Pimp Anthropology (RealAudio file)

August 23, 2002 2:12 PM

Pimp Anthropology (RealAudio file) is the title of a 1999 episode (description) of This American Life. It chronicles the rise and fall of a man that, with three friends in the '70s, became a pimp, didn't follow the rules, and lost everything. It's amazingly honest, interesting and heartbreaking, and doesn't fall into the trap of glorifying pimping and prostitution. This is the best thing I've heard in a while.
posted by The Michael The (8 comments total)

After hearing this episode (which I agree, was excellent), my wife and I rented and watched American Pimp by the Hughes Brothers. This documentary was well-balanced, never seeming to either condemn or lionize its subjects, but it also somehow managed to be pretty boring.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 2:17 PM on August 23, 2002

First time poster. MeFi vets, let me know how this stacks up.
posted by The Michael The at 2:18 PM on August 23, 2002

(As you have no email address in your profile, TMT, we would have to let you know here in the thread, which is somewhat frowned upon.)
posted by Shadowkeeper at 2:20 PM on August 23, 2002

(Fixed. Thanks, Shadowkeeper.)
posted by The Michael The at 2:23 PM on August 23, 2002

Damn. The Golden Age. Interesting how it was a lifestyle and about relationships and family and not about the money. Or not.
posted by stbalbach at 8:12 PM on August 23, 2002

I remember hearing that when it originally aired. What I found most amazing was how easy it was for him to turn out his own girl. freaky.
posted by jaded at 9:17 PM on August 23, 2002

I've been going back through the archives at a rate of about a show a day for a while now. Great stuff, none of which I've ever heard before, not having lived in North America for a long time. Listening now!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:10 PM on August 23, 2002

A good candidate for Warner Brothers' Pictures new first-look deal with TAL?
posted by sj at 8:30 AM on August 24, 2002