Neal Baer, Executive Producer of Law and Order spoke last week at the Harvard Graduate School of Education about stories as the “currency of our lives”

Showing clips from his popular crime drama, Baer discussed how the show’s themes often involve ethical dilemmas drawn from everyday life. By examining complex issues such as abortion, prison torture, and child immunization in compelling ways through sympathetic characters, Baer said, his stories often have the power to educate and inform better than simple statistics might.

“Fifteen million AIDS orphans, that [number] is hard to grapple with. But when you hear a story … stories move us,” he said. “Nothing is more liberating than telling a story, Baer added. “If it is honest, people will listen.”

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/10/educational-merits-of-tv/

His words brought to mind a book that I was unable to put down last week–Uwem Akpan’s Say You’re One of  Them. Set in war-torn African, the heart-breaking tales in the collection are all told from the point of view of the child victims.  With unforgiving clarity, each child lets us into a world where quicksand opens with every step.