Boing Boing reader Benjamin says:
Your recent series of phone messages reminded me of a great segment from This American Life back in 2002 about "The Greatest Phone Message in the World." Thought you might like to add it to the heap. I'm hosting mp3s of the show and just the message and there is also a real player file of the entire broadcast for free download. The phone message itself is hilarious. The story that surrounds it is not only fascinating, but rather relevant to the kinds of thing Boing Boing is always posting. The message originally recorded on a Columbia University phone messaging system that allowed campus-wide forwarding (it's described in the show as a "precursor to the Internet"). This guy gets his amazing phone message, and soon he was a campus celebrity. Now if only the Internet had that kind of power…
Link. I also see a link to a streaming Real Audio version of that TAL episode here
Reader comment: Hal says, "Here are a few more via NPR. An overprotective mother calls her daughter several times a day with obvious and/or insane warnings and suggestions." Link
See also this Boing Boing post from 2004: Saving Phone Messages as a Living Memorial:
The month of May marks the two-year anniversary of the death of Dmae Roberts' mother. Every 100 days, Dmae re-saves her phone messages from her voicemail as sort of a living memorial — and she shares some of those messages with Day to Day.
Previously: wrong number short film, I Shit My Pants Chiasmus, bullshit comp-a-nee, Your fucked up Jewish chanting party, Confused, why don't they outlaw BBQ Forks, Crop circle psycho science, Foreigners don't have computers!, and Girl I Know You Messin Wit my Man.
