Stories of people trying to exorcise their inner demons.

TAL is always worth your time. In many shows, every segment is good. I attribute this to host Ira Glass's recognition of the importance of abandoning crap. The stories that make it onto the show have passed quite a test.

In this particular episode, Act One (which is the heart of the show this week) is absolutely excellent.

Glass has said: "If you're not failing all the time, you're not creating a situation where you can get super-lucky." By this logic, then, episode 340 qualifies as super-lucky.

Act One. And So We Meet Again.

Sam Slaven is an Iraq War veteran who came home from the War plagued by feelings of hate and anger toward Muslims. TAL producer Lisa Pollak tells the story of the unusual action Sam took to change himself, and the Muslim students who helped him do it. (34 minutes)

Here's the situation:

In May 2006 at the age of 28, Slaven began taking classes at Parkland Community College in Champagne, Illinois. One day, he came across a bearded man in a hallway who looked Middle-Eastern and Slaven found himself wanting to physically hurt the student. He describes how his mind raced as he battled his physical desire to be violent while his mind was reminding him that he was no longer on the battlefield. Slaven was astonished at his reaction and thought, "What have I become?"

Sam Slaven (The Veteran) and Yousif Radeef (The Bearded Man) are pictured at right, along with Dennis Kaczor, faculty advisor for MSA.

Apropos of recent events, one blogger notes:

There's a scene in there where American soldiers in Iraq are tasing each other for fun. You can hear them screaming and laughing in the audio.

On that note:

As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out.

Have you seen In the Valley of Elah?

Both Slaven and Radeef have since moved on from PCC:

While Slaven will attend EIU in secondary education next year, Radeef is waiting on word from Harvard for his fall enrollment.

The departure of these two students will leave a gap in the MSA. Radeef, who was instrumental in drawing up by-laws and holding official meetings, hopes to see the association continue. He urges students to check out the meetings that are held on Thursdays at noon in room D-146.

The MSA at PCC organized community activities:

Sam Slaven describes himself as a retired runner, but he's putting his experience in races all over the world to good use at Parkland College.

Slaven, 28, who joined Parkland's Muslim Student Association to rid himself of negative images he brought home from fighting in Iraq, has planned the association's April 7 5K run around the college's Perimeter Road.

This American Life - 340: The Devil in Me