I love when This American Life illuminates some tiny piece of some random city that I might pass on the freeway, reminding me how this country's landscape is still rich with stories. I had barely heard of Schenectady, New York, when I listened to Petty Tyrant. In this episode, for a full hour, Sarah Koenig tells the story of a single manager in a seemingly “normal” school district, reminding me that great stories can lurk in dark spaces.

Ira Glass describes the story as “a huge scandal was slowly coming to a boil in one of the least likely places,” and the difference between this radio story and the broadcast news-version of the same story is that the news only shows you the part that boils over the top. This American Life takes its time, though, waiting until the story reaches just the right temperature, seasoning it to enhance the flavor.

This episode mixes dozens (maybe a hundred) of tiny anecdotes throughout the story. Like salt, these anecdotes enhance the experience of the larger story being told, providing a more detailed image of what’s going on. Here’s one such detail:

I love to like the characters in a story.

When I listened to "Roger Dowds: Millionaire Winner," by Irish producer Ronan Kelly, I immediately got into sync with the protagonist -- when he felt sad, I felt sad. When he felt happy, I felt happy. The listening experience is simple when the character is likable.

With Roger Dowds, likability has everything to do with his desperate sincerity. It spills out of his mouth every time he speaks. He communicates sincere not just through what he says, but in how he says it: the quality of his voice is a crucial element in this story. It’s a simple, soft, almost-pathetic-sounding voice with an element of pain behind it. You get that quality throughout the piece - it’s a part of who he is: like a whimper with a wounded heart. Without even seeing a picture of him, you still get an image of a hunched-over, pale-skinned body behind Roger’s voice. All in all, you kind of want to feel sorry for him... but when he smiles, you can hear it. You love that smile, British teeth and all.