Susan Matt, a professor at Weber State University, laughed when she first read of someone actually dying of homesickness. Nowadays, homesickness is regarded as a childish affliction that Americans, with our penchant for frequent relocation, are immune from. But as Matt writes, nostalgia has long distressed Americans--we leave to college, move for a new job, or migrate to a new country. She joins us to talk about homesickness and how we've managed to cope with it. (Rebroadcast)
- Hear a modern account of somebody suffering from acute nostalgia. This American Life producer Sarah Koenig tells the story of "Leo," a kid forced by his parents to leave his beloved Rochester, NY, resigning him to a grim fate: being the new kid at middle school in a foreign locale.
- We want to hear your stories of homesickness. Please tell them on the discussion board below.
Books and music from today's RadioWest
- Homesickness: An American History
- Amy by Pedal Steel Transmission
- Hate It Here by Wilco
- One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) by Wilco
