674992/5 "2013-11-28T21:23:41Z")

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Oranges will cure scurvy, BTW. 🙂