Defying Sickness

Stories of people trying to do exactly what the doctors say they can't — or shouldn't. Prologue: Host Ira Glass with Walt Strommer, on Dreams of Disabled People. (6 minutes) Road Trip: Photographer Joel Meyerowitz decided to go on a last big trip with his father, Hy, who has Alzheimer's. Joel also brought his own son. The purpose of the trip? To try to get close to a part of Hy's personality that Alzheimer's had eradicated, and to see if it might be possible to jump start some of his memories. Joel and his son decided to make a movie of the trip. We hear some of the very funny, very moving raw footage. The film, Pop, aired on the PBS program Frontline. (32 minutes) My World Record: A hemophiliac teenager who tries to set world records and to motocross. (13 minutes) Iron Man: Mark O'Brien is a writer in California, who lives most of each day in an iron lung, thanks to a childhood case of polio. It's an excerpt from Jessica Yu's Oscar-winning documentary. (6 minutes)