From the Editor — October 2024

My parents raised me on public radio. On the weekends, my dad had “Car Talk” and “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” blaring from the stereo in our garage. On the weekdays, my brother and I strapped into our booster seats and listened to “Morning Edition” and “Fresh Air” from the back of our mom’s Toyota Sienna. At the time, I didn’t realize it, but now as I look back on my childhood it’s difficult for me to recall a moment when there wasn’t National Public Radio playing in the background.

When I turned 18 and went away to college, my days fell silent and my life started to feel more and more out of my control. After there was nothing left to distract me from all of my unresolved problems, I did the most predictable thing a person in my position could do: I had a breakdown.

By the end of my first semester, I retreated into myself completely. Everything that I used to love had lost its spark. Writing, reading, getting dinner with my friends — all of it just made me feel more empty. As stupid as this might sound, the only thing in the world that I still enjoyed was listening to NPR.

In 2021, there were over 750 episodes in the online archive for “This American Life.” I probably listened to at least 600 episodes that year — most of them at least twice.

If you’re not familiar with the show, “This American Life” is a public radio program that’s been running since 1995. Each week, the show takes on a new theme — such as “The Big Rethink” or “Swim Towards the Shark” — and the hosts compile a series of different stories that all tie back to that theme. The show, by nature, is incredibly broad, but I always loved whatever they had to offer.

Listening to an episode meant taking a 60-minute break from my nauseating self-pity. The hosts had a way of making every story feel special, and that was addictive. I was desperate to have something good in my life, and in a way, I found it.

These days, I don’t need a constant stream of podcasts to stay afloat. After the end of my freshman year, I did the second most predictable thing a person in my position could do: I started to get better.

Of course, nothing is that simple. There are still good days and bad days. On the bad days, one of the most powerful ways I keep joy in my life is taking the time to listen to people’s strange and heartfelt stories. I encourage you all to do the same today and read through our newest edition of the Daily Trojan Magazine. Whether it’s a work of fiction, a personal narrative or a long-form essay — each story in this magazine fits into a larger collage of charming, heartfelt and thoughtful storytelling.

Read about Henry Kofman writing letters to strangers, Sammy Bovitz unpacking the “Age of the Vanilla DJ,” Miranda Huang reflecting on celebrating Halloween as a college student, Jennifer Nehrer sharing her love for license plates and Reo exploring the recent delays in the recognized student organization application process. From there, enjoy a special film photo essay of campus from the Daily Trojan’s photo team, and take in the beauty of Amelia Neilson-Slabach’s latest comic strip.

I am so grateful that this vibrant, curious and creative group of people was generous enough to share their writing and art with me. I am also endlessly indebted to our Chief Copy Editors Deon Botshekan and Fiona Feingold; our director of Art & Design Vivienne Tran; our Photo editor Henry Kofman (again); our managing editors Stefano Fendrich, Alia Yee Noll, and Alexa Avila; our director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Peyton Dacy and, of course, our Editor-in-Chief Kimberly Aguirre, who has been there to support me every step of the way.

Without them there would be no magazine, but thanks to all of their hard work, today we get to send out a new collection of incredibly special stories.