PTSD, Lost Art, and The Berlin Wall - Nathan Englander

“In the night we've lost our train... I don't know what station, I don't know what country.”

Photo by Jason Falchook

PTSD, Lost Art, and The Berlin Wall

 --- This episode is available on your local radio station, on PRX and below via The Moth Player. It will be published on  iTunes | Spotify | RadioPublic | RSS on 4/20/2021 ---

The victim of a random stabbing struggles to reestablish his life while suffering from post traumatic stress disorder; author Nathan Englander describes coming of age at 19 while traveling through Europe to witness the fall of The Berlin Wall; and an artist and documentary film maker loses three years of work in an instant and finds it hard to continue.

Ed Gavagan is nearly stabbed to death by a gang, then loses his job and his home while working through PTSD.

Nathan Englander is still a teenager when he heads to Europe hoping to witness the fall of Communism in East Berlin.

Ellie Lee suffers an enormous setback in the making of her documentary but gets inspired, years later, to try again. 


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Stories in this Episode

17:00
Whatever Doesn't Kill Me

by Ed Gavagan

A violent encounter causes a man's life to spiral out of control.

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13:50
Unhooked

by Nathan Englander

A man travels to Europe right around the fall of The Berlin Wall.

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13:14
Lost

by Ellie Lee

An artist and documentary filmmaker loses three years of work in an instant and finds it hard to continue.

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Extras From This Episode

Ed Gavagan Extra

Ed’s daughter on the streets of New York. Photo courtesy Ed Gavagan.

Nathan Englander Extra

Nathan at the Berlin Wall.

Nathan Englander Extra 2

The gate to East Berlin.

Nathan Englander Extra3

Nathan helping to take down the Berlin Wall. All photos courtesy Nathan Englander.

Check out Ellie’s full-length documentary, Repetition Compulsion:

Ellie Lee Extra

Some of the art from Ellie’s documentary. Courtesy of Ellie Lee.

The music in this story