I recognized the stress lady almost as soon as I saw the tape. I'd watched Loretta LaRoche on another tape and had not been won over, so finding her again was a surprise of a very particular kind. This time I was looking at Humor Your Stress: Jest for the Fun of It and wondering if it was the same performance with a different name. My running review did not get any kinder.
Then the tape moves into The American Experience: A Midwife's Tale. Its closing credits and WOSU continuity give way to a tease for Pikes Peak by Rail, with Miracle-Gro and Liberty Mutual underwriting and local material including an Ohio school-funding spot, Rite Rug and an LEV Accord ad. I went from trying to identify the midwife program to listening to a train documentary; just as I was wondering whether the trip would get down the mountain, the watched recording stopped. The Columbus station material is what ties these otherwise unlikely neighbors together.
Content inventory
Shows and segments (playback order)
Playback sequence
- Loretta LaRoche: Humor Your Stress, Jest for the Fun of It (introduced in notes as The Joy of Stress)
- The American Experience: A Midwife's Tale
- Pikes Peak by Rail (partial)
Commercial inventory
WOSU: Pikes Peak by Rail underwriting and adjacent spots
- LEV Accord ad
WOSU: Pikes Peak by Rail adjacent station breaks
- Rite Rug
Underwriting
WOSU: Pikes Peak by Rail underwriting and adjacent spots
- Miracle-Gro
- Liberty Mutual
Station and show promos
WOSU: Pikes Peak by Rail adjacent station breaks
- Frontline — Gulf War betrayal (pills and Gulf War syndrome)
- The Gold Rush — Tuesday at 10pm — narrated by John Lithgow
- School funding in Ohio — wosu.org/schools — funding Ohio's future
- Ragtime — Great Performances WOSU
- Nature — cats WOSU
Tape details
- Format: TV Recording
- Viewed dates: 2026-05-31
- Recording date: 1998 indicated by canonical catalog; exact air date of individual blocks unresolved
- Viewing extent: Viewed recording includes a partial Pikes Peak by Rail
- Archive ID: VHS-2026-573
