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My Life in Storage, on MarketplaceCommentator James Braly sold his luxury Manhattan apartment and boiled life down to the bare essentials. He's chasing his dream of writing — while living in his building's storage unit.
Unplug and Play, on Marketplace Morning Report
Writer and commentator James Braly offers this ode to a life without television.
The Erectile Dysfunction Function, on Marketplace
When it comes to prescription drugs, some medicines are easier to market than others. Commentator and humorist James Braly ponders the dilemma of selling drugs in the 21st century.
Listen to this commentary
Monthly Nut
I am sitting at my desk in my coop one day on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, paying my monthly expenses: coop mortgage; coop maintenance; coop insurance; four other kinds of insurance--health, for four people (I’ve got a stay-at-home wife and two kids); life, in case I die on them; disability, in case I collapse; and car, in case I abandon them; along with the home phone; office phone; cell phone; wife’s phone; credit card; wife’s card; and on and on: three inches of sedimentary expenses, that have accumulated layer by inexorable layer, into a crushing stack of bills. And when I do the math: one month of income minus one month of expenses, I get a figure of minus-one-month of income. I just spent twice as much as I earned. Read More...
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Power Outage
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I am standing at my office desk one day, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, wearing a telephone headset like an operator plugged into my cordless phone, about to make the call that's going to make me a man…of letters. A producer at a big radio show in LA wants me to tell her a story about my marriage. If she likes it, I get to tell it to 8 million other people. It's my audio close-up, the culmination of years of toil and sacrifice and marriage counselors, and I'm ready.
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For the last two days, no coffee, no alcohol, no cheese, and no arguing with my wife, Susan -- nothing that could dry my vocal chords or rattle my confidence. And since I woke up this morning, no unnecessary movements, so I don't sound winded. I ordered lunch in from the deli.
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And at exactly 4:13 PM -- three minutes after our scheduled appointment, so the producer thinks I've got things to do, too -- I start dialing: 1-213…and the phone dies. Read More...
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