Description
Unofficial RSS feed for the "This American Life" podcast. Episodes 1 through current. Updated late Sunday night Eastern / early Monday morning UTC. Visit https://www.thisamericanlife.org for more information about the podcast.
Feed URL: tal.ankar.io. Feed last refreshed 2024-11-11 05:38:27. Known missing episodes: .
Episodes
- 2024 / 11 / 8846: This Is the Cake We BakedWith Donald Trump’s victory this week, many people looked at the election results and thought, yeah, this is the country I thought it was. For some people, that was a hopeful thing. For others, kind of the...
- 2024 / 10 / 18844: This Is the Case of Henry DeeThirteen parole board members decide whether or not one man should be released from prison.
- 2024 / 10 / 11843: A Little Bit of PowerSo much of the fight for the presidency is coming down to battles for small slices of voters who can help throw swing states to one candidate or another. Abbas Alawieh, a leader in the Uncommitted movement,...
- 2024 / 9 / 13840: How Are You Not Seeing This?People trying and struggling to see what another person sees.
- 2024 / 9 / 6839: Meet Me at the FairIowa has three million people and a million come to their State Fair, each with their own goals and dreams for the fair. We hang out with some of them, to see if they get what they hoped for.
- 2024 / 8 / 16838: Letters! Actual Letters!When the best—and perhaps only—way to say something is to write it down.
- 2024 / 8 / 9837: Swim Towards the SharkIn a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?
- 2024 / 7 / 19836: The Big RethinkPeople rethinking some of the most important relationships in their lives — with their sister, their political party, and the nominee for president.
- 2024 / 6 / 28835: Children of DaveBoen Wang has a theory that a lot of the misery in his life can be traced to a single moment that happened years before he was born. So he makes a pilgrimage to see if he’s right.
- 2024 / 6 / 14834: Yousef and the Fourth MoveYousef is forced into a move he is not sure he can make.
- 2024 / 6 / 7833: Come RetributionDonald Trump has talked about taking retribution on his enemies since the early days of his 2024 presidential campaign. After his conviction last week in New York, his talk intensified. We try to understand...
- 2024 / 5 / 24831: Lists!!!How they organize the chaos of the world, for good and for bad.
- 2024 / 5 / 17830: The Forever TrialThe trial for the men accused of orchestrating the September 11 terrorist attacks still hasn’t started yet. Family members of those who died that day are still hoping for some kind of accountability, more...
- 2024 / 5 / 10829: Two LedgersFor years, Majid believed that if he could testify in court about what happened to him when he was held in a CIA black site, a judge and jury would give him a break. Finally, he got a chance to see if he was...
- 2024 / 4 / 5828: Minor Crimes DivisionPeople taking it upon themselves to solve the tiny, overlooked crimes of the world.
- 2024 / 3 / 22827: All the King's HorsesThe things we break and the ones we can't fix.
- 2024 / 3 / 15826: Unprepared for What Has Already HappenedPeople waking up to the fact that the world has suddenly changed.
- 2024 / 2 / 2823: The Question TrapAn investigation of when and why people ask loaded questions that are a proxy for something else.
- 2024 / 1 / 26822: The Words to Say ItWhat it means to have words—and to lose them.
- 2023 / 12 / 22820: It Wouldn’t Be Make-Believe If You’d Believe In MeA major political party in a major swing state bets on a new leader: a total political outsider. How does that work out for them?
- 2023 / 12 / 20819: Yousef’s WeekA series of conversations with a man in Gaza over the course of one week.
- 2023 / 12 / 20819: Special Bonus Podcast — Yousef’s WeekOne of our producers, Chana Joffe-Walt, had a series of conversations with a man in Gaza over the course of one week. They're so immediate – and particular to this moment in the war in Gaza – that we're...
- 2023 / 12 / 15818: Stand Clear of the Closing DoorsIn the last year and a half, New York City has scrambled to try and provide shelter and services to over 150,000 migrants. We take a look at how that’s going.
- 2023 / 12 / 1817: The Cavalry Is Not ComingWhen you realize that help is not on the way, what do you do next?
- 2023 / 11 / 17815: How I Learned to ShaveThings our dads taught us, whether they intended to or not.
- 2023 / 11 / 10814: Parents Are PeopleWhat happens when you realize the people in charge don’t have the answers.
- 2023 / 11 / 3813: Is That What I Look Like?You've been seeing yourself, getting to know what you look like, your whole life. So why does it often take an outsider to see things about you that are obvious, and set you straight?
- 2023 / 10 / 20812: The Bear at the End of the TunnelPeople who have a good, long time to think about what they’re doing, look hard at what’s ahead of them, and decide to keep moving forward anyway.
- 2023 / 9 / 29811: The One Place I Can’t GoSpots we’re avoiding in our private maps of the world.
- 2023 / 9 / 15810: Say It to My FaceFriends and ex-friends finally talk about the one thing between them they've been avoiding.
- 2023 / 8 / 18808: The Rest of the StoryLegendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey had a popular show called “The Rest of the Story.” Today on our show, we do just that. We hear from people who, whether they want to or not, find themselves...
- 2023 / 7 / 28806: I Can't Quit You, BabyPeople on the verge of a big change, not wanting to let go. And the people who give them the final push.
- 2023 / 6 / 23803: Greetings, People Of EarthHumans encounter non-human intelligences of various kinds and try to make sense of them.
- 2023 / 6 / 9801: Must Be Rats on the BrainThe one animal we can’t seem to live without, even when we really, really want to.
- 2023 / 5 / 12799: The Lives of OthersLooping thoughts about people you barely know, or don't know at all.
- 2023 / 4 / 21797: What I Was Thinking As We Were SinkingIt's funny the things that go through your head during a disaster.
- 2023 / 3 / 24794: So Close and Yet So FarPeople so close to each other, in extremely intimate situations, who are also a million miles apart.
- 2023 / 3 / 10793: The Problem with GhostsThe ghosts that visit us, the ghosts that never do, and the ghosts that walk among us.
- 2023 / 1 / 6788: Half-Baked Stories About My Dead MomWriter Etgar Keret tries to come up with the stories that capture his late mother, Orna Keret—but it’s hard, he says, because she’s like Maria in West Side Story and she’s also like Thanos from the Avengers....
- 2022 / 12 / 2786: It's a Game Show!Something we’ve never done before: true stories told in the form of a game show.
- 2022 / 11 / 25785: Through the Looking GlassPeople trying to coax each other across the line, from one side to the other.
- 2022 / 11 / 4784: Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a MapNot long ago, Republicans in Ohio passed a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering in the state. And then a funny thing happened. The same Ohio Republicans drew electoral maps that violated their own...
- 2022 / 9 / 30780: Setting the Record StraightGetting to the facts can be difficult, but it’s always the right thing to do. Except when it isn’t.
- 2022 / 9 / 16779: Ends of the EarthAn exploration of the very upper limits of what you do for someone you love.
- 2022 / 7 / 29776: I Work Better on DeadlineStories of people racing against time to solve a problem. Will they make it?
- 2022 / 7 / 1774: The Pink House at the Center of the WorldThe Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade began with a lawsuit filed by a Mississippi abortion clinic. On the day Roe was overturned, we were there. Stories from the center of this moment of history,...
- 2022 / 6 / 17773: The Longest Distance Between Two PointsGetting from A to B via Z.
- 2022 / 5 / 27771: The Parents Step InGovernment isn’t doing much to prevent school shootings. So parents are jumping in: parents whose kids have died in mass shootings, in the wake of each shooting. They take practical, effective action — and...
- 2022 / 4 / 22768: The Other Front LinesFour personal stories from the war in Ukraine.
- 2022 / 4 / 8767: Do Not Go GentleIn this moment when autocrats and almost-autocrats are getting bolder and more powerful, we bring you two stories of resistance, from Hungary and Russia.
- 2022 / 4 / 1766: Well Someone Had to Do SOMETHING!People trying to jump in and solve other people's problems, putting themselves directly in the gap between the problem and the solution.
- 2022 / 2 / 25763: The Other Mr. PresidentStories about Vladimir Putin. Did he come to power in 1999 by killing hundreds of innocent Russians? How’s he really seen in his home country? This show is a mix of old and new stories we’ve done about him.
- 2022 / 2 / 4761: The Trojan Horse AffairA while back, one of our producers Brian Reed was in England giving a speech about the podcast he'd hosted, S-Town. A journalism student approached him, asking for advice about a story he wanted to look into...
- 2022 / 1 / 28760: A City Walks Into an InvestigationLast week's story continues, about a Michigan couple who walked into a police officer's house and made a disturbing discovery. This week: the police officer suffers the consequences and so does the couple.
- 2022 / 1 / 21759: A Couple Walks Into a HouseRob and Reyna Mathis make an unsettling discovery in the home of a local police officer. Soon, their whole city is asking questions about who the officer really is and what he's been doing.
- 2021 / 12 / 31757: The Ghost in the MachinePeople use machines to find people they lost.
- 2021 / 12 / 10756: But I Did Everything RightPeople earnestly doing what they're told, and absolutely not getting what they were promised.
- 2021 / 11 / 12753: What We’ve Got Here is Failure to CommunicateGetting the point across — or trying to, anyway.
- 2021 / 10 / 29752: An Invitation to TeaA man who was imprisoned for 14 years in Guantanamo Bay, without charges, gets out and issues an invitation to all the people who kept him there. Amazingly, three of them agree to talk.
- 2021 / 9 / 17748: The End of the World as We Know ItWhat happens when one family goes all in on fighting climate change.
- 2021 / 9 / 3746: This Is Just Some SongsWe made you a mixtape. Don't make a big deal out of it or anything.
- 2021 / 7 / 30743: Don't You Be My NeighborBad neighbors. What can you do about them?
- 2021 / 7 / 23742: The Thing I'm Getting OverWhat’s recovery mean, anyway?
- 2021 / 7 / 9741: The Weight of WordsWords mean things, but some words are especially meaningful.
- 2021 / 7 / 2740: There. I Fixed It.Solving problems using very extreme measures.
- 2021 / 3 / 19734: The Campus Tour Has Been CancelledHow the pandemic has thrown college admissions process into a kind of slow-motion chaos. One of the biggest changes: most colleges have stopped requiring the SAT. For decades, there’s been a debate over...
- 2021 / 3 / 5733: Warriors in the GardenThis week, three men who came together to protest the murder of George Floyd. They were unified, loud, and impressive, but over time these three friends end up in three very different places.
- 2021 / 2 / 12731: What Lies Beneath (2021)Summoning up stuff that’s usually hidden down deep.
- 2020 / 11 / 27725: Turkey in a Face MaskFor Thanksgiving weekend, stories about food, and people who set out on very particular missions with food.
- 2020 / 10 / 30722: The Unreality of NowAhead of the election, we have stories about people trying to live in the unreality that defines this moment. Election officials combat a contagion among their very own workers; people who've never owned guns...
- 2020 / 10 / 23721: The Walls Close InPeople finding themselves stuck in small spaces—an elevator, an attic, an orchestra pit—trying to make sense of their new surroundings.
- 2020 / 10 / 16720: The Moment After This MomentPeople who are worried — or not worried enough! — about what's hurtling unstoppably towards them.
- 2020 / 10 / 2719: Trust Me I’m a DoctorA doctor who breaks the law might go to jail like anybody else. But who decides if that doctor gets to keep their medical license? On today’s show, the not-often-talked-about realm of licensing boards, and...
- 2020 / 9 / 25718: Same Bed, Different Dreams (2020)Stories of people who are tied together, but imagine radically different futures. In one case, a movie star and her ex-husband plot against Kim Jong-Il. In another, a woman stalks her doppelgänger. And...
- 2020 / 9 / 11717: 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 / 8 / 28715: Long-Awaited Asteroid Finally Hits EarthTeachers, students and parents around the country have been bracing themselves all spring and summer long for the start of this unprecedented school year. This week, it's here.
- 2020 / 8 / 14714: Day at the BeachIt’s the last few weeks of summer, so we’re going to the beach! This week, stories from the surf and sand.
- 2020 / 8 / 7713: Made to Be BrokenFrom the moment we wake up in the morning there are a trillion rules — big and little — governing our lives. But sometimes, we encounter one we just can't abide by. In a pitched moment of rule-questioning, a...
- 2020 / 7 / 17711: How to Be AloneIn space, in the ocean, by ourselves, or with others—we’re all just figuring out how to be apart.
- 2020 / 6 / 5707: We Are in the FutureIn this moment of sorrow, protest, and rage in the wake of George Floyd’s death, we offer this as a break from the dreadful present: our show about Afrofuturism. It’s a way of looking at Black culture that’s...
- 2020 / 5 / 29706: A Mess to Be Reckoned WithLissa Yellow Bird searches for missing people. Cold cases, mostly. People no one else is looking for. It’s not her job, but a lot of Native Americans go missing and their cases remain unsolved, so families...
- 2020 / 4 / 24702: One Last Thing Before I GoWords can seem so puny and ineffective sometimes. On this show, we have stories in which ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones, using a combination of small talk and...
- 2020 / 3 / 13696: Low Hum of MenaceThings do not seem fine at all, but it’s hard to say why.
- 2020 / 2 / 14694: Get Back to Where You Once BelongedPeople looking everywhere to find a place—any place—where, for once, they don't have to be the odd man out.
- 2020 / 1 / 31692: The Show of DelightsIn these dark, combative times, we attempt the most radical counterprogramming we could imagine: a show made up entirely of stories about delight.
- 2020 / 1 / 10691: Gardens of Branching PathsOther universes that are just like our own, but with one small difference.
- 2019 / 12 / 27690: Too Close to HomeFor the holidays, stories of families finally addressing the thorny thing they’ve never really talked about.
- 2019 / 12 / 6689: Digging Up the BonesThere's a lot that can be gained from unearthing the past -- learning about oneself, learning about others. But, it doesn't always go how you'd expect.
- 2019 / 10 / 11685: We Come From Small PlacesThe staff goes to one of the biggest parties in New York City, the Labor Day Carnival and the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn.
- 2019 / 8 / 16681: Escape From the LabWhat happens when our most ingenious creations actually make it out into the world.
- 2019 / 7 / 26680: 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 / 6 / 14677: Seeing Yourself In the WildStories of those unexpected moments when we see who we really are.
- 2019 / 5 / 31676: Here’s Looking at You, KidAdults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right?
- 2019 / 3 / 29671: Anything Can Be AnythingPeople connecting the dots that maybe should not be connected.
- 2019 / 3 / 1669: Scrambling to Get Off the IceThe Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee may have to fight to protect Mueller's investigation and make his report public. Now that they’re in the majority, they have new tools they can use. Our producer...
- 2019 / 1 / 18666: The Theme That Shall Not Be NamedSatan! In his many surprising manifestations, all around us.
- 2019 / 1 / 11665: Before Things Went to HellWe revisit those moments of calm before the storm, when things could have gone very differently, but instead, they went to hell.
- 2018 / 12 / 28664: The Room of RequirementLibraries aren't just for books. They're often spaces that transform into what you need them to be: a classroom, a cyber café, a place to find answers, a quiet spot to be alone. It's actually kind of magical....
- 2018 / 12 / 7663: How I Read ItDocuments you don't normally think of, showing you things you didn't expect.
- 2018 / 11 / 16662: Where There Is a WillStories of people who believe there is always a way. And also those who don’t.
- 2018 / 11 / 9661: But That's What HappenedStories of women in unsettling situations. When they try to explain what’s wrong, they’re told that they don’t understand—that there’s nothing unsettling about it.
- 2018 / 10 / 12659: Before the Next OneThere’s no rulebook on how to handle a school shooting. And no real way to prepare for one. This week, people take what they’ve learned from these tragedies and try to use that knowledge to save others.
- 2018 / 9 / 14656: Let Me Count the WaysYes, youve heard about the family separations. Youve heard about the travel ban. But there are dozens of ways the Trump administration is cracking down on immigration across many agencies, sometimes in ways...
- 2018 / 8 / 3653: Crime SceneEvery crime scene hides a story. In this week's show, we hear about crime scenes and the stories they tell.
- 2018 / 7 / 13651: If You Build It, Will They Come?A young preacher opens a new church. A new restaurant reopens old wounds. This week, stories of people trying to build something that will last.
- 2018 / 6 / 29650: Change You Can Maybe Believe InAn innocent man forgives the cop who framed him. An Argentinian talk show that usually treats women as objects suddenly gets really interested in feminism. This week, stories about changes that seem too tidy...
- 2018 / 6 / 22649: It's My Party and I'll Try If I Want ToDemocrats are desperate to retake part of Congress. Their best shot is the House. This fall, they’ll be slugging it out with Republicans—but in the meantime, they’re slugging it out with each other. The...
- 2018 / 5 / 18646: The Secret of My DeathCryptic messages on a cell phone and a teeter totter at a construction site: these are clues people found, trying to make sense of a death.
- 2018 / 5 / 4645: My Effing First AmendmentConservative students don't feel like their ideas are welcome on campus. So they're fighting back. We go to Nebraska, where one skirmish spins out of control.
- 2018 / 4 / 27644: Random Acts of HistoryStories about people who accidentally bump into unsettling facts of history in settings meant to teach them history. What they end up learning is very different from what they’re supposed to.
- 2018 / 4 / 13643: Damned If You Do…It’s one thing to weigh pros and cons. But sometimes all you have is con and con. This week, stories of people having to make a choice, when no good options exist.
- 2018 / 2 / 23639: In Dog We TrustExactly how much are the animals that live in our homes caught up in our everyday family dynamics?
- 2018 / 2 / 2637: Words You Can't SayIn this politically charged climate, it feels like you have to be super careful with your language, no matter who you are or what side you're on. Stories about people who say the “wrong” thing and suffer the...
- 2018 / 1 / 19636: I Thought It Would Be EasierA year into Trump’s presidency, stories of politicians—of both parties—unable to accomplish tasks that seem pretty straightforward.
- 2018 / 1 / 12635: Chip in My BrainA boy who can’t dribble gets a coach, a new best friend, and something to believe in.
- 2017 / 12 / 22634: Human Error in Volatile SituationsEven the best laid plans can go catastrophically wrong when humans get involved. This week, people bungle simple operations on some of the most dangerous weapons in the world.
- 2017 / 12 / 15633: Our Town - Part TwoSo many people in Albertville, AL wondered what it cost them in taxes when thousands of undocumented immigrants moved to their town. One woman drove our host Ira Glass to the grocery store to watch a random...
- 2017 / 12 / 8632: Our Town - Part OneWe spent eight months and did over a hundred interviews to try to bypass the usual rhetoric and get to the bottom of what really happened when undocumented workers showed up in one Alabama town. This two-part...
- 2017 / 11 / 10631: So a Monkey and a Horse Walk Into a BarThis week, blurring the line between animal and human.
- 2017 / 10 / 27630: Things I Mean to KnowThere are so many facts about the world that we take for granted—without ever questioning how we know them. Of course the earth revolves around the sun. Of course my dog loves me. But how exactly do we know...
- 2017 / 10 / 13628: In the Shadow of the CityStories that take place on the edge of civilization, just out of sight.
- 2017 / 10 / 6627: Suitable for Children (2017)Who thought that would be good for a kid?
- 2017 / 8 / 18623: We Are in the Future (2017)One of our producers, Neil Drumming, has recently become fascinated with Afrofuturism. It's more than sci-fi. It’s a way of looking at black culture that’s fantastic, creative, and oddly hopeful—which feels...
- 2017 / 8 / 4622: Who You Gonna Call?When everything goes wrong, one of the first things we think is, "Who do I call?" This week, stories of lucky people who have found the exact right person to ring up for help.
- 2017 / 7 / 21621: Fear and Loathing in Homer and RockvilleTwo towns where people got really upset about undocumented immigrants, even though in both places, that did not seem to be the most important thing happening at all. One of the towns, a small town in Alaska,...
- 2017 / 5 / 5616: I Am Not a PirateTo be, or not to be a pirate? This week, that is the question. Hold fast, mateys! We have stories about both historical and modern-day swashbucklers who loot, pillage, and question their choices.
- 2017 / 4 / 28615: The Beginning of NowBefore Donald Trump started his presidential campaign in 2015, there was a congressional race that redefined what was possible in American politics. Steve Bannon and Breitbart News got involved in that race...
- 2017 / 4 / 14614: The Other Mr. President (2017)What it's actually like to live in the confusing information landscape that is Putin's Russia.
- 2017 / 3 / 31613: OK, I’ll Do ItStories of people who decide that they are the best person for the job, no matter how dangerous. Including a story about a stay-at-home mom with a history of gun running for a guerilla organization, and a...
- 2017 / 2 / 3609: It’s Working Out Very NicelyThis week we document what happened when the President’s executive order went into effect temporarily banning travel from seven countries, and we talk about the way it was implemented. A major policy change...
- 2017 / 1 / 20608: The Revolution Starts At NoonSome people are super-stoked for the political changes that are coming. We hear from them. And others.
- 2017 / 1 / 6607: Didn’t We Solve This One?We’ve fought two wars since 9/11. We got help from tens of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans—some were targeted or killed because they helped us. We owe these people. We’ve passed laws that say so. So why has...
- 2016 / 12 / 23606: Just What I WantedStories from people who want something desperately—for Christmas or otherwise—and then have their wishes fulfilled. Or do they?
- 2016 / 12 / 2603: Once More, With FeelingStories of people who decide to rethink the way they’ve been doing things, or try to get others to do that. Including a woman who decides to confront the men who catcall her, and get them to give it up forever.
- 2016 / 11 / 11602: The Sun Comes UpPeople around the country talking about the coming four years. Some of them exultant, some of them, as President Obama said Wednesday, "less so."
- 2016 / 11 / 4601: Master of Her Domain… NameA story about Hillary Clinton that offers a different picture than what we’ve been hearing from both sides during this campaign. And some funny stuff, because everyone’s tired of the election.
- 2016 / 9 / 23597: One Last Thing Before I Go (2016)Words can seem so puny and ineffective sometimes. On this show, we have stories in which ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones, using a combination of small talk and...
- 2016 / 8 / 26595: Deep End of the PoolWhat do you do when you're thrown into a situation you’re not prepared for? And while you’re flailing around—what happens to the people who depend on you? This week we present stories of people who find...
- 2016 / 8 / 5593: Don’t Have to Live Like a RefugeeWe return to Greece with stories of people trying to move on with their lives in whatever way they can. We meet a couple who fell in love even though they weren't expecting anything like that to happen, and...
- 2016 / 7 / 29592: Are We There Yet?A bunch of us from our show went to refugee camps all over Greece. We found people falling in love, kids mad at their parents for dragging them to Europe, women doing their laundry in a baseball stadium...
- 2016 / 7 / 15591: Get Your Money's WorthStories of people trying to make sure they get what they paid for, from political change to bedroom slippers. We follow a donor as he vets presidential candidates, and go inside a company wrestling with the...
- 2016 / 6 / 17589: Tell Me I’m FatThe way people talk about being fat is shifting. With one-third of Americans classified as overweight, and another third as obese, and almost none of us losing weight and keeping it off, maybe it’s time to...
- 2016 / 5 / 27587: The Perils of IntimacyStories about mysteries that exist in relationships we thought couldn't possibly surprise us, the strangeness of putting our wants on the line with someone who may not share them at all, and how much we're...
- 2016 / 5 / 6586: Who Do We Think We Are?It’s nice to belong, to feel connected to others. But what happens when you realize that your fundamental beliefs don’t line up with the people you want to be close to? Do you bring it up? And, what does that...
- 2016 / 4 / 22585: In Defense of IgnoranceExactly how incompetent you are. What your ex’s best friend really thinks of you. The approximate time that you will die. Some things in life are better not to know about. And sometimes there can be a benefit...
- 2016 / 3 / 25583: It’ll Make Sense When You’re OlderKids do not like being told it’ll make sense when they’re older. They’re pretty sure the grown-ups are wrong.
- 2016 / 3 / 11582: When the Beasts Come Marching InWe human beings think we run the world, that we’ve got things under control. Then an animal shows up, and things don’t go as planned. This week, seals, wolves, and a moose drop in and show us who isn't boss.
- 2016 / 2 / 19580: That's One Way to Do ItForget the easy way. This week, stories about people who come up with very innovative…and unusual...solutions to their problems. Including the story of a young voter who defies political categorization.
- 2016 / 1 / 29578: I Thought I Knew YouThis week, stories of people who are feeling the ground shift underneath them when people they are close to change. Including conservative radio host Tony Beam in South Carolina who is completely baffled by...
- 2016 / 1 / 15577: Something Only I Can SeeWhen you’re the only one who can see something, sometimes it feels like you’re in on a special secret. The hard part is getting anyone to believe your secret is real. This week, people trying to show others...
- 2015 / 12 / 25576: Say Yes To ChristmasNo Christmas can ever be as good as the ones you had as a kid. But this week we go all in and bring the joy, the spontaneity, the sense that anything can happen back to Christmas.
- 2015 / 10 / 30571: The Heart Wants What It WantsEmily 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 / 16570: The Night in QuestionTwenty years ago, the prime minister of Israel was assassinated. The killer was a lone gunman, Israeli and Jewish, just like the prime minister. Lots of witnesses saw it happen; the assassin confessed...
- 2015 / 10 / 9569: Put a Bow on ItThis week we go into the room at the headquarters of fast food chain Hardee's with the people who decided that this burger with beef, hot dogs, and chips is what America should be eating. We'll hear the story...
- 2015 / 10 / 2568: Human SpectacleGladiators in the Colosseum. Sideshow performers. Reality television. We've always loved to gawk at the misery or majesty of others. But this week, we ask the question: What's it like when the tables are...
- 2015 / 9 / 18567: What’s Going On In There?Often we see someone’s situation from the outside and think we know exactly what’s going on. This week we get inside and find out just how much more interesting the reality of it is. Including a teenaged girl...
- 2015 / 9 / 11566: The Land of Make BelieveA father constructs an elaborate fantasy to occupy his 12 children, and a woman finds herself sucked into a world of make believe that we almost never get to see inside.
- 2015 / 8 / 28565: Lower 9 + 10Katrina bus tours go all over New Orleans, but it’s illegal for them to go into the Lower 9th Ward, the area that's been the slowest to rebuild. This week we go around talking to residents there about what...
- 2015 / 8 / 7563: The Problem We All Live With - Part TwoLast week we looked at a school district integrating by accident. This week: a city going all out to integrate its schools. Plus, a girl who comes up with her own one-woman integration plan.
- 2015 / 7 / 31562: The Problem We All Live With - Part OneRight now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white kids. But there's one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence...
- 2015 / 7 / 3560: Abdi and the Golden TicketA story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American. Abdi is a Somali refugee living in Kenya and gets the luckiest break of his life:...
- 2015 / 5 / 1556: Same Bed, Different DreamsPeople who are tied together, but imagine radically different futures.
- 2015 / 4 / 24555: The Incredible Rarity of Changing Your MindIt’s rare for people to change what they believe, and if they do it, it’s usually a long process. This week, stories of those very infrequent instances where people’s opinions flip on fundamental things that...
- 2015 / 4 / 3553: Stuck in the MiddlePeople caught in limbo, using ingenuity and guile to try to get themselves out.
- 2015 / 3 / 27552: Need To Know BasisEven when you're not trying to get one over on someone, it can be useful to keep the truth to yourself. Or conversely, to not know why people are lying to your face all the time. This week we'll tell you the...
- 2015 / 2 / 13548: Cops See It Differently - Part TwoOur second hour of stories about policing and race. We hear about one city where relations between police and black residents went terribly, and another city where they seem to be improving remarkably. And...
- 2015 / 2 / 6547: Cops See It Differently - Part OneThere are so many cops who look at the killing of Eric Garner or Mike Brown and say race didn't play a factor. And there are tons of black people who say that's insane. There's a division between people who...
- 2015 / 1 / 23545: If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPSIt’s safe to say whatever you want on the Internet; nobody will know it’s you. But that same anonymity makes it possible for people to say all the awful things that make the Internet such an annoying and...
- 2014 / 12 / 12542: Wait—Do You Have The Map?Feeling lost and trying to figure out how to move ahead.
- 2014 / 12 / 5541: Regrets, I've Had a FewEvery day we make mistakes, and most of the time we just ignore these failings and move forward. But every so often, there is one that makes us pause and take notice. This week, people struggling with those...
- 2014 / 9 / 26536: The Secret Recordings of Carmen SegarraAn unprecedented look inside one of the most powerful, secretive institutions in the country. The NY Federal Reserve is supposed to monitor big banks. But when Carmen Segarra was hired, what she witnessed...
- 2014 / 9 / 5533: It's Not the Product, It's the PersonStarting a business is not for the self-doubting. Or even usually the self-deprecating. The first thing you have to sell is yourself — like dating, but with a greater chance of landing in debt. Alex Blumberg...
- 2014 / 7 / 18530: Mind Your Own BusinessStories of meddling, snooping, and just getting way, way up in other people's business. A cellphone hidden in a bag of chips starts a messy turf war between the FBI and a local sheriff; and a surprising...
- 2014 / 6 / 27529: Human Spectacle 2014Gladiators in the Colosseum. Sideshow performers. Reality television. We've always loved to gawk at the misery or majesty of others. But this week, we ask the question: What's it like when the tables are...
- 2014 / 5 / 23526: Is That What I Look Like? (2014)You've been seeing yourself, getting to know what you look like, your whole life. So why does it often take an outsider to see things about you that are obvious, and set you straight?
- 2014 / 5 / 23526: Is That What I Look Like?You've been seeing yourself, getting to know what you look like, your whole life. So why does it often take an outsider to see things about you that are obvious, and set you straight?
- 2014 / 5 / 2524: I Was So HighYour waitress. Your colleagues at work. Your doctor. Maybe even your parents. They’re all high. All the time. That’s what it feels like anyway. This week, stories in which drug use and daily life intersect –...
- 2014 / 3 / 14520: No Place Like HomeThere are lots of ways we define where we're from. And whether we're proud of it, or ashamed of it, love it, hate it, miss it or are trying desperately to get back to it — where we're from is always a big...
- 2014 / 3 / 7519: Dead Men Tell No TalesLast May, a weird story made the news: the FBI killed a guy in Florida who was loosely linked to the Boston Marathon bombings. He was shot seven times in his living room by a federal agent. What really...
- 2014 / 2 / 14518: Except For That One ThingMike Anderson was 36 years old, married, a suburban father of four. He owned a contracting business and built his family’s modest, three-bedroom house in St. Louis from the ground up. He volunteered at church...
- 2014 / 1 / 31517: Day at the Beach (2014)It's January, and freezing outside. This week 5 stories from the sunny beach! Including David Sedaris telling us how losing a sister in 2013 prompted a family reunion, and an impulse buy of a lifetime — an...
- 2014 / 1 / 17516: Stuck In The Middle (2014)Jan Brady is not the only one who hated being in the middle. This week we have stories about how it sucks to be in limbo or be the mediator, but we also hear from a man who absolutely loves being in that...
- 2013 / 11 / 8511: The Seven Things You’re Not Supposed to Talk AboutProducer Sarah Koenig's mother lives by a set of rules about conversation. She has an actual list of off-limits topics, including how you slept, your period, your health, your diet and more. You don't talk...
- 2013 / 10 / 25509: It Says So Right HereEveryone knows you can't always believe what you read, but sometimes even official documents aren't a path to the truth. This week we have stories of people whose lives are altered when seemingly boring...
- 2013 / 9 / 20505: Use Only as DirectedOne of the country's most popular over-the-counter painkillers — acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol — also kills the most people, according to data from the federal government. Over 150 Americans...
- 2013 / 9 / 6504: How I Got Into CollegeStudents all over are starting college this month, and some of them still have a nagging question: what, exactly, got me in? An admissions officer tells us the most wrongheaded things applicants try. And...
- 2013 / 8 / 16503: I Was Just Trying To HelpStories of people doing the noble thing and stepping up to help, only to find out that others think what they're doing isn't helping at all. Planet Money looks at a charity that's decided to just give people...
- 2013 / 8 / 9502: This Call May Be Recorded... To Save Your LifeA journalist named Meron Estefanos gets a disturbing tip. She's given a phone number that supposedly belongs to a group of refugees being held hostage in the Sinai desert. She dials the number, and soon...
- 2013 / 7 / 26501: The View From In HereIt's so easy to lose perspective (or worry you've lost perspective) when you're deep inside some situation. For instance, an American woman who suddenly trades her life for one in a place most people might...
- 2013 / 6 / 21498: The One Thing You're Not Supposed To DoThis week, stories about people who know something's a bad idea, but convince themselves to do that thing anyway. Including the story of a bunch of illegal immigrants who turn themselves in to the U.S....
- 2013 / 5 / 31496: When Patents Attack... Part Two!Two years ago, we did a program about a mysterious business in Texas that threatens companies with lawsuits for violating its patents. But the world of patent lawsuits is so secretive, there were basic...
- 2013 / 5 / 17495: Hot In My BackyardAfter years of being stuck, the national conversation on climate change finally started to shift — just a little — last year, the hottest year on record in the U.S., with Hurricane Sandy flooding the New York...
- 2013 / 4 / 12492: Dr. Gilmer and Mr. HydeA doctor named Benjamin Gilmer gets a job at a rural clinic in North Carolina. He’s replaced another doctor named Gilmer – Dr. Vince Gilmer – who went to prison after killing his own father. But the more...
- 2013 / 3 / 1489: No Coincidence, No Story!We asked listeners to send us their best coincidence stories, and we got more than 1,300 submissions! There were so many good ones we decided to make a whole show about them. From a chance encounter at a bus...
- 2013 / 2 / 22488: Harper High School - Part TwoWe pick up where we left off last week in our second hour from Harper High School in Chicago. We find out if a shooting in the neighborhood will derail the school's Homecoming game and dance. We hear the...
- 2013 / 2 / 15487: Harper High School - Part OneWe spent five months at Harper High School in Chicago, where last year alone 29 current and recent students were shot. 29. We went to get a sense of what it means to live in the midst of all this gun...
- 2012 / 12 / 21482: Lights, Camera, Christmas! (2012)This holiday season, we bring you a show filled with stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families, including: tales of Luna the guinea pig, Bambi the reindeer, and...
- 2012 / 11 / 23479: Little War on the PrairieGrowing up in Mankato, Minnesota, John Biewen says, nobody ever talked about the most important historical event ever to happen there: in 1862, it was the site of the largest mass execution in U.S. history....
- 2012 / 11 / 2478: Red State Blue StateEveryone knows that politics is now so divided in our country that 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. It’s two...
- 2012 / 10 / 19477: Getting Away With ItStories of people breaking the rules fully, completely and with no bad consequences. Some justify this by saying they’re doing it for others, or for a greater good. Some really don’t care. And, unlike the...
- 2012 / 10 / 5476: What Doesn’t Kill YouStories of how people cope after brushes with death. Sometimes death comes as a disease. Sometimes it swims up and bites you. And sometimes it's a pen or pencil, sitting there, just waiting for you to ingest...
- 2012 / 7 / 27470: Show Me the WayA 15-year-old boy travels more than one thousand miles—alone—to seek out his hero, a man he's never met. Plus more stories about people in trouble who look for help in mystifying places.
- 2012 / 7 / 13469: Hiding in Plain SightSometimes when something is happening right under your nose, it becomes even harder to notice than if it were happening in secret. Stories of people of using that to their advantage, including one man who...
- 2012 / 5 / 25465: What Happened at Dos ErresIn 1982, the Guatemalan military massacred the villagers of Dos Erres, killing more than 200 people. Thirty years later, a Guatemalan living in the US got a phone call from a woman who told him that two boys...
- 2012 / 3 / 30461: Take the Money and Run for OfficeFor anyone who has ever heard the term "Washington insider" and felt outside — we are with you. So this week, we go inside the rooms where the deals get made, to the actual moment that the checks change hands...
- 2012 / 3 / 2459: What Kind of CountryAll across the country right now, local and state governments are finding they can't pay their bills. Schools are losing teachers, street lights are going dark, garbage is piling up in public parks, and cops...
- 2012 / 2 / 10457: What I Did For LoveLove makes us do crazy things. But not this crazy. This week for Valentine's Day we have stories of people going to extremes as they fall in love, chase love down, and try to make sense of it—including a...
- 2012 / 1 / 27456: Reap What You SowAlabama's new immigration law aims to make life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they will "self-deport." And in a way it's working. Immigrants are fleeing Alabama...but not just the undocumented...
- 2011 / 11 / 18451: Back to Penn StateIn the wake of the recent news, listeners have contacted us and tweeted about the show we did two years ago at Penn State, #1 Party School. We listen again to some of those stories, with new interviews...
- 2011 / 11 / 11450: So Crazy It Just Might WorkA few years ago a cancer researcher named Jonathan Brody gave a speech at his alma mater saying that people in his field really needed to think outside the box to find a cure. Afterward he was approached by...
- 2011 / 9 / 23447: The Incredible Case of the P.I. MomsWhat do you get when you take a private investigation firm, toss in a bunch of sexy soccer moms, then add official sponsorship from Glock firearms, a lying boss, and delusions of grandeur? This week's show....
- 2011 / 5 / 13435: How To Create a JobIt seems like every politician has a plan for putting people back to work. But we and the Planet Money team couldn’t help but wonder…how do you create a job? Can politicians truly create many jobs? Is it...
- 2011 / 4 / 8432: Know When To Fold ‘EmWhen is it time to walk away, and when is it time to run? This week we have the story of an entire country deciding whether to give up on just one of its citizens, when to hold 'em in order to win nearly a...
- 2011 / 3 / 11429: 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. Including a US battalion going home on leave after 15 months of deployment, and an Iraqi...
- 2011 / 3 / 4428: Oh You Shouldn't HaveStories about the perils of giving and receiving gifts: Ones that go over spectacularly well in spite of being in poor taste, and ones that flop even with the best intentions. Including what happens...
- 2011 / 1 / 7423: The Invention of MoneyFive reporters stumbled on what seems like a basic question: What is money? The unsettling answer they found: Money is fiction. Photo: Stone money on the island of Yap.
- 2010 / 12 / 17422: Comedians of Christmas Comedy SpecialThe holidays are stressful so we booked a seasonal pick-me-up: an hour of comedy. Including comedians Wyatt Cenac, Mike Birbiglia, Julian McCullough, Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman and Edith Zimmerman. Musical...
- 2010 / 9 / 10414: Right to Remain SilentStories about people who have the right to remain silent, but choose not to exercise that right—including police officer Adrian Schoolcraft, who secretly recorded his supervisors telling officers to...
- 2010 / 2 / 12400: Stories Pitched by Our ParentsWe try something harder than anything we've ever tried before, by taking the random ideas that members of our own families have told us would be "perfect for the show," and turning them into actual stories.
- 2009 / 11 / 27395: Middle of the NightStories of people who are up while the rest of us are sleeping—some for work, some for play, and some for a free sandwich. Including the story of a woman walking alone at night, who encounters another woman...
- 2009 / 9 / 25390: Return To The Giant Pool of MoneyIn which we mark the anniversary of the economic collapse and the anniversary of Planet Money: Recapping some of the original episode, The Giant Pool of Money, and finding out what's happened to all those...
- 2009 / 5 / 1379: Return to the Scene of the CrimeA live episode of the radio program, including stories told on stage by Dan Savage and Mike Birbiglia.
- 2009 / 4 / 17378: This I Used to BelieveStories of people forced to let go of their firmly held beliefs. When the daughter of a pro-choice activist concludes that abortion is murder, her mother goes to extraordinary lengths to persuade her daughter...
- 2009 / 3 / 27377: Scenes From a RecessionThe economy works in mysterious ways. This week, we highlight the unusual circumstances our economic drought has left us in, and the newly hatched plans being made to survive it.
- 2009 / 3 / 13376: Wrong Side of HistoryBernie Epton went down in history as the Other Guy: the white opponent who almost defeated the first black mayor of Chicago. But what's the real story of someone who ended up on the wrong side of history?...
- 2008 / 12 / 26371: Scenes From a MallThis American Life spends several days in a mall in suburban Tennessee, to document life in the mall during the run-up to Christmas. Also, a rift in a national association of professional Santas—the...
- 2008 / 12 / 19370: Ruining It for the Rest of UsStories of people who ruin things for everyone else...or who are accused of that. Like the San Diego parents who didn't vaccinate their child for measles.
- 2008 / 11 / 7368: Who Do You Think You Are?This week we bring you stories of privilege and the lengths some will go to to maintain it. In one story, a woman fights—on tape!—with her city's parking enforcer about playing favorites.
- 2008 / 10 / 10366: A Better Mousetrap (2008)Stories about people trying to find new solutions to age-old problems—solutions that sometimes cause problems of their own.
- 2008 / 10 / 3365: Another Frightening Show About the EconomyAlex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson—the two guys who reported our Giant Pool of Money episode—are back, in collaboration with the Planet Money podcast.
- 2008 / 6 / 13357: The Truth Will OutDoes the truth always come out? Of course not! Though sometimes it comes out in the most uncomfortable ways imaginable. Stories of concealed truths bubbling to the surface, including a brand-new, unpublished...
- 2008 / 5 / 9355: The Giant Pool of MoneyA special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR News. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks...
- 2008 / 3 / 28353: The Audacity of GovernmentStories of the Bush Administration, its unique style of asserting presidential authority, and its quest to redefine the limits of presidential power.
- 2008 / 3 / 14352: The Ghost of Bobby DunbarIn 1912 a four-year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing in a swamp in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found in the hands of a wandering handyman in Mississippi. In 2004, Bobby Dunbar's granddaughter...
- 2007 / 11 / 2342: How to Rest in PeaceThere are umpteen TV shows about solving murders, endless whodunits in bookstores. But what happens to the people left behind after the detectives close the case? Three stories about children trying to figure...
- 2007 / 10 / 5341: How to Talk to KidsStories of adults taking very different approaches to communicating with children.
- 2007 / 9 / 7340: The Devil in MeStories of people trying to exorcize their inner demons.
- 2007 / 7 / 6336: Who Can You Save?Stories about the pitfalls of trying to do the right thing.
- 2007 / 5 / 25333: The Center for Lessons LearnedFour years into the Iraq War, what have we learned? Soldiers, civilians, Iraqis, and Americans talk—and sometimes yell—about what they've learned in the last few years...including how to stay alive and why...
- 2007 / 4 / 6329: Nice Work If You Can Get ItStories of sudden fame, quick riches, and the downside of the dream job.
- 2007 / 3 / 16328: What I Learned from TelevisionStories recorded during our 2007 live tour. Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, Dan Savage, and other favorite contributors went on the road with us to New York, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, and Los...
- 2007 / 2 / 2325: Houses of Ill ReputeAn old man in Brooklyn invites some homeless prostitutes into his house on a cold winter night. They never leave. Plus other stories about houses, such as the United States Congress, where the inhabitants...
- 2006 / 12 / 15322: Shouting Across the DivideA Muslim woman persuades her husband that their family would be happier if they left the West Bank and moved to America. They do, and things are good...until September 11. After that, the elementary school...
- 2006 / 11 / 3320: What’s In A Number? — 2006 EditionRecently, the British medical journal The Lancet published an study which updated their estimate of the number of Iraqis who've died since the U.S. invasion. With that in mind, we revisit a show we did in...
- 2006 / 10 / 27319: And the Call Was Coming from the BasementFor the week leading up to Halloween, scary stories that are all true. Kidnappings, zombie raccoons, haunted houses—real haunted houses!—and things that go "EEEEK!!!" in the night. Plus, a story by David...
- 2006 / 8 / 18316: The Cat Came BackTrue stories that follow the plotline of the old kid's song "The Cat Came Back." It's the simplest plot in the world: Something you thought was gone forever keeps returning, against all odds.
- 2006 / 7 / 21315: The Parrot and the Potbellied PigOriginal stories from David Sedaris, Jonathan Goldstein, and others, on two animals who don't even seem like they should know each other, much less appear on the same radio show.
- 2006 / 5 / 12312: How We Talked Back ThenIn this show we return to two radio programs originally broadcast in 1996 and 1997. In one show, listeners came onstage with their letters, which they read aloud. In another, listeners from around the country...
- 2006 / 4 / 14311: A Better Mousetrap (2006)Stories about people trying to find new solutions to age-old problems—solutions that sometimes cause problems of their own.
- 2006 / 2 / 3307: In the Shadow of the City (2006)Stories that take place on the edge of civilization, just out of sight.
- 2006 / 1 / 13306: Seemed Like A Good Idea at the TimeA girl signs up for a class. A couple hires an accountant. A group of co-workers decides to pool their money and buy a couple of lottery tickets. In the beginning, they're full of hope and optimism...and then...
- 2005 / 12 / 23305: The This American Life Holiday SpectacularA full-throttle, show-stopping, no-holds-barred Christmas Spectacular! Shedding the crusty old Christmas stories of yore, we bring you new holiday classics. With special musical guest Marah!
- 2005 / 11 / 18302: Strangers in a Strange LandSomeone once said, "If you're not willing to be changed by a place, there's no point in going." This week, stories about what happens when you land in a whole new world.
- 2005 / 10 / 28300: What’s In A Number?About a year ago, a study estimated the number of Iraqi casualties since the war began at 100,000 dead—higher than any other estimate. The study was mostly ignored. Alex Blumberg revisits that study to look...
- 2005 / 10 / 7299: Back from the DeadStories about people and places that have come back to life after everything seemed lost.
- 2005 / 9 / 16297: This Is Not My Beautiful HouseIt's the largest mass resettlement that America has seen since the Civil War, as over 400,000 people—victims of Hurricane Katrina—try to find a new place to live. From the Houston Astrodome to an abandoned...
- 2005 / 8 / 26295: Not What I Signed Up ForStories about being sucked into something against your will. In one story, a 9/11 widow finds herself having to comfort another distraught woman on national TV. And in a story by Nick Hornby, a boy is forced...
- 2005 / 7 / 22293: A Little Bit of KnowledgeStories about the pitfalls of knowing just a little bit too little.
- 2005 / 7 / 8292: The Arms Trader (2005)The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man named Hemant Lakhani, whom they suspected of being an illegal arms dealer. It's one of the few cases that has gone to trial in...
- 2005 / 7 / 1291: Reunited (And It Feels So Good)Stories about getting back together with your parent, your spouse, your ... Brahman bull. And how it never goes the way you think it's going to.
- 2005 / 5 / 13289: Go Ask Your FatherSons and daughters get to find out the one thing they've always wanted to know about their father. The answers aren't always what they hope for.
- 2005 / 5 / 6288: Not What I MeantStories about how easy it is for communication to go awry, and what the consequences can be after it does.
- 2005 / 4 / 15287: Backed Into A CornerStories about people who end up making choices they'd rather not make, when their options begin to run out. Sometimes this works out great; sometimes not so great.
- 2005 / 3 / 11284: Should I Stay or Should I Go?Stories about people teetering on the edge of this question: Should they stay or go? A software writer loses his job, but refuses to go away. He continues to show up at work, sneaking in the door each day and...
- 2004 / 9 / 24273: Put Your Heart In ItStories about people deciding whether to give it their all. There's one story about a person who hasn't, one story about someone who has—in a situation where success seems very unlikely—and one story about...
- 2004 / 7 / 16269: Someone to Watch Over MeLetting someone else take care of you can change everything. Three stories of couples in which one partner is trying to take care of the other, sometimes with more resistance, sometimes with less.
- 2004 / 6 / 4266: I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to HelpToday's show is devoted to just one story. Contributing editor Nancy Updike went to Iraq to try to figure out what it's like to be a private citizen working in the middle of a war zone. Private contractors...
- 2004 / 3 / 26261: The Sanctity of MarriageStories trying to understand what actually happens in marriages during this time when the definition of marriage is up in the air. Music throughout the hour by a real wedding band, a good one: The Doug...
- 2004 / 3 / 12260: The Facts Don’t MatterThere's what happened, and there's the story that gets told about what happened. Sometimes the two things don't match up very well. This week, two case examples—ripped, as they say, from today's headlines—of...
- 2004 / 1 / 30258: Leaving the Fold (2004)People leaving the situation they're used to and striking off for something less familiar.
- 2004 / 1 / 16257: What I Should’ve SaidPeople return to the scene of the crime where they should have spoken clearly, plainly, forcefully...to review what the hell went wrong, and in a few cases, to fix it. Jonathan Goldstein tries to stop time....
- 2003 / 12 / 19255: Our Holiday Gift-Giving GuideThe vexing difficulty of finding the perfect gift.
- 2003 / 12 / 12254: Teenage Embed, Part TwoIn early 2003, we brought you a special show about a California teenager, Hyder Akbar, who traveled to Afghanistan, his family's homeland, for the first time. His father had moved back to work for Afghan...
- 2003 / 12 / 5253: The Middle of NowhereStories from faraway, hard-to-get-to places, where all rules are off, nefarious things happen because no one's looking, and there's no one to appeal to.
- 2003 / 11 / 28252: Poultry SlamDuring the highest turkey consumption period of the year, we bring you a This American Life tradition: stories of turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, fowl of all kinds—real and imagined—and their mysterious hold...
- 2003 / 11 / 7250: The Annoying Gap Between Theory...and PracticeWhy is it always harder than you think it'll be? We explore several case examples of the annoying gap between theory and practice.
- 2003 / 10 / 24248: Like It or NotSome stories we make happen, others happen to us. Extremes from the latter category, where people let things happen to them and don't act, even when maybe they should. David Rakoff guest hosts.
- 2003 / 9 / 19247: What Is This Thing?What is this thing? This thing called love, that is. For answers, we explore the romance novel industry, a $1.5 billion empire run almost entirely by and for women. Plus, relearning the rules of romance from...
- 2003 / 9 / 5245: Allure of the Mean FriendWhat is it about them, our mean friends? They treat us badly, they don't call us back, they cancel plans at the last minute, and yet we come back for more. Popular bullies exist in business, politics,...
- 2003 / 7 / 25243: Later That Same DayStories about what the passage of time can do to someone. When each story starts, the world's aligned one way. Years pass—or sometimes just months—and everything's different.
- 2003 / 7 / 11241: 20 Acts in 60 MinutesInstead of the usual "each week we choose a theme, and bring you 3 or 4 stories on that theme" business, we throw all that away and bring you 20 stories—yes, 20—in 60 minutes.
- 2003 / 6 / 20240: I’m In Charge NowStories of people putting themselves in charge in very unlikely, unpromising circumstances.
- 2003 / 3 / 21235: The Balloon Goes UpStories from the beginnings of the war in Iraq, and how it compares with wars in our country's past.
- 2003 / 2 / 7231: Time to Save the WorldStories of people trying to save the world one person at a time, and stories of sudden truths delivered by complete strangers.
- 2003 / 1 / 31230: Come Back to AfghanistanIn January 2002, the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, spoke at Georgetown University. There he urged Afghan-Americans, especially young ones, to move back to Afghanistan.
- 2003 / 1 / 3228: You Are So Beautiful…To MeTwo stories about love, and what people mean when they use the word love. Or, looked at differently, two modern-day reinterpretations of the Frog Prince story. One concerns a pretty man falling in love with...
- 2002 / 8 / 2217: Give It to ThemIt's been two years since the Mideast peace process collapsed, two years in which each side has done terrible things to the other side. We wanted to understand what that has done to people living in Israel...
- 2002 / 7 / 12216: Give the People What They WantStories of people who go to great lengths to give people what they want, and how they're rewarded sometimes, misguided other times.
- 2002 / 5 / 24213: Devil on My ShoulderStories of people who are trying to convince you that the Devil is there, whispering in your ear...and stories of people who try to deny he's there, against some very heavy evidence.
- 2002 / 3 / 29209: Didn’t Ask to Be BornTwo stories that are worst case scenarios for any parent. In each story, when you take apart what happened and how it happened, it's hard to see how anyone could've prevented things from going bad.
- 2002 / 3 / 1206: Somewhere in the Arabian SeaLife aboard the USS John C. Stennis, an aircraft carrier that was stationed in the Arabian Sea and supported bombing missions over Afghanistan. Only a few dozen people on board actually fly jets. It takes the...
- 2001 / 11 / 16199: House on Loon LakeA real-life Hardy Boys mystery. More than most of our shows, this one lends itself to a Hollywood-style tagline. Perhaps: "The House at Loon Lake: You Might Break In ... But You'll Never Forget." Or, "The...
- 2001 / 11 / 2198: How to Win Friends and Influence PeopleStories of people climbing to be number one. How do they do it? What is the fundamental difference between us and them?
- 2001 / 10 / 26197: Before It Had A NameThere's the time when you know something is happening, but you're not sure exactly what. The illness before it's diagnosed. The era, before it's been given a title. And something changes when the name is...
- 2001 / 8 / 17191: I Know What You Did This SummerStories for the stultifying, torpor-inducing, hottest heat of summer.
- 2001 / 4 / 20183: The Missing Parents BureauStories about the legacy of absent parents. We hear four cases from the files of the Missing Parents Bureau.
- 2001 / 3 / 23180: Return to Childhood 2001Stories of people who try to revisit their childhoods. What they find. And what they do not find.
- 2001 / 1 / 26176: Two Nations, One PresidentIn the wake of the 2001 election debacle in Florida, the two political halves of this country seemed angrier at each other than they had in decades. This week we bring you tales of that widening rift....
- 2000 / 12 / 29174: Birthdays, Anniversaries, and MilestonesThey mean something, whether we want them to or not.
- 2000 / 12 / 15173: Three Kinds of DeceptionA story of self-deception, a story about deceiving others, and a story about accidental deception. And how one type of deception can easily turn into another.
- 2000 / 11 / 17172: 24 Hours at the Golden AppleWe document one day in a Chicago diner called the Golden Apple, starting at 5 a.m. and going until 5 a.m. the next morning. We hear from the waitress who has worked the graveyard shift for over two decades,...
- 2000 / 9 / 15168: The Fix Is InThere are all sorts of situations in which we suspect the fix is in, but we almost never find out for certain. On today's show, for once, we find out. The whole program is devoted to one story, in which we go...
- 2000 / 9 / 8167: Memo to the People of the FutureStories of people who are engaged in something that's both difficult and probably futile: Trying to control how they'll be seen by generations to come.
- 2000 / 8 / 11166: Nobody's Family Is Going to ChangeThree stories that consider the question: Does anyone's family ever change?
- 2000 / 7 / 7164: Crime SceneEvery crime scene hides a story. In this week's show, we hear about crime scenes and the stories they tell.
- 2000 / 6 / 30163: Can You Fight City Hall…If You Are City Hall?Stories of a typically American kind of hero: The person who decides to fight city hall, who stands up alone for what's right, and damn the consequences. We hear the story of two idealists who work in...
- 2000 / 4 / 14157: Secret Life of DaytimeAll those people you see in the middle of the workday, in coffee shops and bookstores? Who are they? Why aren't they at work?
- 2000 / 3 / 10154: In Dog We Trust (2000)Stories of dogs and cats and other animals that live in our homes. Exactly how much are they caught up in everyday family dynamics? We answer this question and others.
- 1999 / 12 / 24148: The Angels Wanna Wear My Red SuitA special Christmas edition of our show, with stories about Santa Claus—me It was in America, in New York, that people started believing in the modern idea of Santa—a guy who comes down the chimney with a...
- 1999 / 12 / 17147: A Teenager's Guide to GodIt's an odd fact of religious life in America that in this country founded by Christians, in which a majority of people say they believe in God and identify themselves as Christians, that so many religious...
- 1999 / 9 / 3139: Ghosts of Elections PastStories of political idealists, stories designed to provide some small sense of hope about American politics. Most of these were first broadcast during the 1996 Presidential race.
- 1999 / 8 / 20137: The Book That Changed Your LifeStories of people who believe a book changed their life. It's a romantic notion, and one reason we believe it is because we want to believe our lives can be changed by something so simple as an idea — or a...
- 1999 / 6 / 4131: The Kids Are AlrightStories in which young people take matters into their own hands: Students who become political activists, students who pull pranks, violent students. Broadcast for the tenth anniversary of the crackdown at...
- 1999 / 2 / 26123: High Cost of LivingStories of people who choose not to live every moment to the fullest or smell the roses, and instead choose to withdraw from life, to make themselves numb.
- 1999 / 1 / 22120: Be Careful Who You Pretend to BeThree stories of people pretending to be something they're not, and what happens to them.
- 1998 / 12 / 18118: What You Lookin’ At?Stories about seeing and being seen. Taped before a live audience in Town Hall in New York City in December 1998, this was a co-production with WNYC New York, featuring live music by the pop band They Might...
- 1998 / 12 / 11117: You Gonna Eat That?The family table is stage on which many family dramas are played out. We hear three stories, of three families, at three meals.
- 1998 / 9 / 11111: Adventures in the Simple LifeI thought this was supposed to be easy. Tales from the simple life.
- 1998 / 8 / 7108: Truth and Lies at Age TenTwo stories of children lying to themselves and others. A woman who'd been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis talks about the lies she told herself as a child. And Dan Gediman tells the story of how he was cast...
- 1998 / 7 / 3107: Trail of Tears (1998)Writer Sarah Vowell and her twin sister re-trace the "Trail of Tears" — the route their Cherokee ancestors took when expelled from their own land by President Andrew Jackson. On the way, Sarah and her sister...
- 1998 / 6 / 12105: Take A Negro HomeTwo stories of people who try to cross the color line — and why it's still so hard. We hear the story of a failed interracial marriage and the story of a teenager from a poor inner city neighborhood (Cedric...
- 1998 / 5 / 29103: Scenes from A TransplantAn NPR reporter leaves her three-year-old son and heads to Omaha—for cancer treatment—a last chance to save her life. After years of covering stories about medicine, Rebecca Perl enters the hospital as a...
- 1998 / 4 / 1099: I Enjoy Being A Girl, Sort OfVariations on what it means to be a girl and what it means to be a woman.
- 1998 / 3 / 2798: Throwing the First PunchStories about what it means to be a person who throws the first punch, and how hard it is to give up.
- 1998 / 2 / 692: Leave the Mask OnStories about those moments when someone tries to tell you a little bit more about themselves than you'd really rather know.
- 1997 / 12 / 1987: A Very Special Sedaris ChristmasStories from David Sedaris's book of Christmas stories, Holidays on Ice, read onstage by David, Julia Sweeney and actor Matt Malloy.
- 1997 / 12 / 1286: How to Take Money from StrangersTwo stories of how to get money from strangers. In both stories, the money is made by people who make the strangers feel good about themselves and about their nation.
- 1997 / 10 / 1079: Stuck in the Wrong DecadePeople stuck in the wrong decade, or simply carrying a lot of the props from another decade.
- 1997 / 10 / 378: How Bad Is Bad?How bad is bad enough to count? To go to hell?
- 1997 / 8 / 2273: Blame It on ArtThe darker side of the art world: petty jealousies, competitiveness, failure. And also what's so great about art.
- 1997 / 6 / 2767: Your Dream, My NightmareCould it be more obvious? Stories in which someone's dream is someone else's nightmare. All of us get into these situations with strangers, with the people we love most, with our own parents, with our children.
- 1997 / 6 / 666: Tales from the NetAre people having experiences on the Internet they wouldn't have anywhere else? Several weeks ago, This American Life invited listeners to help answer that question.
- 1997 / 2 / 2855: Three Women and the Sex IndustryA few months ago, radio producer Sandy Tolan was supposed to do a documentary about strippers with an aspiring writer — and stripper — named Susan. A few days before they were to begin working together, Susan...
- 1997 / 1 / 2451: Animals Die, People PonderStories of people who handle dead animals. Don't worry — it's not as gross as it sounds. In fact, not disgusting at all. A story by George Saunders about an animal control man who falls in unrequited love. A...
- 1996 / 9 / 2737: The Job That Takes Over Your LifeRadio producer Scott Carrier quit his job at a low moment in his life. His wife left him and took the kids. And he got a job interviewing schizophrenics for some medical researchers. After doing it a while,...
- 1996 / 8 / 2333: A Night at the Wiener CircleHost Ira Glass spent a Saturday night — from 9:00 p.m. until dawn the next morning — at one of the most frenetic, joyous, efficient, angry, boisterous hot dog stands in the nation: Chicago's own Wiener Circle.
- 1996 / 8 / 931: When You Talk About MusicStories of people whose lives are transformed by music.
- 1996 / 6 / 2127: The Cruelty of ChildrenStories about kids being mean to each other, including a mysterious handbook for bullies, a surprising experiment conducted by a teacher who wants to make kids be nice, and a story of youthful backstabbing...
- 1996 / 3 / 2117: Name Change / No ThemeOur first show as This American Life.