Father's Day '99

The stories told in “Father’s Day ’99” tell inspiring stories about the relationships between fathers and their kids as they care for and protect each other. There are three stories told in the radio story, one about a father who recovers his son’s lost teddy bear, another about a son who brings his father with Alzheimer’s back to the place where he had lived in hopes of bringing back some memories that had been lost due to the disease, and the third about a father who tries to protect his daughter only to crush her spirit further. The three stories are told in slightly different ways, the first switching between a narrative and an interview, the second between a narrative, interview and raw footage, and the third strictly an interview, but from two different perspectives.
The first story is about a father who does the seemingly impossible for his son, finding a beloved teddy bear against all odds, given a massive pile of trash and only 15 minutes to go through it all. The program combines a narrative telling of the story by the person whom the story is about, with an interview of that person with the host of the program. This way the listener not only gets an overview of the story, but also the opinion of the father that may have not been included in a mere retelling of the story. The small miracle that occurred is inspiring.
During the second act of the program, clips of conversation fade into music, which sets the mood of the story being told. The music doesn’t overpower the story, but adds to it. At moments the music in the background stops when the sons tells the story, then it slowly fades back in as the audio switches to the raw footage of the trip. At places where the audio is cut, the music swells, and then fades again as the next part of the audio comes back in. The audio of the second story gives the listeners a better idea about what actually happened: you get to listen to the man’s father trying to remember the names and professions of his sons. A retelling just wouldn't have the same effect on the listener.
The third episode tells a story about how a father ended up disappointing his daughter when he took a lie too far: the father ended up making his daughter believe in something that was never really there. This story is told by both the father and daughter, the interviewer asking the occasional question. Through this method of storytelling, the listener gets both sides of the story and understands how each side felt in response to what had happened.