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This American Life Archive
Description

Autogenerated feed of the This American Life archive.

Episodes
  • 2024 / 10 / 10
    844: This Is the Case of Henry Dee

    Thirteen parole board members decide whether or not one man should be released from prison.

  • 2024 / 9 / 27
    842: A Year Later (Promo)

    Chen Almog-Goldstein tells the story of life as a hostage in Gaza.

  • 2024 / 9 / 5
    840: How Are You Not Seeing This? (Promo)

    People trying and struggling to see what another person sees.

  • 2024 / 8 / 22
    839: Meet Me at the Fair

    We spend a few days at the Iowa State Fair.

  • 2024 / 8 / 8
    838: Letters! Actual Letters! (Promo)

    When the best—and perhaps only—way to say something is to write it down.

  • 2024 / 7 / 24
    837: Swim Towards the Shark

    In a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?

  • 2024 / 7 / 24
    837: Swim Towards the Shark (Promo)

    In a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?

  • 2024 / 7 / 12
    836: The Big Rethink (Promo)

    People rethinking some of the most important relationships in their lives.

  • 2024 / 6 / 7
    834: Yousef and the Fourth Move

    Yousef is forced into a move he is not sure he can make.

  • 2024 / 6 / 7
    834: Yousef In Rafah (Promo)

    Forced to make a choice he does not want to make.

  • 2024 / 6 / 3
    833: Come Retribution (Promo)

    Donald Trump has a plan for his second term: retribution. We check in with the people who’ve crossed him to hear how they feel about that.

  • 2024 / 5 / 24
    832: That Other Guy (Promo)

    People tethered to one particular other person, whether they want to be or not.

  • 2024 / 5 / 17
    831: Lists!!! (Promo)

    How they organize the chaos of the world, for good and for bad.

  • 2024 / 5 / 8
    830: The Forever Trial (Promo)

    The trial for the men accused of orchestrating the September 11 terrorist attacks still hasn’t started yet.

  • 2024 / 2 / 26
    825: Yousef (Promo)

    A series of phone calls to a man in Gaza about what he and his family are experiencing.

  • 2024 / 2 / 26
    825: Yousef’s Week

    A series of phone calls to a man in Gaza about what he and his family are experiencing.

  • 2023 / 6 / 23
    804: The Retrievals

    Patients at a fertility clinic experience excruciating, unexpected pain. For months the reason for that pain remains hidden. Then they get a letter from the clinic.

  • 2023 / 6 / 16
    802: Father's Day

    Ira's own father, Barry Glass, co-hosts this special Father's Day show.

  • 2023 / 6 / 3
    801: Rats! (Promo)

    Can’t live with them—or can you?

  • 2023 / 6 / 3
    801: Must Be Rats on the Brain

    The one animal we can’t seem to live without, even when we really, really want to.

  • 2023 / 5 / 19
    800: Jane Doe

    Five years after the #MeToo explosion, what’s happened in the lives of the women who went public with their stories?

  • 2023 / 3 / 19
    794: So Close and Yet So Far (Promo)

    People ​so close to each other, ​in ​extremely intimate situations​,​ who are also a million miles apart.

  • 2022 / 7 / 21
    776: I Work Better on Deadline

    Stories of people racing against time to solve a problem. Will they make it?

  • 2022 / 6 / 24
    775: The Possum Experiment

    An investigation into a very basic question about people: Are most of us bad or good?

  • 2022 / 6 / 3
    773: The Longest Distance Between Two Points

    Getting from A to B via Z.

  • 2022 / 5 / 26
    771: The Parents Step In

    The government isn’t doing much to prevent school shootings. So parents are jumping in — and getting results.

  • 2022 / 5 / 11
    772: The Kids' Table

    Kids navigating hairy situations all on their own, with no help from grown-ups.

  • 2022 / 4 / 27
    770: My Lying Eyes

    People staring squarely at the truth, and still finding it hard to believe what they’re seeing.

  • 2022 / 4 / 19
    769: The Reluctant Explorer

    A man is thrust into a new world he didn’t ask to visit.

  • 2022 / 4 / 14
    768: The Other Front Lines

    Four personal stories from the war in Ukraine.

  • 2022 / 3 / 31
    767: Do Not Go Gentle

    Stories of resistance from Hungary and Russia.

  • 2022 / 3 / 25
    766: Well Someone Had to Do SOMETHING!

    People trying to jump in and solve other people's problems.

  • 2022 / 3 / 3
    764: School's Out Forever

    The pandemic broke school. Can we ever go back?

  • 2022 / 2 / 25
    763: The Other Mr. President

    Stories about Vladimir Putin.

  • 2022 / 2 / 4
    762: Apocalypse Creep

    Stories from places that are slowly coming apart.

  • 2022 / 1 / 27
    761: The Trojan Horse Affair

    A mysterious letter shocked Britain. But who wrote it?

  • 2022 / 1 / 21
    760: A City Walks Into an Investigation

    Our story continues about the Michigan couple who walked into a police officer's house and made a disturbing discovery.

  • 2022 / 1 / 13
    759: A Couple Walks Into a House

    An unsettling discovery in the home of a local police officer rocks an entire city.

  • 2021 / 12 / 10
    758: Talking While Black

    People tangled up in our current racial backlash in both extreme and very personal ways.

  • 2021 / 12 / 3
    756: But I Did Everything Right

    People earnestly doing what they're told, and absolutely not getting what they were promised.

  • 2021 / 12 / 2
    755: The Convert

    The story of an FBI undercover operation from 2006 that went terribly, and became the heart of a case heard at the Supreme Court.

  • 2021 / 11 / 18
    754: Spark Bird

    Birds—the hearts they sway, the havoc they wreck, the lives they change.

  • 2021 / 11 / 18
    754: Spark Bird (Promo)

    Birds—the hearts they sway, the havoc they wreck, the lives they change.

  • 2021 / 10 / 29
    753: What We’ve Got Here is Failure to Communicate

    Getting the point across — or trying to, anyway.

  • 2021 / 10 / 20
    752: An Invitation to Tea

    A man who was kept for 14 years in Guantanamo Bay gets out and issues an invitation to the people who kept him there.

  • 2021 / 10 / 16
    751: Audience of One

    We bring the movies to you.

  • 2021 / 10 / 7
    750: The Ferryman

    Getting from Point A to Point B—with expert assistance.

  • 2021 / 9 / 15
    749: My Bad

    An hour devoted to embarrassing stories.

  • 2021 / 9 / 10
    747: Suitable for Children

    Who thought that would be good for a kid?

  • 2021 / 9 / 8
    748: The End of the World as We Know It

    What happens when one family goes all in on fighting climate change.

  • 2021 / 8 / 25
    745: Getting Out

    People trying to escape all kinds of seemingly impossible situations.

  • 2021 / 8 / 18
    746: This Is Just Some Songs

    We made you a mixtape. Don't make a big deal out of it or anything.

  • 2021 / 8 / 5
    744: Essential

    The pandemic forced jobs to change, but then the workers changed, too.

  • 2021 / 7 / 20
    743: Don't You Be My Neighbor

    Bad neighbors. What can you do about them?

  • 2021 / 7 / 14
    742: The Thing I'm Getting Over

    What’s recovery mean, anyway?

  • 2021 / 7 / 2
    741: The Weight of Words

    Words mean things, but some words are especially meaningful.

  • 2021 / 6 / 18
    740: There. I Fixed It.

    Solving problems using very extreme measures.

  • 2021 / 6 / 4
    739: Sisters

    The bonds between sisters and how they get broken and fixed—or not.

  • 2021 / 5 / 21
    738: Good Grief!

    People figuring out how to grieve, and doing a pretty good job of it.

  • 2021 / 5 / 7
    737: The Daily

    An ode to life's daily practices, and what you learn from doing a thing every single day.

  • 2021 / 4 / 16
    736: The Herd

    What happens when your own community suddenly turns on you?

  • 2021 / 3 / 31
    735: Bloody Feelings

    Stories about the power of blood.

  • 2021 / 3 / 12
    734: The Campus Tour Has Been Cancelled

    How the pandemic has thrown college admissions process into a kind of slow-motion chaos.

  • 2021 / 2 / 26
    733: Warriors in the Garden

    Three friends come together to protest the murder of George Floyd. Over time, they end up in very different places.

  • 2021 / 2 / 6
    731: What Lies Beneath

    Summoning up stuff that’s usually hidden down deep.

  • 2021 / 2 / 6
    731: What Lies Beneath (2021)

    Summoning up stuff that’s usually hidden down deep.

  • 2021 / 1 / 15
    730: The Empty Chair

    Things lost in the past year that we haven’t talked about much.

  • 2021 / 1 / 4
    729: Making the Cut

    There's always someone whose job it is to decide if you measure up.

  • 2020 / 12 / 21
    728: Lights, Camera, Christmas!

    People going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families.

  • 2020 / 12 / 12
    727: Boulder v. Hill

    What the day-to-day business of saving the world looks like.

  • 2020 / 12 / 4
    726: Twenty-Five

    Stories about people who were born the year our show first aired.

  • 2020 / 11 / 20
    725: Turkey in a Face Mask

    Stories about food and people who set out on very particular missions with food.

  • 2020 / 11 / 11
    724: Personal Recount

    Stories of people changing their minds.

  • 2020 / 10 / 30
    723: Squeaker

    People grappling with an endless presidential election.

  • 2020 / 10 / 24
    722: The Unreality of Now

    Ahead of the election, we have stories about people trying to live in the unreality that defines this moment.

  • 2020 / 10 / 16
    721: The Walls Close In

    People finding themselves stuck in small spaces, trying to make sense of their new surroundings.

  • 2020 / 10 / 16
    720: The Moment After This Moment

    People who are worried — or not worried enough! — about what's hurtling unstoppably towards them.

  • 2020 / 9 / 25
    719: Trust Me I’m a Doctor

    The not-often-talked-about realm of licensing boards, and the disturbing decisions they sometimes make.

  • 2020 / 9 / 25
    718: Same Bed, Different Dreams

    Stories of people who are tied together, but imagine radically different futures.

  • 2020 / 9 / 25
    718: Same Bed, Different Dreams (2020)

    Stories of people who are tied together, but imagine radically different futures.

  • 2020 / 9 / 4
    717: Audience of One (2020)

    At a time when going to the movies is mostly out of the question, we bring the movies to you.

  • 2020 / 9 / 2
    716: Trail of Tears

    Writer Sarah Vowell and her twin sister retrace the Trail of Tears, the route their Cherokee ancestors took when expelled from their own land.

  • 2020 / 8 / 21
    715: Long-Awaited Asteroid Finally Hits Earth

    Teachers, students and parents have been bracing themselves for the start of this unprecedented school year. Now it's here.

  • 2020 / 8 / 10
    714: Day at the Beach

    It’s the last few weeks of summer, so we’re going to the beach! This week, stories from the surf and sand.

  • 2020 / 7 / 31
    713: Made to Be Broken

    In a pitched moment of rule-questioning, a show about rules and the people who break them.

  • 2020 / 7 / 23
    712: Nice White Parents

    Producer Chana Joffe-Walt investigates the inordinate power of white parents at one ordinary public school.

  • 2020 / 7 / 11
    711: How to Be Alone

    In space, in the ocean, by ourselves, or with others—we’re all just figuring out how to be apart.

  • 2020 / 7 / 10
    710: Umbrellas Down

    As China's new national security law tightens its control over Hong Kong, we return to our episode about last fall's anti-government protests and check in to see how people are responding.

  • 2020 / 6 / 19
    709: The Reprieve

    How Covid-19 has changed the nurses and doctors at one hospital in Detroit, and their city.

  • 2020 / 6 / 11
    708: Here, Again

    We hear what different people said and did one weekend in reaction to the killing of George Floyd.

  • 2020 / 6 / 5
    707: We Are in the Future

    In this moment of sorrow, protest, and rage, we offer this as a break from the dreadful present: our show about Afrofuturism.

  • 2020 / 5 / 22
    706: A Mess to Be Reckoned With

    Lissa Yellow Bird searches for missing people. She's great at it. But then, her niece goes missing.

  • 2020 / 5 / 16
    705: Time Out

    Our favorite stories from the football fields, boxing rings, and basketball courts of days past.

  • 2020 / 5 / 13
    704: Our Pulitzer-Winning Episode

    What the Trump administration’s "Remain in Mexico" policy really means, on the ground, at the Mexican border.

  • 2020 / 5 / 1
    703: Stuck!

    During a time when a lot of us feel like we are living in a holding pattern, stories of people feeling stuck.

  • 2020 / 4 / 24
    702: One Last Thing Before I Go

    Ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones.

  • 2020 / 4 / 10
    701: Black Box

    Desperate to know what happened to his family, a man obsessively decodes the only information about them he can get.

  • 2020 / 4 / 4
    700: Embiggening

    Sometimes a sketch of a thing needs filling in for its true significance to be known.

  • 2020 / 4 / 3
    699: Fiasco!

    Stories of when things go wrong. Really wrong.

  • 2020 / 3 / 20
    698: The Test

    Stories of people trying to rise to the challenge presented by coronavirus, in some pretty extreme situations.

  • 2020 / 3 / 19
    697: Alone Together

    In this moment when everyone’s reaching out to the people they love, we put together a collection of family stories.

  • 2020 / 3 / 6
    696: Low Hum of Menace

    Things do not seem fine at all, but it’s hard to say why.

  • 2020 / 2 / 21
    695: Everyone's a Critic

    People squirming in a world where everything is rated and reviewed.

  • 2020 / 2 / 7
    694: Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

    People looking everywhere to find a place—any place—where, for once, they don't have to be the odd man out.

  • 2020 / 2 / 1
    693: Abdi the American

    We return to our story about Abdi Nor from 2015, with some news about his life today.

  • 2020 / 1 / 25
    692: The Show of Delights

    In these dark times, we attempt some radical counterprogramming: a show made up entirely of stories about delight.

  • 2020 / 1 / 3
    691: Gardens of Branching Paths

    Other universes that are just like our own, but with one small difference.

  • 2019 / 12 / 20
    690: Too Close to Home

    For the holidays, stories of families finally addressing the thorny thing they’ve never really talked about.

  • 2019 / 11 / 29
    689: Digging Up the Bones

    There's a lot that can be gained from unearthing the past. But it doesn't always go how you'd expect.

  • 2019 / 11 / 8
    688: The Out Crowd

    Reports from the frontlines of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" asylum policy. This episode won the first ever Pulitzer Prize given for audio journalism.

  • 2019 / 11 / 1
    687: Small Things Considered

    Tiny letters, a very small number, and a medication that's supposed to cure shortness.

  • 2019 / 10 / 11
    686: Umbrellas Up

    For over 100 days now, protestors in Hong Kong have taken to the streets every weekend. What it’s like to live through that.

  • 2019 / 10 / 4
    685: We Come From Small Places

    We go to one of the biggest parties in NYC, the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn.

  • 2019 / 9 / 20
    684: Burn It Down

    Stories of people who decide the only way forward — for real change — is to burn everything to the ground.

  • 2019 / 9 / 6
    683: Beer Summit

    Two people, sitting down over a beer, hashing out their differences. Hard to imagine these days, right?

  • 2019 / 8 / 16
    682: Ten Sessions

    A therapy that helps people work through unhealed trauma in just ten sessions.

  • 2019 / 8 / 9
    681: Escape From the Lab

    What happens when our most ingenious creations actually make it out into the world.

  • 2019 / 7 / 20
    680: The Weight Of Words (2019)

    Words mean things, but some words are especially meaningful — whether in a survival manual, a song lyric, or a slur.

  • 2019 / 7 / 5
    679: Save the Girl

    People go on missions to save girls from danger. But they get so caught up that it overshadows the girl herself.

  • 2019 / 6 / 28
    678: The Wannabes

    We hang out with the presidential candidates, in this weird early period of the election.

  • 2019 / 6 / 7
    677: Seeing Yourself In the Wild

    Stories of those unexpected moments when we see who we really are.

  • 2019 / 5 / 24
    676: Here’s Looking at You, Kid

    Adults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right?

  • 2019 / 5 / 10
    675: I’m on TV??

    What it's like to be momentarily big on the small screen.

  • 2019 / 4 / 26
    674: Get a Spine!

    Stories of people shaking off their fear and doing what they’ve been scared to do.

  • 2019 / 4 / 12
    673: Left Behind

    People figuring out how to move through a world in which something important has disappeared.

  • 2019 / 3 / 29
    672: No Fair!

    Stories of very small injustices and also one very big one.

  • 2019 / 3 / 22
    671: Anything Can Be Anything

    People connecting the dots that maybe should not be connected.

  • 2019 / 3 / 8
    670: Beware the Jabberwock

    Stories from the upside-down world where conspiracy theorists dwell.

  • 2019 / 2 / 22
    669: Scrambling to Get Off the Ice

    The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee try out their new powers for the first time.

  • 2019 / 2 / 8
    668: The Long Fuse

    People tossing words out into the world impulsively, to ignite and burn over decades.

  • 2019 / 1 / 25
    667: Wartime Radio

    Intimate and personal dispatches from two very different battlefields.

  • 2019 / 1 / 11
    666: The Theme That Shall Not Be Named

    Satan! In his many surprising manifestations, all around us.

  • 2018 / 12 / 28
    665: Before Things Went to Hell

    Revisiting those moments of calm before the storm.

  • 2018 / 12 / 13
    664: The Room of Requirement

    Stories of people who roam the stacks and find unexpected things that just happen to be exactly what they required.

  • 2018 / 12 / 1
    663: How I Read It

    Documents you don't normally think of, showing you things you didn't expect.

  • 2018 / 11 / 8
    662: Where There Is a Will

    Stories of people who believe there is always a way. And also those who don’t.

  • 2018 / 11 / 1
    660: Hoaxing Yourself

    People who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else.

  • 2018 / 11 / 1
    660: Hoaxing Yourself (Promo)

    People who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else.

  • 2018 / 10 / 26
    661: But That's What Happened

    Stories of women in unsettling situations, who are told that there’s nothing unsettling at all.

  • 2018 / 10 / 1
    658: The Unhappy Deciders

    Zoe Chace followed Senator Jeff Flake as he decided to force the Senate to delay its vote on Judge Kavanaugh.

  • 2018 / 9 / 28
    659: Before the Next One

    People taking what they’ve learned from school shootings and try to use that knowledge to save others.

  • 2018 / 9 / 15
    657: The Runaways

    A bunch of teenagers go missing from a town in Long Island.

  • 2018 / 9 / 8
    656: Let Me Count the Ways

    The quiet bureaucratic war that’s even targeting legal immigrants.

  • 2018 / 8 / 17
    655: The Not-So-Great Unknown

    What happens when an astronaut who's not really into outer space goes to the moon.

  • 2018 / 7 / 31
    653: Crime Scene (2018)

    Every crime scene hides a story.

  • 2018 / 7 / 17
    652: ICE Capades

    Dispatches from a government agency in its tumultuous teenage years.

  • 2018 / 7 / 6
    651: If You Build It, Will They Come?

    A young preacher opens a new church.

  • 2018 / 6 / 22
    650: Change You Can Maybe Believe In

    Radical change comes to an Argentinian talk show.

  • 2018 / 6 / 8
    649: It's My Party and I'll Try If I Want To

    Before Democrats slug it out with Republicans, they’re slugging out with each other.

  • 2018 / 6 / 1
    648: Unteachable Moment

    People trying to learn something when no one is clear what the lesson is supposed to be.

  • 2018 / 5 / 18
    647: LaDonna

    A security guard at the airport notices something going wrong on the tarmac, and takes it upon herself to fix it.

  • 2018 / 5 / 9
    646: The Secret of My Death

    The clues people find when trying to make sense of a death.

  • 2018 / 4 / 27
    645: My Effing First Amendment

    Conservative students don't feel like their ideas are welcome on campus. So they're fighting back.

  • 2018 / 4 / 21
    644: Random Acts of History

    Stories about people who accidentally bump into unsettling facts of history.

  • 2018 / 4 / 6
    643: Damned If You Do…

    People having to make a choice, when no good options exist.

  • 2018 / 3 / 23
    642: The Impossible Dream

    Before he leaves the Senate for good, Republican Jeff Flake is trying to get a bill passed.

  • 2018 / 3 / 8
    641: The Walls

    Stories from border walls all over the world, and of the strange ecosystems that arise around them.

  • 2018 / 2 / 24
    640: Five Women

    A different kind of #MeToo story, about several women who worked for the same man.

  • 2018 / 2 / 22
    639: In Dog We Trust (2018)

    Exactly how much are the animals that live in our home caught up in everyday family dynamics?

  • 2018 / 2 / 2
    638: Rom-Com

    Stories about surviving the mishaps of love.

  • 2018 / 1 / 26
    637: Words You Can't Say

    People who say the “wrong” thing and suffer the consequences.

  • 2018 / 1 / 12
    636: I Thought It Would Be Easier

    A year into Trump’s presidency, stories of politicians—of both parties—unable to accomplish tasks that seem pretty straightforward.

  • 2018 / 1 / 5
    635: Chip in My Brain

    A boy who can’t dribble gets a coach, a new best friend, and something to believe in.

  • 2017 / 12 / 22
    634: Human Error in Volatile Situations

    People bungle simple operations on some of the most dangerous weapons in the world.

  • 2017 / 12 / 15
    633: Our Town - Part Two

    When an Alabama town went from 98% white to one-fourth Latino, what did it mean for taxpayers, schools, traffic, crime?

  • 2017 / 12 / 8
    632: Our Town - Part One

    What really happened when undocumented workers showed up in one Alabama town?

  • 2017 / 11 / 10
    631: So a Monkey and a Horse Walk Into a Bar

    Blurring the line between animal and human.

  • 2017 / 10 / 27
    630: Things I Mean to Know

    Stories of people trying to unspool some of life’s certainties.

  • 2017 / 10 / 20
    629: Expect Delays

    Stories about delays, including a town in Ohio known almost entirely for its speed trap.

  • 2017 / 10 / 13
    628: In the Shadow of the City

    Stories that take place on the edge of civilization, just out of sight.

  • 2017 / 10 / 6
    627: Suitable for Children (2017)

    Neil Drumming looks back at a toy he loved that, in retrospect, probably wouldn’t love him back.

  • 2017 / 9 / 22
    626: White Haze

    What should we make of right-wing groups like the Proud Boys, who believe “the West is the best”?

  • 2017 / 9 / 8
    625: Essay B

    In 1967, the first Black students integrated the South’s elite prep schools. One of the main reasons they were there? To benefit the white kids.

  • 2017 / 9 / 1
    624: Private Geography

    What Betsy DeVos's experience in a public school in her hometown can tell us about her vision for education in this country.

  • 2017 / 8 / 18
    623: We Are in the Future (2017)

    Afrofuturism is a way of looking at black culture that’s fantastic, creative, and oddly hopeful.

  • 2017 / 8 / 4
    622: Who You Gonna Call?

    Stories of lucky people who have found the exact right person to ring up for help.

  • 2017 / 7 / 21
    621: Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville

    Two towns grapple with the question—who do we let in?

  • 2017 / 7 / 14
    620: To Be Real

    People try to go deeper—to get to something real—in some unexpected places: war, magic, and porn.

  • 2017 / 6 / 30
    619: The Magic Show

    Former kid magicians Ira Glass and David Kestenbaum dive back into the world of magic.

  • 2017 / 6 / 9
    618: Mr. Lie Detector

    A polygraph operator and his strange journey.

  • 2017 / 5 / 19
    617: Fermi’s Paradox

    Three people grapple with the question, “Are we alone?”

  • 2017 / 5 / 5
    616: I Am Not a Pirate

    Stories about both historical and modern-day swashbucklers who loot, pillage, and question their choices.

  • 2017 / 4 / 28
    615: The Beginning of Now

    Before Trump started his presidential campaign, there was a congressional race that redefined what was possible in American politics.

  • 2017 / 4 / 14
    614: The Other Mr. President (2017)

    What it's actually like to live in the confusing information landscape that is Putin's Russia.

  • 2017 / 3 / 31
    613: OK, I’ll Do It

    A surgeon takes out his own appendix in what might be one of the most daring surgeries ever performed.

  • 2017 / 3 / 17
    612: Ask a Grown-Up

    Teenage girls ask for advice about their love lives, and Ira's tribute to his very grown-up friend Mary.

  • 2017 / 3 / 3
    611: Vague and Confused

    A show about rules and what happens when they’re vague and randomly enforced.

  • 2017 / 2 / 17
    610: Grand Gesture

    People going to very extreme measures to demonstrate their feelings.

  • 2017 / 2 / 3
    609: It’s Working Out Very Nicely

    We document what happened when the President’s executive order went into effect temporarily banning travel from seven countries.

  • 2017 / 1 / 20
    608: The Revolution Starts At Noon

    Some people are super-stoked for the political changes that are coming.

  • 2017 / 1 / 6
    607: Didn’t We Solve This One?

    Why has it been so hard for us to get the tens of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans that have helped the U.S. to safety?

  • 2016 / 12 / 23
    606: Just What I Wanted

    Stories from people who want something desperately and then have their wishes fulfilled. Or do they?

  • 2016 / 12 / 16
    605: Kid Logic

    Kids using perfectly logical arguments, and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.

  • 2016 / 12 / 9
    604: 20 Years Later

    Samantha Broun interviews her mom about surviving a brutal attack 20 years ago that ended up changing Pennsylvania law regarding life sentences.

  • 2016 / 12 / 2
    603: Once More, With Feeling

    Stories of people who decide to rethink the way they’ve been doing things.

  • 2016 / 11 / 11
    602: The Sun Comes Up

    People around the country talking about the coming four years after Trump's election.

  • 2016 / 11 / 4
    601: Master of Her Domain… Name

    A story about Hillary Clinton that offers a different picture than what we’ve been hearing from both sides during the campaign.

  • 2016 / 10 / 28
    600: Will I Know Anyone at This Party?

    Right now a lot of Republicans feel like they don’t recognize their own party.

  • 2016 / 10 / 21
    599: Seriously?

    Watching lies become the truth in the 2016 election.

  • 2016 / 9 / 23
    597: One Last Thing Before I Go (2016)

    Ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones.

  • 2016 / 9 / 9
    596: Becoming a Badger

    Stories about people trying their best to turn themselves into something else—like a badger.

  • 2016 / 8 / 26
    595: Deep End of the Pool

    What do you do when you're thrown into a situation you’re not prepared for?

  • 2016 / 8 / 12
    594: My Summer Self

    Summer is a time when change seems more possible than ever. But is that really how it happens?

  • 2016 / 8 / 5
    593: Don’t Have to Live Like a Refugee

    Stories of refugees in Greece trying to move on with their lives in whatever way they can.

  • 2016 / 7 / 29
    592: Are We There Yet?

    57,000 refugees are stuck in Greece, making homes in some surprising locations.

  • 2016 / 7 / 15
    591: Get Your Money's Worth

    A political donor has to decide whether or not he's going to support Trump. Plus other stories of people trying to make sure they get what they paid for.

  • 2016 / 6 / 24
    590: Choosing Wrong

    Stories of people making the wrong choice, even though the right one is staring them squarely in the eye.

  • 2016 / 6 / 17
    589: Tell Me I’m Fat

    Maybe it’s time to rethink the way we see being fat.

  • 2016 / 6 / 3
    588: Mind Games

    People who try simple mind games on others and find themselves in way over their heads.

  • 2016 / 5 / 27
    587: The Perils of Intimacy

    Stories about mysteries that exist in relationships we thought couldn't possibly surprise us.

  • 2016 / 5 / 6
    586: Who Do We Think We Are?

    When Mariya Karimjee was little, her family made a decision that would affect her entire life. Years later, she wants to know why.

  • 2016 / 4 / 22
    585: In Defense of Ignorance

    Three very different stories of people not admitting the truth.

  • 2016 / 4 / 8
    584: For Your Reconsideration

    The older and wiser we get, the more bewildering our past decisions can seem.

  • 2016 / 3 / 25
    583: It’ll Make Sense When You’re Older

    Kids do not like being told it’ll make sense when they’re older. They’re pretty sure the grown-ups are wrong.

  • 2016 / 3 / 11
    582: When the Beasts Come Marching In

    The animals drop in and show us who's boss.

  • 2016 / 2 / 26
    581: Anatomy of Doubt

    The story of a rape investigation gone undeniably wrong.

  • 2016 / 2 / 19
    580: That's One Way to Do It

    The story of a young voter who defies political categorization.

  • 2016 / 2 / 12
    579: My Damn Mind

    A hospital staffer finds a patient on the floor of his room. He is unarmed, and has been shot by the cops in the hospital.

  • 2016 / 1 / 29
    578: I Thought I Knew You

    A conservative radio host is completely baffled by the candidate his audience has decided to get behind this election season.

  • 2016 / 1 / 15
    577: Something Only I Can See

    A woman with muscular dystrophy tries to convince doctors that she has the same gene mutation as an Olympic athlete.

  • 2015 / 12 / 25
    576: Say Yes To Christmas

    We go all in and bring the joy, the spontaneity, the sense that anything can happen back to Christmas.

  • 2015 / 12 / 18
    575: Poetry of Propaganda

    Propaganda is complexity in the form of simplicity, if you know how to read it.

  • 2015 / 12 / 11
    574: Sinatra’s 100th Birthday

    Stories, tributes, and attempts to understand the Chairman of the Board.

  • 2015 / 11 / 27
    573: Status Update

    Three teenage girls explain why they are constantly telling their friends they are beautiful on Instagram. Plus more stories about status updates that interrupt our daily life.

  • 2015 / 11 / 6
    572: Transformers

    A prisoner who hasn't talked to anyone in years comes up with a bold plan to re-introduce himself to the world.

  • 2015 / 10 / 30
    571: The Heart Wants What It Wants

    Emily Dickinson said “The heart wants what it wants.” This week, stories from people who take that notion to extremes and are unapologetic about it.

  • 2015 / 10 / 16
    570: The Night in Question

    Conspiracy theories about the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin continue to shape Israel's politics and future.

  • 2015 / 10 / 9
    569: Put a Bow on It

    Meet the people who pitch ideas for new foods and then decide which ones they're actually going to make.

  • 2015 / 10 / 2
    568: Human Spectacle (Promo)

    A Japanese reality show contestant has to enter sweepstakes from magazines to win enough sustenance to survive.

  • 2015 / 10 / 2
    568: Human Spectacle 2015

    A Japanese reality show contestant has to enter sweepstakes from magazines to win enough sustenance to survive.

  • 2015 / 9 / 18
    567: What’s Going On In There?

    A teenage girl records a remarkable story about the boyfriend who abuses her, and why it’s so hard to break up with him.

  • 2015 / 9 / 11
    566: The Land of Make Believe

    A father constructs an elaborate fantasy to occupy his 12 children.

  • 2015 / 8 / 28
    565: Lower 9 + 10

    We go to the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans to talk to residents about what matters most to them ten years after the hurricane.

  • 2015 / 8 / 14
    564: Too Soon?

    Stories about a fallen man trying to kickstart his career with a reality show, and an awkward moment between a mom and a daughter.

  • 2015 / 8 / 7
    563: The Problem We All Live With - Part Two

    A city goes all out to integrate its schools.

  • 2015 / 7 / 31
    562: The Problem We All Live With - Part One

    There’s one thing that has been proven to cut the achievement gap between black and white students by half: integration.

  • 2015 / 7 / 17
    561: NUMMI (2015)

    A car plant in Fremont California that might have saved the U.S. car industry.

  • 2015 / 7 / 3
    560: Abdi and the Golden Ticket

    A story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American.

  • 2015 / 6 / 26
    559: Captain's Log

    The story of a concentration camp in China that housed groups of Girl Scouts.

  • 2015 / 5 / 29
    558: Game Face

    Stories of people facing very difficult situations who put their game face on and muscle through.

  • 2015 / 5 / 15
    557: Birds & Bees

    Stories about the vague and not-so-vague ways we teach children about race, death, and sex.

  • 2015 / 5 / 1
    556: Same Bed, Different Dreams (2015)

    A movie star and her ex-husband plot against Kim Jong-Il, plus more stories of people who are tied together but imagine radically different futures.

  • 2015 / 4 / 24
    555: The Incredible Rarity of Changing Your Mind

    Stories of those very infrequent instances where people’s opinions flip on fundamental things that they believe.

  • 2015 / 4 / 10
    554: Not It!

    A mysterious world of heroin addiction treatment centers where no one seems to be taking responsibility for the people they're treating.

  • 2015 / 4 / 3
    553: Stuck in the Middle (Promo)

    People caught in limbo, using ingenuity and guile to try to get themselves out.

  • 2015 / 4 / 3
    553: Stuck in the Middle

    People caught in limbo, using ingenuity and guile to try to get themselves out.

  • 2015 / 3 / 27
    552: Need To Know Basis

    The story of a guy who learned to lie for the first time in his life at age 29.

  • 2015 / 3 / 20
    551: Good Guys 2015

    Stories of valiant men attempting to do good: in department stores, public buses, and at the bottom of a cave.

  • 2015 / 3 / 13
    550: Three Miles

    What happens when of a group of public school students in the Bronx goes to visit an elite private school three miles away.

  • 2015 / 2 / 27
    549: Amateur Hour

    A tough group of soldiers attempts to save lives through the power of show tunes.

  • 2015 / 2 / 13
    548: Cops See It Differently - Part Two

    We look at one city where relations between police and black residents are terrible, and another city where they seem to be improving remarkably.

  • 2015 / 2 / 6
    547: Cops See It Differently - Part One

    There's a division between people who distrust the police and people who see cops as a force for good.

  • 2015 / 1 / 30
    546: Burroughs 101

    Ira Glass was never into William Burroughs. Then he heard this radio story that changed that.

  • 2015 / 1 / 23
    545: If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS

    What happens when the internet turns on you?

  • 2015 / 1 / 9
    544: Batman

    Can people’s expectations change whether a blind man can see?

  • 2014 / 12 / 26
    543: Wake Up Now

    The story of a company—or maybe it's a movement?—that has hundreds of people posting enthusiastic videos about it online.

  • 2014 / 12 / 5
    541: Regrets, I've Had a Few

    People struggling with regrets—big and small—that take root and have to be dealt with.

  • 2014 / 11 / 21
    540: A Front

    If a Border Patrol agent is not actually at the border, do you have to obey him?

  • 2014 / 11 / 7
    539: The Leap

    When routines get too mundane, sometimes you just have to hold your breath and jump.

  • 2014 / 10 / 17
    538: Is This Working?

    There's no agreement about how teachers should discipline students. And there's evidence that some of the most popular punishments may harm kids.

  • 2014 / 10 / 3
    537: The Alibi

    The pilot episode of Serial, hosted by Sarah Koenig.

  • 2014 / 9 / 26
    536: The Secret Recordings of Carmen Segarra

    An unprecedented look inside one of the most powerful, secretive institutions in the country.

  • 2014 / 9 / 19
    535: Origin Story (2014)

    Little-known and surprising stories of how all sorts of institutions began.

  • 2014 / 9 / 12
    534: A Not-So-Simple Majority

    School board disputes are pretty common, but not like this one.

  • 2014 / 9 / 5
    533: It's Not the Product, It's the Person

    Alex Blumberg tells the incredible, sweat-stains-and-all saga of a man fumbling through starting a new business. And the man is: himself.

  • 2014 / 8 / 15
    532: Magic Words

    Stories where people recite words that have the power to change their lives.

  • 2014 / 7 / 25
    531: Got Your Back

    Stories where one person's powerlessness is transformed when they discover they have backup. And what happens when that backup goes away.

  • 2014 / 7 / 18
    530: Mind Your Own Business

    A cellphone hidden in a bag of chips starts a messy turf war between the FBI and a local sheriff.

  • 2014 / 6 / 27
    529: Human Spectacle

    A Japanese reality show contestant has to enter sweepstakes from magazines to win enough sustenance to survive.

  • 2014 / 6 / 20
    528: The Radio Drama Episode

    In our most ambitious live show, we turn journalism into a Broadway musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

  • 2014 / 6 / 13
    527: 180 Degrees

    Stories of people who go one way, and then, for what ever reason, turn around and go the exact opposite direction.

  • 2014 / 5 / 23
    526: Is That What I Look Like? (2014)

    A woman wakes up from a coma having forgotten that she'd divorced her husband. And Molly Ringwald watches The Breakfast Club with her daughter.

  • 2014 / 5 / 23
    526: Is That What I Look Like?

    A woman wakes up from a coma having forgotten that she'd divorced her husband. And Molly Ringwald watches The Breakfast Club with her daughter.

  • 2014 / 5 / 9
    525: Call For Help

    Stories of people coming to terms with being in serious trouble.

  • 2014 / 5 / 2
    524: I Was So High

    Alex Blumberg talks to his dad about the daily pot habit he had while Alex was growing up.

  • 2014 / 4 / 25
    523: Death and Taxes

    We ask the people who work at a hospice facility some personal questions about death and dying.

  • 2014 / 4 / 11
    522: Tarred and Feathered

    A pedophile who has never acted on his impulses starts an online support group to help himself and others like him.

  • 2014 / 3 / 28
    521: Bad Baby

    They're small. And they're cuddly. But sometimes it feels as though our babies were replaced with demon replicas.

  • 2014 / 3 / 14
    520: No Place Like Home

    Stories of people who are coming to terms with the places they call home.

  • 2014 / 3 / 7
    519: Dead Men Tell No Tales

    Last May, the FBI killed a guy in Florida who was loosely linked to the Boston Marathon bombings.

  • 2014 / 2 / 14
    518: Except For That One Thing

    A clerical error allowed a convicted man to walk free for 13 years. Then the justice system realized its mistake.

  • 2014 / 1 / 31
    517: Day at the Beach (2014)

    David Sedaris tells us how losing a sister prompted a family reunion, and an impulse buy of an oceanfront cottage big enough for all of them.

  • 2014 / 1 / 17
    516: Stuck In The Middle (2014)

    Stories about how it sucks to be in limbo, and a man who absolutely loves listening to hold music.

  • 2014 / 1 / 10
    515: Good Guys

    Stories of valiant men attempting to do good in challenging circumstances: in war zones, department stores, public buses, and at the bottom of a cave 900 feet underground.

  • 2013 / 12 / 20
    514: Thought That Counts

    It's the thought that counts. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not always so clear what that thought was.

  • 2013 / 12 / 13
    513: 129 Cars

    One car dealership tries to make its monthly quota: 129 cars. It is way more chaotic than we expected.

  • 2013 / 11 / 22
    512: House Rules

    The history of racial housing discrimination in the United States and what has been done—and hasn't been done—to rectify it.

  • 2013 / 11 / 8
    511: The Seven Things You’re Not Supposed to Talk About

    Sarah Koenig's mother lives by a set of rules about conversation. We tried to prove her wrong.

  • 2013 / 11 / 1
    510: Fiasco! (2013)

    The story of a police officer and a squirrel. Plus, a small town production of Peter Pan goes off the rails.

  • 2013 / 10 / 25
    509: It Says So Right Here

    Stories of people whose lives are altered when seemingly boring documents like birth certificates and petitions are used against them.

  • 2013 / 10 / 18
    508: Superpowers

    Which is better: flight or invisibility?

  • 2013 / 10 / 11
    507: Confessions

    What should a person suspected of murder say?

  • 2013 / 10 / 4
    506: Secret Identity

    A teenage girl becomes a whole new person when she becomes the school mascot — a tiger — at her high school.

  • 2013 / 9 / 20
    505: Use Only as Directed

    More than 150 Americans die each year on average after accidentally taking too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.

  • 2013 / 9 / 6
    504: How I Got Into College

    How a stolen library book got one man into his dream school and changed his life forever. Or at least that's the story he tells himself.

  • 2013 / 8 / 16
    503: I Was Just Trying To Help

    Planet Money looks at a charity that's decided to just give people money.

  • 2013 / 8 / 9
    502: This Call May Be Recorded... To Save Your Life

    A journalist gets a disturbing tip: a phone number to a group of refugees being held hostage in the Sinai desert.

  • 2013 / 7 / 26
    501: The View From In Here

    An American woman suddenly trades her life for one in a place most people might think twice about: Juarez, Mexico.

  • 2013 / 7 / 12
    500: 500!

    Ira asks the producers to talk about their very favorite moments on the show.

  • 2013 / 6 / 28
    499: Taking Names

    The story of a guy named Kirk Johnson, who started a list of Iraqis who needed to get out of their country.

  • 2013 / 6 / 21
    498: The One Thing You're Not Supposed To Do

    People who know something's a bad idea, but convince themselves to do that thing anyway.

  • 2013 / 6 / 14
    497: This Week

    All of the stories in the show are things that have taken place in the last seven days.

  • 2013 / 5 / 31
    496: When Patents Attack... Part Two!

    Why people say our patent system may be discouraging, not encouraging, innovation.

  • 2013 / 5 / 17
    495: Hot In My Backyard

    Why has the conversation on climate change been stuck in the same place for years?

  • 2013 / 5 / 3
    494: Hit the Road

    A man decides to take a trip from Philadelphia to San Francisco—by foot.

  • 2013 / 4 / 19
    493: Picture Show

    Israeli soldiers take snapshots of Palestinian boys, one house at a time, in the middle of the night.

  • 2013 / 4 / 12
    492: Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde

    Did a beloved family doctor with no criminal history suddenly up and strangle his own father?

  • 2013 / 3 / 29
    491: Tribes

    A white guy who only wants to date Asian women has to adjust to the reality of a real actual Asian woman in his life.

  • 2013 / 3 / 22
    490: Trends With Benefits

    The startling rise of the number of people on disability in America.

  • 2013 / 3 / 1
    489: No Coincidence, No Story!

    We asked listeners to send us their best coincidence stories, and we got more than 1,300 submissions!

  • 2013 / 2 / 22
    488: Harper High School - Part Two

    Part two of our program on Harper High School in Chicago, where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.

  • 2013 / 2 / 15
    487: Harper High School - Part One

    We spent five months at a high school in Chicago where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.

  • 2013 / 2 / 8
    486: Valentine’s Day

    A couple decides to sleep with other people before they tie the knot. Plus, more stories of love making us do crazy things.

  • 2013 / 1 / 25
    485: Surrogates

    The proxy battle over a woman’s honor that became a presidential obsession.

  • 2013 / 1 / 11
    484: Doppelgängers

    We got a tip about a meat plant selling pig intestines as fake calamari and decided to investigate.

  • 2013 / 1 / 4
    483: Self-Improvement Kick

    A perfectly normal guy gets rid of everything he owns, changes his name, says goodbye to his friends—and begins walking.

  • 2012 / 12 / 21
    482: Lights, Camera, Christmas! (2012)

    A show filled with stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families.

  • 2012 / 12 / 7
    481: This Week

    Stories united by one thing: They all happened in the seven days prior to broadcast.

  • 2012 / 11 / 30
    480: Animal Sacrifice

    The This American Life staff confronts Ira about his dog, Piney.

  • 2012 / 11 / 23
    479: Little War on the Prairie

    Why Minnesotans don't talk much about the most important historical event ever to happen there.

  • 2012 / 11 / 2
    478: Red State Blue State

    Not only do the two sides disagree on the solutions to the country’s problems, they don’t even agree on what the problems are.

  • 2012 / 10 / 19
    477: Getting Away With It

    Stories of people breaking the rules fully, completely, and with no bad consequences.

  • 2012 / 10 / 5
    476: What Doesn’t Kill You

    Stories of how people cope after brushes with death.

  • 2012 / 9 / 28
    475: Send a Message

    People reach out in all kinds of ways to try to get their point across—messages in code, over the phone, and from beyond the grave.

  • 2012 / 9 / 14
    474: Back to School

    A growing body of research that suggests we may be on the verge of a new approach to some of the biggest challenges facing American schools.

  • 2012 / 8 / 24
    473: Loopholes

    An estate attorney discovers a financial scheme that's all reward and no risk. The only catch? You have to die to get the money.

  • 2012 / 8 / 17
    472: Our Friend David

    Favorite stories by our longtime contributor and friend David Rakoff.

  • 2012 / 8 / 10
    471: The Convert (2012)

    An undercover FBI informant at the mosque in Orange County starts acting very odd.

  • 2012 / 7 / 27
    470: Show Me the Way

    Stories about people in trouble who look for help in mystifying places.

  • 2012 / 7 / 13
    469: Hiding in Plain Sight

    The chief of security for a Colombian drug cartel decides to take the cartel down.

  • 2012 / 6 / 29
    468: Switcheroo

    People pretending to be people they're not: sometimes it's harmless, sometimes it's harmful, and sometimes it's hard to tell.

  • 2012 / 6 / 22
    467: Americans in China

    It used to be that the American expats in China were the big shots. But that's changed.

  • 2012 / 6 / 8
    466: Blackjack

    A woman gambles away her inheritance and then sues the casino, saying they're to blame.

  • 2012 / 5 / 25
    465: What Happened at Dos Erres

    A Guatemalan immigrant living near Boston gets a phone call with some very strange news about his past.

  • 2012 / 5 / 18
    464: Invisible Made Visible

    David Sedaris, Tig Notaro, Ryan Knighton, and the late David Rakoff, in his final performance on the show.

  • 2012 / 4 / 27
    463: Mortal Vs. Venial

    Religion makes clear the difference between mortal sins and venial ones. But in our everyday lives, it can be really difficult to determine just how bad we've been.

  • 2012 / 4 / 13
    462: Own Worst Enemy

    Stories of people who can’t seem to stop getting in their own way.

  • 2012 / 3 / 30
    461: Take the Money and Run for Office

    Discovering just how much time members of Congress spend raising money.

  • 2012 / 3 / 16
    460: Retraction

    We've discovered that one of our most popular episodes contained numerous fabrications. This week, we detail the errors in Mike Daisey's story about visiting Foxconn, which makes iPads and other products for...

  • 2012 / 3 / 2
    459: What Kind of Country

    All across the country right now, local and state governments are finding they can't pay their bills.

  • 2012 / 2 / 17
    458: Play the Part

    Stories of people who decide to flip their personalities and do the exact opposite of what they normally do.

  • 2012 / 2 / 10
    457: What I Did For Love

    A couple decides they need to sleep with other people before getting married, and a teenage boy falls for an undercover cop.

  • 2012 / 1 / 27
    456: Reap What You Sow

    Alabama's new immigration law aims to make life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they will "self-deport."

  • 2012 / 1 / 20
    455: Continental Breakup

    The story of the European debt crisis is actually very surprising and dramatic.

  • 2012 / 1 / 6
    454: Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory (Promo)

    This American Life has retracted this story.

  • 2011 / 12 / 16
    453: Nemeses

    A college rivalry goes viral, and personal.

  • 2011 / 12 / 2
    452: Poultry Slam 2011

    Stories of what happens when humans and fowl collide.

  • 2011 / 11 / 18
    451: Back to Penn State

    Penn State fans and loyalists try to make sense of the actions of Coach Joe Paterno and school officials.

  • 2011 / 11 / 11
    450: So Crazy It Just Might Work

    An orchestra teacher has a theory that he could kill cancer cells with electromagnetic waves.

  • 2011 / 10 / 28
    449: Middle School

    Stories from the awkward, confusing, hormonally charged world of middle school.

  • 2011 / 10 / 7
    448: Adventure!

    Stories that pinpoint when people's boring old lives turn into something wildly unfamiliar.

  • 2011 / 9 / 23
    447: The Incredible Case of the P.I. Moms

    What do you get when you take a P.I. firm, then add in a bunch of sexy soccer moms, official sponsorship from Glock, a lying boss, and delusions of grandeur? This week's show.

  • 2011 / 9 / 16
    446: Living Without (2011)

    A man has to give up parts of his life as he learns to live hearing a tone in his head all the time.

  • 2011 / 9 / 9
    445: Ten Years In

    We return to people who have been on the show in the last ten years, and whose lives were drastically altered by 9/11.

  • 2011 / 8 / 26
    444: Gossip

    A sociologist collects journals filled with gossip about AIDS in Malawi.

  • 2011 / 8 / 12
    443: Amusement Park (Promo)

    We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks!

  • 2011 / 8 / 12
    443: Amusement Park

    We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks!

  • 2011 / 7 / 29
    442: Thugs

    Like a lot of Mexican towns, Florencia has had its share of problems dealing with drug gangs. Until recently, when new narcos rolled into town.

  • 2011 / 7 / 22
    441: When Patents Attack!

    Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year?

  • 2011 / 7 / 8
    440: Game Changer

    Two professors each make a calculation that no one had made before.

  • 2011 / 6 / 24
    439: A House Divided

    Stories about people who find themselves either unexpectedly being singled out or doing the singling out.

  • 2011 / 6 / 17
    438: Father's Day 2011

    Surprising stories of fathers trying to be good dads.

  • 2011 / 6 / 3
    437: Old Boys Network

    Nurses at a small Texas hospital report a well-connected doctor for dangerous medical practices, and find themselves under arrest.

  • 2011 / 5 / 27
    436: The Psychopath Test

    We heard about a test that could determine if someone was a psychopath. So, naturally, our staff decided to take it.

  • 2011 / 5 / 13
    435: How To Create a Job

    Can politicians truly create many jobs?

  • 2011 / 5 / 6
    434: This Week

    An hour of stories about...this week.

  • 2011 / 4 / 15
    433: Fine Print 2011

    Stories where the fine print changes everything, whether you read it or not.

  • 2011 / 4 / 8
    432: Know When To Fold ‘Em

    The story of an entire country deciding whether to give up on just one of its citizens.

  • 2011 / 4 / 1
    431: See No Evil

    Stories of people pretending that everything is okay and ignoring the awful stuff that's staring them straight in the face.

  • 2011 / 3 / 25
    430: Very Tough Love

    A drug court program in Georgia where people with offenses that would get minimal or no sentences elsewhere sometimes end up in the system five to ten years.

  • 2011 / 3 / 11
    429: Will They Know Me Back Home?

    Stories of people who've grown so accustomed to wartime that the lives they've left behind no longer make sense.

  • 2011 / 3 / 4
    428: Oh You Shouldn't Have

    Stories about the perils of giving and receiving gifts.

  • 2011 / 2 / 11
    427: Original Recipe

    We think we may have found the original recipe for Coca-Cola, one of the most guarded trade secrets in the world.

  • 2011 / 2 / 4
    426: Tough Room 2011

    We go backstage with comedy writers at The Onion.

  • 2011 / 1 / 21
    425: Slow To React

    The story of a wedding 17 years in the making.

  • 2011 / 1 / 14
    424: Kid Politics

    When it comes to governing, can kids do any better than grown-ups?

  • 2011 / 1 / 7
    423: The Invention of Money

    Five reporters stumbled on what seems like a basic question: What is money?

  • 2010 / 12 / 17
    422: Comedians of Christmas Comedy Special

    The holidays are stressful so we booked a seasonal pick-me-up: an hour of comedy.

  • 2010 / 12 / 3
    421: Last Man Standing

    Stories about people who feel compelled to keep going, especially when everyone else has given up.

  • 2010 / 11 / 19
    420: Neighborhood Watch

    Stories of neighbors watching out for each other, for better and worse.

  • 2010 / 11 / 12
    419: Petty Tyrant

    The rise and fall of a school maintenance man in Schenectady, New York who terrorized his staff and got away with it for decades.

  • 2010 / 11 / 5
    418: Toxie

    Reporters from Planet Money bought a toxic asset that turned out to be an encyclopedia of the financial crisis.

  • 2010 / 10 / 29
    417: This Party Sucks

    Two best friends get tired of yelling at their TVs and decide to form a Tea Party chapter to effect political change.

  • 2010 / 10 / 15
    416: Iraq After Us

    We spend a month in Iraq talking to Iraqis and Americans about the war that tore the country apart.

  • 2010 / 9 / 24
    415: Crybabies

    Stories of crybabies in sports, in politics, on Wall Street, on the streets of California.

  • 2010 / 9 / 10
    414: Right to Remain Silent

    A New York police officer secretly records his supervisors ordering officers to do all sorts of things that police aren't supposed to do.

  • 2010 / 7 / 30
    413: Georgia Rambler

    Nine of us go to small towns in Georgia to ask around until we find stories.

  • 2010 / 7 / 16
    412: Million Dollar Idea

    Michael Larson made the most money ever on the game show Press Your Luck. And it was no accident.

  • 2010 / 6 / 25
    411: First Contact

    Stories of first encounters with unknown and distant beings—girls, foreigners, and perhaps even aliens.

  • 2010 / 6 / 18
    410: Social Contract

    Richard Ravitch has helped fix three governmental crises, so what makes it so much harder for him to solve the state's current financial crisis?

  • 2010 / 6 / 4
    409: Held Hostage

    Stories of people held captive — by criminals, by paperwork, and in one man's case, his own body — and the ways they try to cope.

  • 2010 / 5 / 21
    408: Island Time

    Blanketing a country in aid and money has never really worked so well. Is there a chance things could be different in Haiti?

  • 2010 / 5 / 7
    407: The Bridge

    Stories of bridges from three different countries, including one in China that's famous for its massive size and its high suicide rate.

  • 2010 / 4 / 23
    406: True Urban Legends

    Can a rat crawl through your plumbing and end up in your toilet?

  • 2010 / 4 / 9
    405: Inside Job

    The inside story of one company that made hundreds of millions of dollars for itself while worsening the financial crisis for the rest of us.

  • 2010 / 4 / 2
    404: Enemy Camp (2010)

    Living behind enemy lines, among the enemy, it's sometimes hard to remember why you're fighting in the first place.

  • 2010 / 3 / 26
    403: NUMMI (2010)

    A car plant in Fremont California that might have saved the U.S. car industry.

  • 2010 / 2 / 19
    401: Parent Trap

    A chimp is raised twice—once as a human child, and again as a chimp.

  • 2010 / 2 / 12
    400: Stories Pitched by Our Parents

    We try to turn their random ideas into actual stories.

  • 2010 / 1 / 22
    399: Contents Unknown

    A man finds himself in a train station in India, with no idea how he got there or who he is. That, and other stories of filling in the blank.

  • 2010 / 1 / 8
    398: Long Shot

    Stories of people betting on something with very bad odds.

  • 2010 / 1 / 1
    397: 2010

    We asked our contributors to predict real events that will happen to them and the people they know in 2010.

  • 2009 / 12 / 18
    396: #1 Party School

    The show goes to Penn State to report on tailgating, frat parties, and other alcohol-induced mayhem.

  • 2009 / 11 / 27
    395: Middle of the Night

    Stories of people who are up while the rest of us are sleeping.

  • 2009 / 11 / 6
    394: Bait and Switch

    The story of man who tries to investigate a neighborhood crime and ends up in jail himself.

  • 2009 / 10 / 30
    393: Infidelity

    Stories of cheating, cheaters and the cheated.

  • 2009 / 10 / 16
    392: Someone Else's Money

    A deeper look inside the health insurance industry and the dark side of prescription drug coupons.

  • 2009 / 10 / 9
    391: More Is Less

    An hour explaining the American health care system—specifically, why it is that costs keep rising.

  • 2009 / 9 / 25
    390: Return To The Giant Pool of Money

    We mark the anniversary of the economic collapse.

  • 2009 / 9 / 11
    389: Frenemies

    Tales of estranged sisters, BFFs breaking up, and how reality stars walk the fine line between making friends and getting famous.

  • 2009 / 9 / 4
    388: Rest Stop

    Nine radio reporters. Two days. One rest stop on the New York State Thruway.

  • 2009 / 8 / 7
    387: Arms Trader (2009)

    The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man suspected of being an illegal arms dealer.

  • 2009 / 7 / 24
    386: Fine Print

    Stories where the fine print changes everything, whether you read it or not.

  • 2009 / 7 / 10
    385: Pro Se

    It's tempting to act as your own lawyer, to argue your own cause.

  • 2009 / 6 / 26
    384: Fall Guy

    When things go wrong, it's easy to pin it all on one person and watch them go down in flames.

  • 2009 / 6 / 19
    383: Origin Story (2009)

    Little-known and surprising stories of how all sorts of institutions began.

  • 2009 / 6 / 5
    382: The Watchmen

    Where were the regulators and watchdogs who were supposed to be overseeing the banks and the finance industry?

  • 2009 / 5 / 22
    381: Turncoat

    A well-known activist is accused of spying on other activists for the FBI.

  • 2009 / 5 / 15
    380: No Map

    Stories of people who find themselves in situations far from the beaten path, without guidelines or useful precedents.

  • 2009 / 5 / 1
    379: Return to the Scene of the Crime

    A live episode of the radio program, including stories told on stage by Dan Savage and Mike Birbiglia.

  • 2009 / 4 / 17
    378: This I Used to Believe

    Stories of people forced to let go of their firmly held beliefs.

  • 2009 / 3 / 27
    377: Scenes From a Recession

    We highlight the unusual circumstances our economic drought has left us in.

  • 2009 / 3 / 13
    376: Wrong Side of History

    Stories of people with wildly popular or unpopular views for one moment in time, and how those views stand up years later.

  • 2009 / 2 / 27
    375: Bad Bank

    We tackle a very tough subject: Trying to explain exactly what a bank is and does.

  • 2009 / 2 / 13
    374: Somewhere Out There

    Of the billions of people in the world, what are the odds that any two people are a real match?

  • 2009 / 1 / 30
    373: The New Boss

    Stories about what happens when someone new takes over—someone with a vision of how things ought to be.

  • 2009 / 1 / 16
    372: The Inauguration Show

    On the eve of Obama's inauguration, we sent reporters out to talk to people about how they're feeling.

  • 2008 / 12 / 26
    371: Scenes From a Mall

    We document life in a mall in Tennessee during the run-up to Christmas.

  • 2008 / 12 / 19
    370: Ruining It for the Rest of Us

    Stories of people who ruin things for everyone else, or who are accused of that.

  • 2008 / 11 / 28
    369: Poultry Slam 2008

    A man in Pakistan buys an amulet with the power to protect anyone from harm. He tests it out on a chicken.

  • 2008 / 11 / 7
    368: Who Do You Think You Are?

    Stories of privilege and the lengths some will go to to maintain it.

  • 2008 / 10 / 24
    367: Ground Game

    We go to Pennsylvania to figure out why both McCain and Obama think they can win there.

  • 2008 / 10 / 10
    366: A Better Mousetrap (2008)

    Stories about people trying to find new solutions to age-old problems.

  • 2008 / 10 / 3
    365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy

    A look at what regulators could've done to prevent the financial crisis from happening in the first place.

  • 2008 / 9 / 26
    364: Going Big

    Stories about people who take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts.

  • 2008 / 9 / 12
    363: Enforcers

    Stories about people who take the law into their own hands.

  • 2008 / 8 / 22
    362: Got You Pegged

    Shalom Auslander goes on vacation with his family, and suspects the chatty old man in the room next door is an imposter.

  • 2008 / 8 / 8
    361: Fear of Sleep

    Mike Birbiglia talks about the sleepwalking that nearly killed him.

  • 2008 / 7 / 25
    360: Switched at Birth

    Two babies switched at birth. One of the moms knew but kept it a secret for 43 years. Then she told everybody.

  • 2008 / 7 / 18
    359: Life After Death

    Stories of people haunted by guilt over their role in others' deaths.

  • 2008 / 6 / 27
    358: Social Engineering

    Stories of social engineering on a small scale.

  • 2008 / 6 / 13
    357: The Truth Will Out

    Stories of concealed truths bubbling to the surface, including a new story by Etgar Keret.

  • 2008 / 5 / 30
    356: The Prosecutor

    Things go badly for the lead prosecutor in one of the first high-profile terrorist cases since 9/11.

  • 2008 / 5 / 9
    355: The Giant Pool of Money

    The surprisingly entertaining story of how the U.S. got itself into a housing crisis.

  • 2008 / 4 / 18
    354: Mistakes Were Made

    Freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds.

  • 2008 / 3 / 28
    353: The Audacity of Government

    Stories of the Bush Administration's quest to redefine the limits of presidential power.

  • 2008 / 2 / 29
    350: Human Resources

    Teachers tell us about a secret room in the New York City Board of Education building called "the rubber room."

  • 2008 / 2 / 15
    349: Valentine’s Day 2008

    Stories about couples that happen decades after the moment their eyes meet.

  • 2008 / 2 / 8
    348: Tough Room

    We go into the writers' room at The Onion, where they start with over 600 potential headlines for their fake-news newspaper each week.

  • 2008 / 1 / 18
    347: Matchmakers

    Making a lasting love match isn't as simple as writing a check.

  • 2007 / 12 / 21
    346: Home Alone

    A 79-year-old woman dies alone in Los Angeles. No one knows her—or her next of kin.

  • 2007 / 12 / 14
    345: Ties That Bind

    A girl receives a heart transplant from a boy her age, and her mother sets off to find out more about the kid who saved her daughter's life.

  • 2007 / 11 / 30
    344: The Competition

    Stories of the unintended consequences of market forces.

  • 2007 / 11 / 23
    343: Poultry Slam 2007

    Our annual program about turkeys, chickens, and fowl of all types.

  • 2007 / 11 / 2
    342: How to Rest in Peace

    What happens to the people left behind after the detectives close the case?

  • 2007 / 10 / 5
    341: How to Talk to Kids

    Stories of adults taking very different approaches to communicating with children.

  • 2007 / 9 / 7
    340: The Devil in Me

    Stories of people trying to exorcize their inner demons.

  • 2007 / 8 / 24
    339: Break-Up

    Starlee Kine tries to write the perfect break-up song with some help from Phil Collins.

  • 2007 / 8 / 10
    338: The Spokesman

    Stories of what can happen when you go from being a private person to a public face.

  • 2007 / 7 / 27
    337: Man vs. History

    Stories about people taking history into their own hands.

  • 2007 / 7 / 6
    336: Who Can You Save?

    Stories about the pitfalls of trying to do the right thing.

  • 2007 / 6 / 15
    335: Big Wide World

    When he was a teenager, Haider worked in the Iraqi Ministry of Information. He was treated like a celebrity.

  • 2007 / 6 / 1
    334: Duty Calls

    Josh's family didn't play much of a role in his daily life—until duty called, and they took over his life.

  • 2007 / 5 / 25
    333: The Center for Lessons Learned

    Four years into the Iraq War, what have we learned?

  • 2007 / 5 / 4
    332: The Ten Commandments

    Stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus.

  • 2007 / 4 / 27
    331: Habeas Schmabeas (2007)

    Is Guantanamo Bay a camp full of terrorists, or a camp full of our mistakes?

  • 2007 / 4 / 13
    330: My Reputation

    Stories of people trying to recover from damage to their reputations.

  • 2007 / 4 / 6
    329: Nice Work If You Can Get It

    Stories of sudden fame, quick riches, and the downside of the dream job.

  • 2007 / 3 / 16
    328: What I Learned from Television

    Stories recorded during our 2007 live tour, by Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, Dan Savage, and others.

  • 2007 / 3 / 9
    327: By Proxy

    Stories of proxy fights, proxy arguments, and proxy situations of all kinds.

  • 2007 / 2 / 16
    326: Quiz Show

    A man with social anxiety goes through a transformation on a TV game show.

  • 2007 / 2 / 2
    325: Houses of Ill Repute

    An old man in Brooklyn invites some homeless prostitutes into his house on a cold winter night. They never leave.

  • 2007 / 1 / 26
    324: My Brilliant Plan

    An American reporter in Iraq decides to rent a house in a residential Baghdad neighborhood. Plus other big ideas gone amok.

  • 2007 / 1 / 5
    323: The Super

    Stories of the mysterious hold supers have on their buildings, or their buildings have on them.

  • 2006 / 12 / 15
    322: Shouting Across the Divide

    Stories of Muslims and non-Muslims trying to communicate with each other and not always getting their point across.

  • 2006 / 12 / 1
    321: Sink or Swim

    Stories of people who are in over their heads and trying to stay afloat.

  • 2006 / 11 / 3
    320: What’s In A Number? — 2006 Edition

    The remarkable story of what it took to determine the number of Iraqis who've died since the U.S. invasion.

  • 2006 / 10 / 27
    319: And the Call Was Coming from the Basement

    Scary stories that are all true—kidnappings, zombie raccoons, and real haunted houses.

  • 2006 / 10 / 6
    318: With Great Power

    Stories of everyday people who get saddled with great power.

  • 2006 / 9 / 15
    317: Unconditional Love

    A family uses a controversial therapy to train their son to love them, and other stories about the hard work of loving other people.

  • 2006 / 8 / 18
    316: The Cat Came Back

    When something you thought was gone forever keeps returning, against all odds.

  • 2006 / 7 / 21
    315: The Parrot and the Potbellied Pig

    Stories about animals who don't even seem like they should know each other, much less appear on the same radio show.

  • 2006 / 6 / 23
    314: It's Never Over

    A grown man tries to get to the bottom of why his schoolmates threw him in a lake 20 years earlier.

  • 2006 / 5 / 19
    313: Parental Guidance Suggested

    Stories about kids who actually want their parents looking out for them.

  • 2006 / 5 / 12
    312: How We Talked Back Then

    We revisit two live shows we put on in the early days—one was about letters, and the other was about this then-new phenomenon called the internet.

  • 2006 / 4 / 14
    311: A Better Mousetrap (2006)

    Stories about people trying to find new solutions to age-old problems.

  • 2006 / 3 / 10
    310: Habeas Schmabeas

    Is Guantanamo Bay a camp full of terrorists, or a camp full of our mistakes?

  • 2006 / 2 / 24
    309: Cat and Mouse

    Stories about the kinds of chase games that just never end.

  • 2006 / 2 / 10
    308: Star-Crossed Love

    Stories of how love blossoms, even when (perhaps) it shouldn't.

  • 2006 / 2 / 3
    307: In the Shadow of the City (2006)

    Stories that take place on the edge of civilization, just out of sight.

  • 2006 / 1 / 13
    306: Seemed Like A Good Idea at the Time

    Lotto fever grips the cast of Riverdance.

  • 2005 / 12 / 23
    305: The This American Life Holiday Spectacular

    A full-throttle, show-stopping, no-holds-barred Christmas Spectacular!

  • 2005 / 12 / 16
    304: Heretics

    A rising star in the evangelical movement casts aside the idea of hell.

  • 2005 / 12 / 2
    303: David and Goliath

    Variations on an old tale, with very modern consequences.

  • 2005 / 11 / 18
    302: Strangers in a Strange Land

    Three people tell their stories from Iraq about the fighting, the locals, and why you subscribe to Details magazine.

  • 2005 / 11 / 11
    301: Settling the Score

    Stories about the lengths we go to make things right, and about what money can and cannot fix.

  • 2005 / 10 / 28
    300: What’s In A Number?

    A study estimated the number of Iraqi casualties since the war began at 100,000. Most of the deaths were caused by coalition forces.

  • 2005 / 10 / 7
    299: Back from the Dead

    Stories about people and places that have come back to life after everything seemed lost.

  • 2005 / 9 / 23
    298: Getting and Spending

    How far will we go to get money? And once we've got it, what should we spend it on?

  • 2005 / 9 / 16
    297: This Is Not My Beautiful House

    Stories from the largest mass resettlement that America has seen since the Civil War, as over 400,000 people—victims of Hurricane Katrina.

  • 2005 / 9 / 9
    296: After the Flood

    Surprising stories from survivors in New Orleans.

  • 2005 / 8 / 26
    295: Not What I Signed Up For

    A 9/11 widow finds herself having to comfort another distraught woman on national TV.

  • 2005 / 8 / 5
    294: Image Makers

    Some librarians in Michigan embark on an audacious act of rebranding their libraries.

  • 2005 / 7 / 22
    293: A Little Bit of Knowledge

    Stories about the pitfalls of knowing just a little bit too little.

  • 2005 / 7 / 8
    292: The Arms Trader (2005)

    The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man named Hemant Lakhani.

  • 2005 / 7 / 1
    291: Reunited (And It Feels So Good)

    Stories about getting back together with your parent, your spouse, your ... Brahman bull.

  • 2005 / 6 / 3
    290: Godless America

    We spend an hour trying to remember why anyone liked the separation of church and state in the first place.

  • 2005 / 5 / 13
    289: Go Ask Your Father

    Sons and daughters get to find out the one thing they've always wanted to know about their father.

  • 2005 / 5 / 6
    288: Not What I Meant

    Stories about how easy it is for communication to go awry, and what the consequences can be after it does.

  • 2005 / 4 / 15
    287: Backed Into A Corner

    Stories about people who end up making choices they'd rather not make, when their options begin to run out.

  • 2005 / 4 / 8
    286: Mind Games (2005)

    Stories of people who try simple mind games on others, and then find themselves way in over their heads.

  • 2005 / 3 / 25
    285: Know Your Enemy

    An LA prosecutor thought he'd make a name for himself by taking the lead singer of the Dead Kennedys to court for obscenity.

  • 2005 / 3 / 11
    284: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

    A software writer loses his job, but continues to show up at work, sneaking in the door each day and putting in long hours.

  • 2005 / 2 / 25
    283: Remember Me

    A dying mother makes a tape for her developmentally disabled daughter, hoping she'll watch it someday, knowing she might not.

  • 2005 / 2 / 11
    282: DIY

    After four lawyers fail to get an innocent man out of prison, his friend takes on the case himself.

  • 2005 / 1 / 21
    281: My Big Break

    Sometimes, getting your big break isn't all it's cracked up to be.

  • 2005 / 1 / 7
    280: In Country

    What life is like for American soldiers in Iraq.

  • 2004 / 12 / 10
    279: Auto Show

    Stories about people who love their cars, for better or for worse.

  • 2004 / 11 / 19
    278: Spies Like Us

    A woman starts hearing her neighbors making drug deals over her baby monitor's frequency.

  • 2004 / 11 / 5
    277: Apology

    It's rare that a successful apology happens.

  • 2004 / 10 / 29
    276: Swing Set

    A journey through the minds of undecided voters.

  • 2004 / 10 / 15
    275: Two Steps Back

    The rise and fall of school reform.

  • 2004 / 10 / 8
    274: Enemy Camp (2004)

    Behind enemy lines, sometimes people get confused about whose side they're on and how to fight the enemy.

  • 2004 / 9 / 24
    273: Put Your Heart In It

    Stories about people deciding whether to give it their all.

  • 2004 / 9 / 10
    272: Big Tent

    We leave behind the official Republican talking points and ask them to speak instead about what they actually believe.

  • 2004 / 8 / 20
    271: Best Interests

    Stories about adults struggling to figure out what is in the best interest of some child.

  • 2004 / 8 / 6
    270: Family Legend

    Every family has its share of grudges, secrets, and bad behavior.

  • 2004 / 7 / 16
    269: Someone to Watch Over Me

    Letting someone else take care of you can change everything.

  • 2004 / 6 / 25
    268: My Experimental Phase

    People who decide to try out a new life—the kind of life their parents never wanted for them.

  • 2004 / 6 / 11
    267: Propriety

    By tightening the rules on what swear words are allowed on the nation's airwaves, FCC officials say they're protecting kids. But the facts don't back them up.

  • 2004 / 6 / 4
    266: I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to Help

    Nancy Updike goes to Iraq to try to figure out what it's like to be a private citizen working in the middle of a war zone.

  • 2004 / 5 / 21
    265: Fake Science

    A Seattle group called AGHOST is using whatever scientific principles they can find to hunt for ghosts.

  • 2004 / 5 / 7
    264: Special Treatment

    A defense of special treatment, by people who receive it and people who give it.

  • 2004 / 4 / 16
    263: Desperate Measures

    Stories of people stuck in unfixable situations who try desperate measures.

  • 2004 / 4 / 2
    262: Miracle Cures

    A son tries to help his mom in a faraway place defy the laws of medical science.

  • 2004 / 3 / 26
    261: The Sanctity of Marriage

    A generation of researchers has revolutionized the way we see marriage.

  • 2004 / 3 / 12
    260: The Facts Don’t Matter

    How a bungled Nazi sabotage operation became the legal foundation for the Bush administration's push to try U.S. citizens in military tribunals.

  • 2004 / 2 / 20
    259: Promised Land

    David Rakoff tries a 20-day fast to see if it will bring him any form of enlightenment.

  • 2004 / 1 / 30
    258: Leaving the Fold (2004)

    People leaving the situation they're used to and striking off for something less familiar.

  • 2004 / 1 / 30
    258: Leaving the Fold

    A popular, progressive politician becomes...a talk show host. One you've probably heard of.

  • 2004 / 1 / 16
    257: What I Should’ve Said

    People return to the scene of the crime where they should have spoken clearly and forcefully to review what the hell went wrong.

  • 2004 / 1 / 9
    256: Living Without (2004)

    Sarah Vowell explains the cheerful journalism of deprivation. And other stories.

  • 2003 / 12 / 19
    255: Our Holiday Gift-Giving Guide

    The vexing difficulty of finding the perfect gift.

  • 2003 / 12 / 12
    254: Teenage Embed, Part Two

    Hyder returns to Afghanistan.

  • 2003 / 12 / 5
    253: The Middle of Nowhere

    The tiny island of Nauru is at the center of several of the decade's biggest global events.

  • 2003 / 11 / 28
    252: Poultry Slam 2003

    We bring you stories of turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, fowl of all kinds, real and imagined, and their mysterious hold over us.

  • 2003 / 11 / 21
    251: Brother’s Keeper

    In his ongoing effort to write his own version of the Bible, Jonathan Goldstein retells the story of Cain and Abel.

  • 2003 / 11 / 7
    250: The Annoying Gap Between Theory...and Practice

    Why is it always harder than you think it'll be?

  • 2003 / 10 / 31
    249: Garbage

    We follow the trash from the sanitation men on the street, to the mob guys who controlled the hauling business, to the people who actually live in dumps.

  • 2003 / 10 / 24
    248: Like It or Not

    David Rakoff guest hosts.

  • 2003 / 9 / 19
    247: What Is This Thing?

    What is this thing called love? For answers, we explore the romance novel industry, a $1.5 billion empire run almost entirely by and for women.

  • 2003 / 9 / 12
    246: My Pen Pal

    Stories of very unusual pen pals, people whose relationship could not exist without the help of the postal service.

  • 2003 / 9 / 5
    245: Allure of the Mean Friend

    They treat us badly, they don't call us back, they cancel plans at the last minute, and yet we come back for more.

  • 2003 / 8 / 15
    244: MacGyver

    Four real stories in which real people invent amazingly clever solutions to their problems.

  • 2003 / 7 / 25
    243: Later That Same Day

    Stories about what the passage of time can do to someone.

  • 2003 / 7 / 18
    242: Enemy Camp

    The story of a fixer for the Catholic Church and how he came to sympathize with the people that he was sent to deceive.

  • 2003 / 7 / 11
    241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes

    All kinds of little stories that we ordinarily can't use on the radio show because they are just too short.

  • 2003 / 6 / 20
    240: I’m In Charge Now

    There is a ominous information gap between the U.S. officials running the country and the Iraqi people being governed.

  • 2003 / 6 / 6
    239: Lost in America

    Stories of people who are lost, histories that are lost, and things that are lost.

  • 2003 / 5 / 30
    238: Lost in Translation

    Jonathan Goldstein and Starlee Kine go to a karaoke club that has, along with all the songs, comedy routines for people to perform.

  • 2003 / 4 / 18
    237: Regime Change

    Stories of regime change in everyday life.

  • 2003 / 4 / 11
    236: My Two Cents

    We try to figure out the paradox of the current economy, where Americans are simultaneously both losing jobs and buying new homes and cars.

  • 2003 / 3 / 21
    235: The Balloon Goes Up

    Stories from the beginnings of the war in Iraq, and how it compares with wars in our country's past.

  • 2003 / 3 / 14
    234: Say Anything

    Does talking about it really help?

  • 2003 / 3 / 7
    233: Starting From Scratch

    A man in retirement tries to start over in a new life with a new venture: a cable channel, with lots of puppies.

  • 2003 / 2 / 14
    232: The Real Story

    Real stories from three very different wars.

  • 2003 / 2 / 7
    231: Time to Save the World

    Stories of sudden truths delivered by complete strangers.

  • 2003 / 1 / 31
    230: Come Back to Afghanistan

    A California teenager returns to the home country he's never known.

  • 2003 / 1 / 10
    229: Secret Government

    Stories of some of the secrets our government keeps: of imprisonment, deportation, and spying.

  • 2003 / 1 / 3
    228: You Are So Beautiful…To Me

    Two modern-day reinterpretations of the Frog Prince story.

  • 2002 / 12 / 20
    227: Why We Fight

    We still have some basic questions about why we're going to war and whether it's a good thing.

  • 2002 / 12 / 6
    226: Reruns

    Stories of people stuck in moments that they revisit over and over again.

  • 2002 / 11 / 8
    225: Home Movies

    Home movies are often all the same—kids on the beach, people getting married, birthday parties—so why do we make and watch so many of them?

  • 2002 / 10 / 25
    224: Middlemen

    "Hi, middleman. Here are three splendid acts to toast your subtle virtues."

  • 2002 / 10 / 11
    223: Classifieds

    We take the classifieds from one Sunday edition of the paper and fill a program with stories that come from the ads.

  • 2002 / 9 / 27
    222: Suckers

    Some people have a rather dark worldview that divides people into two groups: Suckers and non-suckers.

  • 2002 / 9 / 20
    221: Fake I.D.

    Stories of people traveling under false identities, not for power or personal gain, but for their own deeper personal reasons.

  • 2002 / 8 / 30
    220: Testosterone

    The pros and cons of the hormone of desire.

  • 2002 / 8 / 16
    219: High Speed Chase

    What happened after a group of Native American girls from one town found themselves being chased down the highway by a group of white boys from another town.

  • 2002 / 8 / 9
    218: Act V

    A group of inmates at a high-security prison stage a production of the last act of Hamlet.

  • 2002 / 8 / 2
    217: Give It to Them

    Two years after the Mideast peace process collapsed, we wanted to understand what that has done to people living in Israel and the West Bank.

  • 2002 / 7 / 12
    216: Give the People What They Want

    Ira Glass goes to a fake wedding at a home for Alzheimer's patients.

  • 2002 / 6 / 14
    215: Ask An Expert

    Stories about people who turned to the experts and got horrible advice.

  • 2002 / 5 / 31
    214: Family Physics

    We take the laws of physics and apply them to the realm of human relationships.

  • 2002 / 5 / 24
    213: Devil on My Shoulder

    Stories of people who try to convince you that the devil is there, whispering in your ear.

  • 2002 / 5 / 10
    212: The Other Man

    Stories about what happens when a new guy comes on the scene and changes everything.

  • 2002 / 5 / 3
    211: Naming Names

    When you turn someone over to the authorities, it can set into motion lots of huge, unintended consequences.

  • 2002 / 4 / 19
    210: Perfect Evidence

    DNA evidence isn't just proving wrongdoing by criminals, it's proving wrongdoing by police and prosecutors.

  • 2002 / 3 / 29
    209: Didn’t Ask to Be Born

    The story of an eighth grader who set himself on fire, and what led to that.

  • 2002 / 3 / 15
    208: Office Politics

    Stories of high drama from our nation's workplaces.

  • 2002 / 3 / 8
    207: Special Ed

    Stories about people who were told that they're different.

  • 2002 / 3 / 1
    206: Somewhere in the Arabian Sea

    Life aboard an aircraft carrier stationed in the Arabian Sea supporting bombing missions over Afghanistan.

  • 2002 / 2 / 1
    205: Plan B

    There's the thing you plan to do, and then there's the thing you end up doing.

  • 2002 / 1 / 18
    204: 81 Words

    How the American Psychiatric Association decided that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness.

  • 2002 / 1 / 11
    203: Recordings for Someone

    Personal recordings one person made for just one other person.

  • 2001 / 12 / 21
    202: Faith

    Stories of faith: losing it, talking about it, constructing it, and working within it.

  • 2001 / 12 / 7
    201: Them

    In a time of war, when we're all feeling a heightened sense of "us" and "them," we wanted to take up the problem of "them."

  • 2001 / 11 / 30
    200: Hearts and Minds

    Of all the wars to win, perhaps the propaganda war is the hardest.

  • 2001 / 11 / 16
    199: House on Loon Lake

    A young boy, an abandoned house, and the mysterious family who disappeared without a trace.

  • 2001 / 11 / 2
    198: How to Win Friends and Influence People

    Stories of people climbing to be number one. How do they do it?

  • 2001 / 10 / 26
    197: Before It Had A Name

    In 1946, a man started to investigate the Holocaust before it was known as the Holocaust, gathering the first recorded testimonials of concentration camp survivors.

  • 2001 / 10 / 5
    196: Rashomon

    The events of September 11th, and how its meaning changes depending on who you talk to.

  • 2001 / 9 / 28
    195: War Stories

    We try to sort out what the war in Afghanistan will be like.

  • 2001 / 9 / 21
    194: Before and After

    Stories in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001.

  • 2001 / 9 / 14
    193: Stories of Loss

    A collection of stories in which people try to make sense of loss.

  • 2001 / 8 / 31
    192: Meet the Pros

    The story of one man's journey from obscurity to international professional celebrity.

  • 2001 / 8 / 17
    191: I Know What You Did This Summer

    Scott Carrier travels cross-country without air conditioning, during weather in which it's too hot to stay in the car and too hot to get out.

  • 2001 / 8 / 3
    190: Living the Dream

    There's a deep impulse in American culture that says that you can make yourself into anyone.

  • 2001 / 7 / 13
    189: Hitler’s Yacht

    A modern-day fable about what happens when the free market, the media, the World War II buffs, the Neo-Nazis, and the Jews all collide over a huge Nazi tourist trap.

  • 2001 / 6 / 22
    188: Kid Logic (2001)

    Stories of kids using perfectly logical arguments, and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.

  • 2001 / 6 / 15
    187: Father's Day '01

    Stories of dads who are utterly human in scale.

  • 2001 / 6 / 8
    186: Prom

    While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town.

  • 2001 / 6 / 8
    186: Prom (Promo)

    While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town.

  • 2001 / 5 / 25
    185: Golden Calf

    Stories of people worshiping false idols, and whether that's always a bad thing.

  • 2001 / 5 / 11
    184: Neighbors

    An average Chicagoan decides to appeal the disputes and problems in his neighborhood to a higher authority, Mr. Rogers. Yes, that Mr. Rogers.

  • 2001 / 4 / 20
    183: The Missing Parents Bureau

    Women planning to get pregnant with the help of a sperm bank tell us about the questions they wrestle with of how much they want to know about the fathers of their kids.

  • 2001 / 4 / 13
    182: Cringe

    Tales of personal humiliation, romance gone wrong, and people who profoundly misjudge how they're perceived by others.

  • 2001 / 4 / 6
    181: The Friendly Man

    Stories from Scott Carrier, whose strange and compelling tales sound like nothing else on the radio.

  • 2001 / 3 / 23
    180: Return to Childhood 2001

    Alex Blumberg tries to find a woman who babysat him when he was nine, and other stories of people trying to revisit their childhoods.

  • 2001 / 3 / 16
    179: Cicero

    The story of what was, at one time, one of most notoriously racist and corrupt suburbs in America.

  • 2001 / 2 / 23
    178: Superpowers

    Which is better: flight or invisibility?

  • 2001 / 2 / 9
    177: American Limbo

    Stories of people living completely outside the grid of American life.

  • 2001 / 1 / 26
    176: Two Nations, One President

    Democrats explain why they're having trouble getting over the 2001 election, and Republicans explain why this is so infuriating.

  • 2001 / 1 / 5
    175: Babysitting

    A brother and sister decide to invent children to babysit, as an excuse to get out of their own house.

  • 2000 / 12 / 15
    173: Three Kinds of Deception

    A story of self-deception, a story about deceiving others, and a story about accidental deception.

  • 2000 / 11 / 17
    172: 24 Hours at the Golden Apple

    One day in a Chicago diner.

  • 2000 / 11 / 17
    172: 24 Hours at the Golden Apple (Promo)

    One day in a Chicago diner.

  • 2000 / 11 / 3
    171: Election

    Stories for the eve of the 2000 presidential election, in which we try to look beneath the candidates' soundbites.

  • 2000 / 10 / 13
    170: Immigration

    We look at a 1996 immigration law that is too obscure for most of us to have heard of, but which affects tens of thousands of lives in huge ways.

  • 2000 / 9 / 29
    169: Pursuit of Happiness

    What does it mean to grow up in a country with an inalienable right to pursue happiness?

  • 2000 / 9 / 15
    168: The Fix Is In

    We go inside the back rooms of one multinational corporation and hear the intricate workings of how they put the fix in.

  • 2000 / 9 / 8
    167: Memo to the People of the Future

    Stories of people who are trying to control how they'll be seen by generations to come.

  • 2000 / 8 / 11
    166: Nobody's Family Is Going to Change

    Does anyone's family ever change?

  • 2000 / 7 / 28
    165: Americans in Paris

    David Sedaris takes Ira on a tour of his favorite spots in Paris.

  • 2000 / 7 / 28
    165: Americans In Paris

    David Sedaris takes Ira on a tour of his favorite spots in Paris.

  • 2000 / 7 / 7
    164: Crime Scene (2000)

    Crime scenes and the stories they tell.

  • 2000 / 6 / 30
    163: Can You Fight City Hall…If You Are City Hall?

    Stories of people who stand up alone for what's right, damn the consequences.

  • 2000 / 6 / 23
    162: Moving

    Stories of people who did not want to move but circumstance forced their hands.

  • 2000 / 6 / 2
    161: Million Bubbles

    A look at what's going on inside the individual glass and steel worlds of our cars.

  • 2000 / 5 / 19
    160: Character Assassination

    David Foster Wallace reports on a turning point in the 2000 presidential primary.

  • 2000 / 5 / 12
    159: Mother’s Day

    Stories of moms: How they treat us, how we treat them.

  • 2000 / 5 / 5
    158: Mob Mentality

    The pleasure and the terror of being in a rampaging, angry mob.

  • 2000 / 4 / 14
    157: Secret Life of Daytime

    All those people you see in the middle of the workday, in coffee shops and bookstores—why aren't they at work?

  • 2000 / 3 / 31
    156: What Remains

    Stories of people revisiting what happened, and who they were back when.

  • 2000 / 3 / 17
    155: Hoaxing Yourself (2000)

    Stories of people who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else does.

  • 2000 / 3 / 10
    154: In Dog We Trust (2000)

    Exactly how much are the animals that live in our home caught up in everyday family dynamics?

  • 2000 / 3 / 3
    153: Dolls

    The story of the book The Lonely Doll and its author, and how the author's life came to resemble something from her book.

  • 2000 / 2 / 11
    152: Crush

    What if you held onto a high-school crush? Under what conditions would it never go away? Tobias Wolff reads a short story called "Kiss."

  • 2000 / 1 / 28
    151: Primary

    Stories from the New Hampshire primary. We hear from voters who've found candidates they love. And we hear what those voters are seeing that the rest of us aren't.

  • 2000 / 1 / 21
    150: Kids As Adults

    Stories of kids trying to act like adults—some by choice—some because they're forced to.

  • 2000 / 1 / 14
    149: Bedside Diplomacy

    In the hospital, we're in a place that has its own rules and its own language and its own customs.

  • 1999 / 12 / 24
    148: The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Suit

    The many, many different versions of Santa Claus.

  • 1999 / 12 / 17
    147: A Teenager's Guide to God

    Oh faithless and perverse generation? How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?—Matthew 17.

  • 1999 / 12 / 10
    146: Urban Nature

    David Rakoff visits Iceland, where the government is careful not to disturb certain boulders because some people believe that elves live there.

  • 1999 / 11 / 26
    145: Poultry Slam 1999

    Our annual program about turkeys, chickens, fowl of all types, and their mysterious hold over our imaginations.

  • 1999 / 11 / 5
    144: Where Words Fail

    People struggle to invent words adequate to cope with death.

  • 1999 / 10 / 22
    143: Sentencing

    Have mandatory minimum sentences gone too far?

  • 1999 / 10 / 15
    142: Barbara

    We hear the story of one African-American single mother who recorded her family's life over the course of seven months.

  • 1999 / 10 / 1
    141: Invisible Worlds

    Stories of people who are trying to make invisible worlds visible.

  • 1999 / 9 / 24
    140: Family Business

    What happens when the tension of family dynamics collides with the pressure of capitalist market forces.

  • 1999 / 9 / 3
    139: Ghosts of Elections Past

    Stories designed to provide some small sense of hope about American politics.

  • 1999 / 8 / 27
    138: The Real Thing

    Stories of people drawn to some idea, some picture, some "thing" that they just want to be.

  • 1999 / 8 / 20
    137: The Book That Changed Your Life

    We want to believe our lives can be changed by a set of ideas contained in a book.

  • 1999 / 8 / 6
    136: You Are Here

    Three stories, three people, and three sets of maps.

  • 1999 / 7 / 23
    135: Allure of Crime

    Through our crimes, we express who we are.

  • 1999 / 7 / 9
    134: We Didn’t

    It turns out that not falling in love, not doing our jobs, not spending time with our families is every bit as vivid and complicated an experience as doing something.

  • 1999 / 6 / 25
    133: Sales

    We accompany a Hollywood screenwriter as he tries to sell a movie idea and find ourselves asking, is the art of commerce better than the art of art?

  • 1999 / 6 / 18
    132: Father’s Day ‘99

    Photographer Joel Meyerowitz goes on a last big trip with his father, who has Alzheimer's, and his son.

  • 1999 / 6 / 4
    131: The Kids Are Alright

    Stories in which young people take matters into their own hands, broadcast for the tenth anniversary of the crackdown at Tiananmen Square.

  • 1999 / 5 / 21
    130: Away From Home

    Stories of people going home to places they've never been before.

  • 1999 / 5 / 14
    129: Advice

    What if you asked people for advice and actually took ALL of the advice that everyone gave you? Sarah Vowell tried exactly that.

  • 1999 / 4 / 30
    128: Four Corners

    We try to tell the story of life in America through portraits of life in four different states across the nation.

  • 1999 / 4 / 16
    127: Pimp Anthropology

    A former pimp tells how he and three childhood friends became pimps in the 1970s in Oakland, California.

  • 1999 / 4 / 9
    126: Do-Gooders

    Two do-gooders try to change things in their hometown for the better. But the more they try, the more people resent them.

  • 1999 / 4 / 2
    125: Apocalypse

    Fundamentalist Christians and Orthodox Jews are combining forces to breed a perfect red cow that could bring about the end of the world.

  • 1999 / 3 / 19
    124: Welcome to America

    Stories of people moving to this country: what they see and hear that those of us who were born here don't.

  • 1999 / 2 / 26
    123: High Cost of Living

    Stories of people who choose not to live every moment to the fullest or smell the roses.

  • 1999 / 2 / 12
    122: Valentine’s Day ’99

    Stories of impossible love and heartbreak.

  • 1999 / 1 / 29
    121: Twentieth Century Man

    What happens if you're too good at throwing everything out and starting over?

  • 1999 / 1 / 22
    120: Be Careful Who You Pretend to Be

    Three stories of people pretending to be something they're not, and what happens to them.

  • 1999 / 1 / 8
    119: Lockup

    Stories of the lives of prisoners in the United States, and the lives of their families.

  • 1998 / 12 / 18
    118: What You Lookin’ At?

    Stories about seeing and being seen, taped before a live audience in Town Hall in New York City.

  • 1998 / 12 / 11
    117: You Gonna Eat That?

    The family table is stage on which many family dramas are played out.

  • 1998 / 11 / 27
    116: Poultry Slam 1998

    Our annual program about turkeys, chickens, and fowl of all types.

  • 1998 / 11 / 13
    115: First Day

    A rookie cop and a squirrel, and other stories of first days on the job.

  • 1998 / 10 / 23
    114: Last Words

    Stories of people's last words before death.

  • 1998 / 10 / 16
    113: Windfall

    What happens when you suddenly strike it rich?

  • 1998 / 10 / 2
    112: Ladies and Germs

    How irrational fear of germs means that you aren't going to get good apple cider in your local supermarket this fall.

  • 1998 / 9 / 11
    111: Adventures in the Simple Life

    I thought this was supposed to be easy.

  • 1998 / 9 / 4
    110: Mapping

    The world redrawn by the five senses.

  • 1998 / 8 / 28
    109: Notes on Camp

    We attempt to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between camp people and non-camp people.

  • 1998 / 8 / 7
    108: Truth and Lies at Age Ten

    A woman who'd been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis talks about the lies she told herself as a child.

  • 1998 / 7 / 3
    107: Trail of Tears (1998)

    Sarah Vowell re-traces the route her Cherokee ancestors took when expelled from their own land by President Andrew Jackson.

  • 1998 / 6 / 19
    106: Father’s Day ‘98

    Stories in which fathers and their kids sit down and try to have an honest moment together.

  • 1998 / 6 / 12
    105: Take A Negro Home

    Two stories of people who try to cross the color line, and why it's still so hard.

  • 1998 / 6 / 5
    104: Music Lessons

    David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell on what's frustrating about music lessons, what's miraculous about them, and what they actually teach us.

  • 1998 / 5 / 29
    103: Scenes from A Transplant

    An NPR reporter leaves her three-year-old son and heads to Omaha—for cancer treatment, and a last chance to save her life.

  • 1998 / 5 / 22
    102: Road Trip!

    With so many songs, movies, and books about the joy of the open road, it's hard to take just a normal road trip without huge expectations.

  • 1998 / 5 / 1
    101: Niagara

    The story of a town that started with something huge—the falls—and built nothing lasting from it.

  • 1998 / 4 / 24
    100: Radio

    A radio show about what makes radio so great, and what makes it so terrible.

  • 1998 / 4 / 10
    99: I Enjoy Being A Girl, Sort Of

    Variations on what it means to be a girl and what it means to be a woman.

  • 1998 / 3 / 27
    98: Throwing the First Punch

    Stories about what it means to be a person who throws the first punch, and how hard it is to give up.

  • 1998 / 3 / 20
    97: Death to Wacky

    David Sedaris tells true stories of photographers who try to take pictures of him which will make him seem "wacky." That, and other stories of wackiness.

  • 1998 / 3 / 13
    96: Pinned by History

    Stories of people who were lifted out of everyday life, thrown into much bigger events, and how that made sense of what they did years after the fact.

  • 1998 / 3 / 6
    95: Monogamy

    Stories of people struggling to redefine monogamy, to stay monogamous, and what we should make of these ad hoc experiments in everyday life.

  • 1998 / 2 / 27
    94: How To

    Ira teaches Sarah Vowell how to drive with some advice from the hosts of Car Talk.

  • 1998 / 2 / 13
    93: Valentine’s Day ’98

    Stories about couples that all take place decades after that moment their eyes first meet.

  • 1998 / 2 / 6
    92: Leave the Mask On

    When someone tries to tell you a little bit more about themselves than you'd really rather know.

  • 1998 / 1 / 30
    91: Escape the Box

    Stories of people trying to escape the box of their own lives, and create new lives.

  • 1998 / 1 / 16
    90: Telephone

    The story of a teenager, illegal drug use, lying, stealing, and a kid's life changed completely when he heard how he sounded on the phone.

  • 1998 / 1 / 9
    89: Sibling Rivalry

    Stories about people who are destined to fight: brothers and sisters.

  • 1998 / 1 / 2
    88: Numbers

    People trying to use numbers to describe things that should not be quantified.

  • 1997 / 12 / 19
    87: A Very Special Sedaris Christmas

    Holiday stories from David Sedaris and Julia Sweeney.

  • 1997 / 12 / 12
    86: How to Take Money from Strangers

    A con man who's so good he's thanked.

  • 1997 / 12 / 5
    85: Poultry Slam 1997

    Chickens and turkeys are a mirror of ourselves.

  • 1997 / 11 / 21
    84: Harold

    The story of Harold Washington and the white backlash that was set off when he became Chicago's first black mayor.

  • 1997 / 11 / 14
    83: One of Us

    Stories of outsiders who want to be insiders, and vice versa.

  • 1997 / 10 / 31
    82: Haunted

    Stories of people who are haunted, not by ghosts or phantoms, but by other people.

  • 1997 / 10 / 24
    81: Guns

    Americans who love their guns, and the Americans who love them.

  • 1997 / 10 / 17
    80: Running After Antelope

    Scott Carrier with the latest installment in his 12-year quest to chase down and catch an antelope.

  • 1997 / 10 / 10
    79: Stuck in the Wrong Decade

    People stuck in the wrong decade, or simply carrying a lot of the props from another decade.

  • 1997 / 10 / 3
    78: How Bad Is Bad?

    Ira Glass talks to three teenage boys who buy computer equipment using stolen credit card numbers. And other stories.

  • 1997 / 9 / 26
    77: Pray

    Can the secular world and the religious world understand each other?

  • 1997 / 9 / 19
    76: Mob

    The mob as portrayed in movies, and as it is in real life. And its hold over us.

  • 1997 / 9 / 12
    75: Kindness of Strangers

    A locksmith tells the story of an act of kindness he committed, hoping for a small reward. That, and other stories of kindness in New York City.

  • 1997 / 8 / 29
    74: Conventions

    What happens when people with a common interest gather in fluorescent-lit halls? Sometimes they drive each other crazy, sometimes they fall in love.

  • 1997 / 8 / 22
    73: Blame It on Art

    Mona LisaThe darker side of the art world: petty jealousies, competitiveness, failure.

  • 1997 / 8 / 8
    72: Trek

    The story of two Americans—one white, one black—who go to South Africa and have very different opinions about what they find.

  • 1997 / 8 / 1
    71: Defying Sickness

    A man goes on a last big trip with his father who has Alzheimer's.

  • 1997 / 7 / 25
    70: Other People's Mail

    Four stories of people who read other people's mail, and what happens to them once they get caught up in these other lives.

  • 1997 / 7 / 18
    69: Dream House

    Parents moving the family to some new place, hoping it works out for the kids.

  • 1997 / 7 / 4
    68: Lincoln's Second Inaugural

    We look at the legacy of the most moving, poetic inaugural speech in American history.

  • 1997 / 6 / 27
    67: Your Dream, My Nightmare

    An interracial couple takes a plantation tour. And other stories in which someone's dream is someone else's nightmare.

  • 1997 / 6 / 6
    66: Tales from the Net

    Listeners sent us samples of what they're finding on the internet, including postings from Usenet groups, favorite web pages, and their own email.

  • 1997 / 5 / 30
    65: Who's Canadian?

    Canadians claim they're no different from red-blooded Americans. We put their position to the test.

  • 1997 / 5 / 23
    64: Summer

    We want summer to be this wonderful break, but so often it fails to deliver.

  • 1997 / 5 / 9
    63: One Thing

    A man tries to run for President as a utopian nudist, and other stories of people whose lives are organized around one thing.

  • 1997 / 5 / 2
    62: Something for Nothing

    Twenty-four people put one hand on a Hardbody pickup truck and wait...until only one person is left standing. Plus other stories of people trying to get rich quick.

  • 1997 / 4 / 25
    61: Fiasco! (1997)

    Stories of when things go wrong. Really wrong.

  • 1997 / 4 / 18
    60: Business of Death

    Stories of people for whom death is a job—undertakers, homicide detectives, slaughterhouse workers, and others.

  • 1997 / 4 / 11
    59: Fire

    Stories about people who are not afraid of fire, though perhaps they should be.

  • 1997 / 4 / 4
    58: Small Towns

    The claustrophobia, freedom, and yearning people feel in small towns.

  • 1997 / 3 / 14
    57: Delivery

    Stories about the delivery business and the people in it: UPS men, bike messengers, FedEx dispatchers.

  • 1997 / 3 / 7
    56: Name Change

    Name changes are particularly American stories: they're the dream of starting over with a clean slate.

  • 1997 / 2 / 28
    55: Three Women and the Sex Industry

    Radio producer Sandy Tolan was supposed to do a documentary about strippers with an aspiring writer—and stripper—named Susan. But then Susan disappeared.

  • 1997 / 2 / 21
    54: Sinatra

    Stories, tributes, and attempts to understand the Chairman of the Board.

  • 1997 / 2 / 7
    53: Valentine’s Day ‘97

    Stories about our parents falling in love.

  • 1997 / 1 / 31
    52: Edge of Sanity

    Stories about the border between mental health and mental illness.

  • 1997 / 1 / 24
    51: Animals Die, People Ponder

    Stories of people who handle dead animals. (Don't worry—it's not as gross as it sounds.) Featuring a story by George Saunders.

  • 1997 / 1 / 17
    50: Shoulda Been Dead

    A man decides to live as if he'll die in six months. That, and other stories of starting life over.

  • 1997 / 1 / 10
    49: Animals

    Stories about the animalness of animals, the irreducible ways in which they are not human.

  • 1997 / 1 / 3
    48: Justice

    A portrait of Americans at the International Tribunal.

  • 1996 / 12 / 20
    47: Christmas and Commerce

    The intersection of Christmas and retail, including David Sedaris's "Santaland Diaries."

  • 1996 / 12 / 13
    46: Sissies

    A family where the father was one kind of sissy and the son was another kind, and how the family was destroyed despite the fact that no one wanted it to be.

  • 1996 / 12 / 6
    45: Media Fringe

    People struggling at the fringes of our nation's infotainment industry.

  • 1996 / 11 / 29
    44: Poultry Slam 1996

    Stories about turkeys, chickens, ducks, and fowl of all kinds.

  • 1996 / 11 / 22
    43: Faustian Bargains

    People who made a deal with the devil.

  • 1996 / 11 / 15
    42: Get Over It!

    Trying to forget the past and move on.

  • 1996 / 11 / 8
    41: Politics

    Stories of the election you can't hear anywhere else.

  • 1996 / 11 / 1
    40: Lessons

    Spalding Gray on finding the zen of skiing.

  • 1996 / 10 / 25
    39: Halloween

    Stories of things that are supposed to be scary, but aren't.

  • 1996 / 10 / 11
    38: Simulated Worlds

    Civil War reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle, and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America.

  • 1996 / 9 / 27
    37: The Job That Takes Over Your Life

    Scott Carrier got a job interviewing schizophrenics. After awhile, he began to wonder if he was a schizophrenic himself.

  • 1996 / 9 / 20
    36: Letters

    We took out advertisements in Chicago inviting people to share letters they've received, sent, or found.

  • 1996 / 9 / 6
    35: Fall Clearance Sale

    Stories that haven't fit into any of our regular "theme" shows.

  • 1996 / 8 / 30
    34: Democratic Convention

    Unusual stories from the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

  • 1996 / 8 / 23
    33: A Night at the Wiener Circle

    Ira Glass spends a night at one of the most boisterous hot dog stands in the nation: Chicago's Wiener Circle.

  • 1996 / 8 / 16
    32: Republican Convention

    Unusual stories about day-to-day life at the Republican Convention.

  • 1996 / 8 / 9
    31: When You Talk About Music

    Stories of people whose lives are transformed by music.

  • 1996 / 7 / 26
    30: Obsession

    What happens when a little idea starts to control you.

  • 1996 / 7 / 19
    29: Bob Dole

    Unusual perspectives on the presumptive Republican nominee.

  • 1996 / 7 / 12
    28: Detectives

    David Sedaris recalls the days when his mother and sister played armchair detective.

  • 1996 / 6 / 21
    27: The Cruelty of Children

    A story of youthful backstabbing by David Sedaris.

  • 1996 / 6 / 14
    26: Father's Day '96

    Ira's own father, Barry Glass, co-hosts this special Father's Day show.

  • 1996 / 6 / 7
    25: Basketball

    The Chicago Bulls and their grip on Chicagoans' hearts and lives during the NBA playoffs.

  • 1996 / 5 / 24
    24: Teenaged Girls

    Girls who have to figure out how they're going to act when the ground rules are constantly shifting.

  • 1996 / 5 / 10
    23: Drama Bug

    Stories of the people who fall for a life in the theater.

  • 1996 / 5 / 3
    22: Adult Children

    Stories of the difficult relationships between parents and their grown children.

  • 1996 / 4 / 26
    21: Factions

    Friends get together to start a business, start a church, do political action together. And after a while, they start fighting and split up.

  • 1996 / 4 / 19
    20: From A Distance

    Stories of admiring someone from afar, and trying to get closer to them.

  • 1996 / 4 / 12
    19: Rich Guys

    Men who had comfortable, decent lives, yet decided to do something wild and eccentric.

  • 1996 / 3 / 28
    18: Liars

    A girl who adored her father tries to figure out what to think after he takes some of her college money and lies to her about it.

  • 1996 / 3 / 21
    17: Name Change / No Theme

    Our first show as This American Life.

  • 1996 / 3 / 14
    16: Economy

    Politics, the economy, and the big picture.

  • 1996 / 2 / 28
    15: Dawn

    Jack Hitt stumbles onto an epic story of the Old South and changing cultural norms in America.

  • 1996 / 2 / 21
    14: Accidental Documentaries

    Stories made from old recordings found in attics and thrift stores.

  • 1996 / 2 / 7
    13: Love

    The dream of true love and the difficulties with achieving and maintaining that dream.

  • 1996 / 1 / 31
    12: Animals

    The animalness of animals, and the irreducible ways in which they are not human.

  • 1996 / 1 / 24
    11: Enemies

    A friendship between two young boys that was destroyed through the manipulative acts of one of them.

  • 1996 / 1 / 17
    10: Double Lives

    People living their lives, just like the rest of us. Plus an extra life.

  • 1996 / 1 / 10
    9: Julia Sweeney

    Julia Sweeney and her brother found out they each had cancer six months apart.

  • 1996 / 1 / 3
    8: New Year

    Reflecting back on 1995.

  • 1995 / 12 / 29
    7: Quitting

    People who quit everything in their lives that they hated.

  • 1995 / 12 / 22
    6: Christmas

    A Christmas radio play by David Sedaris.

  • 1995 / 12 / 15
    5: Anger and Forgiveness

    Stories that reveal the societal "trend" toward anger and away from genuine forgiveness.

  • 1995 / 12 / 8
    4: Vacations

    Vacations gone awry—or perhaps vacations that never should have happened.

  • 1995 / 12 / 1
    3: Poultry Slam 1995

    Decrying the wonders of turkeys, chickens, and other fowl.

  • 1995 / 11 / 24
    2: Small Scale Sin

    Three teenage boys tell us about their forays into low-level credit card hacking.

  • 1995 / 11 / 17
    1: New Beginnings

    Our very first broadcast.