https://www.thisamericanlife.orgSat, 04 Jul 2026 10:04:46 EDTSat, 04 Jul 2026 10:04:46 EDThttps://files.thisamericanlife.org/sites/all/themes/thislife/img/tal-name-1400x1400.pnghttps://www.thisamericanlife.org729There's always someone whose job it is to decide if you measure up.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/729/making-the-cut2021-01-04T11:02:40-05:00728Stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/728/lights-camera-christmas2020-12-21T11:15:46-05:00727What the day-to-day business of saving the world looks like.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/727/boulder-v-hill2020-12-11T19:29:59-05:00726To commemorate our show’s 25th year, we have a program about people who were born the year our show went on the air.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/726/twenty-five2020-12-04T15:41:48-05:00725Stories about food and people who set out on very particular missions with food.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/725/turkey-in-a-face-mask2020-11-20T16:22:13-05:00724Stories of people changing their minds.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/724/personal-recount2020-11-11T16:18:09-05:00723People grappling with an endless presidential election.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/723/squeaker2020-10-30T17:41:10-04:00722Ahead of the election, we have stories about people trying to live in the unreality that defines this moment.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/722/the-unreality-of-now2020-10-23T20:06:17-04:00721People who find themselves stuck in small spaces, trying to make sense of their new surroundings.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/721/the-walls-close-in2020-10-16T11:03:23-04:00720People who are worried — or not worried enough! — about what's hurtling unstoppably towards them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/720/the-moment-after-this-moment2020-10-16T11:02:57-04:00719The not-often-talked-about realm of licensing boards, and the disturbing decisions they sometimes make.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/719/trust-me-im-a-doctor2020-09-25T14:43:17-04:00718Stories of people who are tied together, but imagine radically different futures.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/718/same-bed-different-dreams2020-09-25T11:22:43-04:00717At a time when going to the movies is mostly out of the question, we bring the movies to you.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/717/audience-of-one2020-09-04T11:03:41-04:00716Writer Sarah Vowell and her twin sister retrace the Trail of Tears, the route their Cherokee ancestors took when expelled from their own land.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/716/trail-of-tears2020-09-02T11:48:30-04:00715Teachers, students and parents have been bracing themselves for the start of this unprecedented school year. Now it's here.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/715/long-awaited-asteroid-finally-hits-earth2020-08-21T10:40:43-04:00714It’s the last few weeks of summer, so we’re going to the beach! This week, stories from the surf and sand.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/714/day-at-the-beach2020-08-10T12:40:41-04:00713In a pitched moment of rule-questioning, a show about rules and the people who break them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/713/made-to-be-broken2020-07-31T11:38:46-04:00712Producer Chana Joffe-Walt investigates the inordinate power of white parents at one ordinary public school.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/712/nice-white-parents2020-07-23T13:43:23-04:00711In space, in the ocean, by ourselves, or with others—we’re all just figuring out how to be apart.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/711/how-to-be-alone2020-07-10T20:41:53-04:00710As 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/710/umbrellas-down2020-07-10T15:58:35-04:00709How Covid-19 has changed the nurses and doctors at one hospital in Detroit, and their city.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/709/the-reprieve2020-06-19T13:46:35-04:00708We hear what different people said and did one weekend in reaction to the killing of George Floyd.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/708/here-again2020-06-11T09:21:50-04:00707In this moment of sorrow, protest, and rage, we offer this as a break from the dreadful present: our show about Afrofuturism.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/707/we-are-in-the-future2020-06-05T14:37:42-04:00706Lissa Yellow Bird searches for missing people. She's great at it. But then, her niece goes missing.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/706/a-mess-to-be-reckoned-with2020-05-22T13:34:37-04:00705Our favorite stories from the football fields, boxing rings, and basketball courts of days past.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/705/time-out2020-05-15T21:40:43-04:00704What the Trump administration’s "Remain in Mexico" policy really means, on the ground, at the Mexican border.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/704/our-pulitzer-winning-episode2020-05-13T09:59:57-04:00703During a time when a lot of us feel like we are living in a holding pattern, stories of people feeling stuck.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/703/stuck2020-05-01T14:24:30-04:00702Ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/702/one-last-thing-before-i-go2020-04-24T12:03:49-04:00701Desperate to know what happened to his family, a man obsessively decodes the only information about them he can get.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/701/black-box2020-04-10T15:54:35-04:00700Sometimes a sketch of a thing needs filling in for its true significance to be known.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/700/embiggening2020-04-03T22:37:24-04:00699Stories of when things go wrong. Really wrong.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/699/fiasco2020-04-03T09:15:58-04:00698Stories of people trying to rise to the challenge presented by coronavirus, in some pretty extreme situations.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/698/the-test2020-03-20T17:26:05-04:00697In this moment when everyone’s reaching out to the people they love, we put together a collection of family stories.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/697/alone-together2020-03-19T11:44:36-04:00696Things do not seem fine at all, but it’s hard to say why.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/696/low-hum-of-menace2020-03-06T15:12:49-05:00695People squirming in a world where everything is rated and reviewed.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/695/everyones-a-critic2020-02-21T16:41:44-05:00694People looking everywhere to find a place—any place—where, for once, they don't have to be the odd man out.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/694/get-back-to-where-you-once-belonged2020-02-07T17:35:26-05:00693We return to our story about Abdi Nor from 2015, with some news about his life today.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/693/abdi-the-american2020-02-01T08:23:44-05:00692In these dark times, we attempt some radical counterprogramming: a show made up entirely of stories about delight.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/692/the-show-of-delights2020-01-24T19:51:08-05:00691Stories of other universes that are just like our own, but with one small difference.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/691/gardens-of-branching-paths2020-01-03T12:48:47-05:00690For the holidays, stories of families finally addressing the thorny thing they’ve never really talked about.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/690/too-close-to-home2019-12-20T12:56:17-05:00689There's a lot that can be gained from unearthing the past. But it doesn't always go how you'd expect.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/689/digging-up-the-bones2019-11-29T18:57:54-05:00688Reports 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/688/the-out-crowd2019-11-08T18:54:57-05:00687Tiny letters, a very small number, and a medication that's supposed to cure shortness.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/687/small-things-considered2019-11-01T16:34:19-04:00686For over 100 days now, protestors in Hong Kong have taken to the streets every weekend. What it’s like to live through that.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/686/umbrellas-up2019-10-11T19:10:54-04:00685We go to one of the biggest parties in NYC, the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/685/we-come-from-small-places2019-10-04T17:41:58-04:00684Stories of people who decide the only way forward — for real change — is to burn everything to the ground.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/684/burn-it-down2019-09-20T17:27:47-04:00683Two people, sitting down over a beer, hashing out their differences. Hard to imagine these days, right?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/683/beer-summit2019-09-06T16:41:50-04:00682A therapy that helps people work through unhealed trauma in just ten sessions.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/682/ten-sessions2019-08-16T17:58:19-04:00681What happens when our most ingenious creations actually make it out into the world.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/681/escape-from-the-lab2019-08-09T17:50:09-04:00680Words mean things, but some words are especially meaningful — whether in a survival manual, a song lyric, or a slur.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/680/the-weight-of-words2019-07-19T21:55:18-04:00679People go on missions to save girls from danger. But they get so caught up that it overshadows the girl herself.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/679/save-the-girl2019-07-05T16:30:51-04:00678We hang out with the presidential candidates, in this weird early period of the election.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/678/the-wannabes2019-06-28T19:49:51-04:00677Stories of those unexpected moments when we see who we really are.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/677/seeing-yourself-in-the-wild2019-06-07T16:46:34-04:00676Adults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/676/heres-looking-at-you-kid2019-05-24T10:35:51-04:00675What it's like to be momentarily big on the small screen.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/675/im-on-tv2019-05-10T15:40:02-04:00674Stories of people shaking off their fear and doing what they’ve been scared to do.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/674/get-a-spine2019-04-26T14:52:51-04:00673People figuring out how to move through a world in which something important has disappeared.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/673/left-behind2019-04-12T15:51:41-04:00672Stories of very small injustices and also one very big one.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/672/no-fair2019-03-29T16:33:35-04:00671People connecting the dots that maybe should not be connected.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/671/anything-can-be-anything2019-03-22T19:19:21-04:00670Stories from the upside-down world where conspiracy theorists dwell.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/670/beware-the-jabberwock2019-03-08T12:33:59-05:00669The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee try out their new powers for the first time.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/669/scrambling-to-get-off-the-ice2019-02-22T18:44:46-05:00668People tossing words out into the world impulsively, to ignite and burn over decades.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/668/the-long-fuse2019-02-08T18:40:45-05:00667Intimate and personal dispatches from two very different battlefields.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/667/wartime-radio2019-01-25T16:53:55-05:00666Satan! In his many surprising manifestations, all around us.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/666/the-theme-that-shall-not-be-named2019-01-11T17:21:52-05:00665Revisiting those moments of calm before the storm.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/665/before-things-went-to-hell2018-12-28T10:54:51-05:00664Stories of people who roam the stacks and find unexpected things that just happen to be exactly what they required.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/664/the-room-of-requirement2018-12-13T15:57:45-05:00663Documents you don't normally think of, showing you things you didn't expect.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/663/how-i-read-it2018-11-30T19:33:00-05:00662Stories of people who believe there is always a way. And also those who don’t.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/662/where-there-is-a-will2018-11-08T14:31:45-05:00661Stories of women in unsettling situations, who are told that there’s nothing unsettling at all.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/661/but-thats-what-happened2018-10-26T19:01:47-04:00660Stories of people who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else does.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/660/hoaxing-yourself-20182018-11-01T07:18:09-04:00659People taking what they’ve learned from school shootings and try to use that knowledge to save others.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/659/before-the-next-one2018-09-28T18:45:12-04:00658Zoe Chace followed Senator Jeff Flake as he decided to force the Senate to delay its vote on Judge Kavanaugh.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/658/the-unhappy-deciders2018-10-01T16:36:57-04:00657A bunch of teenagers go missing from a town in Long Island.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/657/the-runaways2018-09-14T21:35:07-04:00656The quiet bureaucratic war that’s even targeting legal immigrants.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/656/let-me-count-the-ways2018-09-07T20:03:51-04:00655What happens when an astronaut who's not really into outer space goes to the moon.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/655/the-not-so-great-unknown2018-08-17T15:00:32-04:00654A flute player steals a million dollars worth of dead birds.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/654/the-feather-heist2018-08-03T11:33:01-04:00653Every crime scene hides a story.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/653/crime-scene-20182018-07-31T16:33:05-04:00652Dispatches from a government agency in its tumultuous teenage years.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/652/ice-capades2018-07-17T14:12:01-04:00651A young preacher opens a new church.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/651/if-you-build-it-will-they-come2018-07-06T13:37:02-04:00650Radical change comes to an Argentinian talk show.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/650/change-you-can-maybe-believe-in2018-06-22T10:20:03-04:00649Before Democrats slug it out with Republicans, they’re slugging out with each other.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/649/its-my-party-and-ill-try-if-i-want-to2018-06-08T13:43:11-04:00648People trying to learn something when no one is clear what the lesson is supposed to be.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/648/unteachable-moment2018-06-01T19:38:56-04:00647A security guard at the airport notices something going wrong on the tarmac, and takes it upon herself to fix it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/647/ladonna2018-05-18T11:56:25-04:00646The clues people find when trying to make sense of a death.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/646/the-secret-of-my-death2018-05-09T16:10:58-04:00645Conservative students don't feel like their ideas are welcome on campus. So they're fighting back.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/645/my-effing-first-amendment2018-04-27T14:32:01-04:00644Stories about people who accidentally bump into unsettling facts of history.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/644/random-acts-of-history2018-04-20T20:24:24-04:00643People having to make a choice, when no good options exist.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/643/damned-if-you-do2018-04-06T14:56:36-04:00642Before he leaves the Senate for good, Republican Jeff Flake is trying to get a bill passed.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/642/the-impossible-dream2018-03-23T19:37:37-04:00641Stories from border walls all over the world, and of the strange ecosystems that arise around them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/641/the-walls2018-03-08T13:01:59-05:00640A different kind of #MeToo story, about several women who worked for the same man.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/640/five-women2018-02-23T19:19:34-05:00639Exactly how much are the animals that live in our home caught up in everyday family dynamics?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/639/in-dog-we-trust-20182018-02-22T10:58:16-05:00638Stories about surviving the mishaps of love.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/638/rom-com2018-02-02T14:42:10-05:00637People who say the “wrong” thing and suffer the consequences.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/637/words-you-cant-say2018-01-26T15:47:19-05:00636A year into Trump’s presidency, stories of politicians—of both parties—unable to accomplish tasks that seem pretty straightforward.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/636/i-thought-it-would-be-easier2018-01-12T14:23:53-05:00635A boy who can’t dribble gets a coach, a new best friend, and something to believe in.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/635/chip-in-my-brain2018-01-05T18:19:45-05:00634People bungle simple operations on some of the most dangerous weapons in the world.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/634/human-error-in-volatile-situations2017-12-22T16:15:08-05:00633When an Alabama town went from 98% white to one-fourth Latino, what did it mean for taxpayers, schools, traffic, crime?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/633/our-town-part-two2017-12-15T00:00:00-05:00632What really happened when undocumented workers showed up in one Alabama town?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/632/our-town-part-one2017-12-08T00:00:00-05:00631Blurring the line between animal and human.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/631/so-a-monkey-and-a-horse-walk-into-a-bar2017-11-10T00:00:00-05:00630Stories of people trying to unspool some of life’s certainties.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/630/things-i-mean-to-know2017-10-27T00:00:00-04:00629Stories about delays, including a town in Ohio known almost entirely for its speed trap.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/629/expect-delays2017-10-20T00:00:00-04:00628Stories that take place on the edge of civilization, just out of sight.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/628/in-the-shadow-of-the-city-20172017-10-13T00:00:00-04:00627Neil Drumming looks back at a toy he loved that, in retrospect, probably wouldn’t love him back.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/627/suitable-for-children2017-10-06T00:00:00-04:00626What should we make of right-wing groups like the Proud Boys, who believe “the West is the best”?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/626/white-haze2017-09-22T00:00:00-04:00625In 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/625/essay-b2017-09-08T00:00:00-04:00624What Betsy DeVos's experience in a public school in her hometown can tell us about her vision for education in this country.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/624/private-geography2017-09-01T00:00:00-04:00623Afrofuturism is a way of looking at black culture that’s fantastic, creative, and oddly hopeful.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/623/we-are-in-the-future-20172017-08-18T00:00:00-04:00622Stories of lucky people who have found the exact right person to ring up for help.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/622/who-you-gonna-call2017-08-04T00:00:00-04:00621Two towns grapple with the question—who do we let in?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/621/fear-and-loathing-in-homer-and-rockville2017-07-21T00:00:00-04:00620People try to go deeper—to get to something real—in some unexpected places: war, magic, and porn.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/620/to-be-real2017-07-14T00:00:00-04:00619Former kid magicians Ira Glass and David Kestenbaum dive back into the world of magic.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/619/the-magic-show2017-06-30T00:00:00-04:00618A polygraph operator and his strange journey.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/618/mr-lie-detector2017-06-09T00:00:00-04:00617Three people grapple with the question, “Are we alone?”https://www.thisamericanlife.org/617/fermis-paradox2017-05-19T00:00:00-04:00616Stories about both historical and modern-day swashbucklers who loot, pillage, and question their choices.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/616/i-am-not-a-pirate2017-05-05T00:00:00-04:00615Before Trump started his presidential campaign, there was a congressional race that redefined what was possible in American politics.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/615/the-beginning-of-now2017-04-28T00:00:00-04:00614What it's actually like to live in the confusing information landscape that is Putin's Russia.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/614/the-other-mr-president2017-04-14T00:00:00-04:00613A surgeon takes out his own appendix in what might be one of the most daring surgeries ever performed.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/613/ok-ill-do-it2017-03-31T00:00:00-04:00612Teenage girls ask for advice about their love lives, and Ira's tribute to his very grown-up friend Mary.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/612/ask-a-grown-up2017-03-17T00:00:00-04:00611A show about rules and what happens when they’re vague and randomly enforced.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/611/vague-and-confused2017-03-03T00:00:00-05:00610People going to very extreme measures to demonstrate their feelings.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/610/grand-gesture2017-02-17T00:00:00-05:00609We document what happened when the President’s executive order went into effect temporarily banning travel from seven countries.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/609/its-working-out-very-nicely2017-02-03T00:00:00-05:00608Some people are super-stoked for the political changes that are coming.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/608/the-revolution-starts-at-noon2017-01-20T00:00:00-05:00607Why 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?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/607/didnt-we-solve-this-one2017-01-06T00:00:00-05:00606Stories from people who want something desperately and then have their wishes fulfilled. Or do they?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/606/just-what-i-wanted2016-12-23T00:00:00-05:00605Stories of kids using perfectly logical arguments, and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/605/kid-logic-20162016-12-16T00:00:00-05:00604Samantha Broun interviews her mom about surviving a brutal attack 20 years ago that ended up changing Pennsylvania law regarding life sentences.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/604/20-years-later2016-12-09T00:00:00-05:00603Stories of people who decide to rethink the way they’ve been doing things.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/603/once-more-with-feeling2016-12-02T00:00:00-05:00602People around the country talking about the coming four years after Trump's election.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/602/the-sun-comes-up2016-11-11T00:00:00-05:00601A story about Hillary Clinton that offers a different picture than what we’ve been hearing from both sides during the campaign.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/601/master-of-her-domain-name2016-11-04T00:00:00-04:00600Right now a lot of Republicans feel like they don’t recognize their own party.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/600/will-i-know-anyone-at-this-party2016-10-28T00:00:00-04:00599Watching lies become the truth in the 2016 election.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/599/seriously2016-10-21T00:00:00-04:00598San Francisco’s Spider-Man dropped into buildings from skylights and leapt 10 feet from one roof to another. But mostly, his talent got him into trouble.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/598/my-undesirable-talent2016-10-07T00:00:00-04:00597Ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/597/one-last-thing-before-i-go-20162016-09-23T00:00:00-04:00596Stories about people trying their best to turn themselves into something else—like a badger.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/596/becoming-a-badger2016-09-09T00:00:00-04:00595What do you do when you're thrown into a situation you’re not prepared for?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/595/deep-end-of-the-pool2016-08-26T00:00:00-04:00594Summer is a time when change seems more possible than ever. But is that really how it happens?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/594/my-summer-self2016-08-12T00:00:00-04:00593Stories of refugees in Greece trying to move on with their lives in whatever way they can.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/593/dont-have-to-live-like-a-refugee2016-08-05T00:00:00-04:0059257,000 refugees are stuck in Greece, making homes in some surprising locations.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/592/are-we-there-yet2016-07-29T00:00:00-04:00591A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/591/get-your-moneys-worth2016-07-15T00:00:00-04:00590Stories of people making the wrong choice, even though the right one is staring them squarely in the eye.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/590/choosing-wrong2016-06-24T00:00:00-04:00589Maybe it’s time to rethink the way we see being fat.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/589/tell-me-im-fat2016-06-17T00:00:00-04:00588The group Improv Everywhere tries to give an unknown band the best day of their lives. But the band doesn't see it that way.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/588/mind-games-20162016-06-03T00:00:00-04:00587Stories about mysteries that exist in relationships we thought couldn't possibly surprise us.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/587/the-perils-of-intimacy2016-05-27T00:00:00-04:00586When Mariya Karimjee was little, her family made a decision that would affect her entire life. Years later, she wants to know why.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/586/who-do-we-think-we-are2016-05-06T00:00:00-04:00585Three very different stories of people not admitting the truth.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/585/in-defense-of-ignorance2016-04-22T00:00:00-04:00584The older and wiser we get, the more bewildering our past decisions can seem.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/584/for-your-reconsideration2016-04-08T00:00:00-04:00583Kids do not like being told it’ll make sense when they’re older. They’re pretty sure the grown-ups are wrong.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/583/itll-make-sense-when-youre-older2016-03-25T00:00:00-04:00582Stories where animals drop in and show us who's the boss.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/582/when-the-beasts-come-marching-in2016-03-11T00:00:00-05:00581The story of a rape investigation gone undeniably wrong.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/581/anatomy-of-doubt2016-02-26T00:00:00-05:00580The story of a young voter who defies political categorization.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/580/thats-one-way-to-do-it2016-02-19T00:00:00-05:00579A hospital staffer finds a patient on the floor of his room. He is unarmed, and has been shot by the cops in the hospital.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/579/my-damn-mind2016-02-12T00:00:00-05:00578A conservative radio host is completely baffled by the candidate his audience has decided to get behind this election season.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/578/i-thought-i-knew-you2016-01-29T00:00:00-05:00577A woman with muscular dystrophy tries to convince doctors that she has the same gene mutation as an Olympic athlete.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/577/something-only-i-can-see2016-01-15T00:00:00-05:00576We go all in and bring the joy, the spontaneity, the sense that anything can happen back to Christmas.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/576/say-yes-to-christmas2015-12-25T00:00:00-05:00575Propaganda is complexity in the form of simplicity, if you know how to read it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/575/poetry-of-propaganda2015-12-18T00:00:00-05:00574Stories, tributes, and attempts to understand the Chairman of the Board.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/574/sinatras-100th-birthday2015-12-11T00:00:00-05:00573Three 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/573/status-update2015-11-27T00:00:00-05:00572A prisoner who hasn't talked to anyone in years comes up with a bold plan to re-introduce himself to the world.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/572/transformers2015-11-06T00:00:00-05:00571Emily Dickinson said “The heart wants what it wants.” This week, stories from people who take that notion to extremes and are unapologetic about it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/571/the-heart-wants-what-it-wants2015-10-30T00:00:00-04:00570Conspiracy theories about the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin continue to shape Israel's politics and future.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/570/the-night-in-question2015-10-16T00:00:00-04:00569Meet the people who pitch ideas for new foods and then decide which ones they're actually going to make.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/569/put-a-bow-on-it2015-10-09T00:00:00-04:00568A Japanese reality show contestant has to enter sweepstakes from magazines to win enough sustenance to survive.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/568/human-spectacle-20152015-10-02T00:00:00-04:00567A teenage girl records a remarkable story about the boyfriend who abuses her, and why it’s so hard to break up with him.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/567/whats-going-on-in-there2015-09-18T00:00:00-04:00566A father constructs an elaborate fantasy to occupy his 12 children.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/566/the-land-of-make-believe2015-09-11T00:00:00-04:00565We go to the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans to talk to residents about what matters most to them ten years after the hurricane.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/565/lower-9-102015-08-28T00:00:00-04:00564Stories about a fallen man trying to kickstart his career with a reality show, and an awkward moment between a mom and a daughter.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/564/too-soon2015-08-14T00:00:00-04:00563A city goes all out to integrate its schools.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/563/the-problem-we-all-live-with-part-two2015-08-07T00:00:00-04:00562There’s one thing that has been proven to cut the achievement gap between black and white students by half: integration.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with-part-one2015-07-31T00:00:00-04:00561A car plant in Fremont California that might have saved the U.S. car industry.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/561/nummi-20152015-07-17T00:00:00-04:00560A story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/560/abdi-and-the-golden-ticket2015-07-03T00:00:00-04:00559The story of a concentration camp in China that housed groups of Girl Scouts.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/559/captains-log2015-06-26T00:00:00-04:00558Stories of people facing very difficult situations who put their game face on and muscle through.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/558/game-face2015-05-29T00:00:00-04:00557Stories about the vague and not-so-vague ways we teach children about race, death, and sex.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/557/birds-bees2015-05-15T00:00:00-04:00556A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/556/same-bed-different-dreams-20152015-05-01T00:00:00-04:00555Stories of those very infrequent instances where people’s opinions flip on fundamental things that they believe.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/555/the-incredible-rarity-of-changing-your-mind2015-04-24T00:00:00-04:00554A mysterious world of heroin addiction treatment centers where no one seems to be taking responsibility for the people they're treating.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/554/not-it2015-04-10T00:00:00-04:00553Stories about how it sucks to be in limbo, and a man who absolutely loves listening to hold music.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/553/stuck-in-the-middle-20152015-04-03T00:00:00-04:00552The story of a guy who learned to lie for the first time in his life at age 29.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/552/need-to-know-basis2015-03-27T00:00:00-04:00551Stories of valiant men attempting to do good: in department stores, public buses, and at the bottom of a cave.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/551/good-guys-20152015-03-20T00:00:00-04:00550What happens when of a group of public school students in the Bronx goes to visit an elite private school three miles away.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/550/three-miles2015-03-13T00:00:00-04:00549A tough group of soldiers attempts to save lives through the power of show tunes.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/549/amateur-hour2015-02-27T00:00:00-05:00548We look at one city where relations between police and black residents are terrible, and another city where they seem to be improving remarkably.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/548/cops-see-it-differently-part-two2015-02-13T00:00:00-05:00547There's a division between people who distrust the police and people who see cops as a force for good.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/547/cops-see-it-differently-part-one2015-02-06T00:00:00-05:00546Ira Glass was never into William Burroughs. Then he heard this radio story that changed that.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/546/burroughs-1012015-01-30T00:00:00-05:00545What happens when the internet turns on you?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/545/if-you-dont-have-anything-nice-to-say-say-it-in-all-caps2015-01-23T00:00:00-05:00544Can people’s expectations change whether a blind man can see?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/544/batman2015-01-09T00:00:00-05:00543The story of a company—or maybe it's a movement?—that has hundreds of people posting enthusiastic videos about it online.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/543/wake-up-now2014-12-26T00:00:00-05:00542Two brothers take a doomed road trip through Mexico. Plus other stories of feeling lost and trying to figure out how to move ahead.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/542/wait-do-you-have-the-map2014-12-12T00:00:00-05:00541People struggling with regrets—big and small—that take root and have to be dealt with.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/541/regrets-ive-had-a-few2014-12-05T00:00:00-05:00540If a Border Patrol agent is not actually at the border, do you have to obey him?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/540/a-front2014-11-21T00:00:00-05:00539When routines get too mundane, sometimes you just have to hold your breath and jump.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/539/the-leap2014-11-07T00:00:00-05:00538There's no agreement about how teachers should discipline students. And there's evidence that some of the most popular punishments may harm kids.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/538/is-this-working2014-10-17T00:00:00-04:00537The pilot episode of Serial, hosted by Sarah Koenig.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/537/the-alibi2014-10-03T00:00:00-04:00536An unprecedented look inside one of the most powerful, secretive institutions in the country.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/536/the-secret-recordings-of-carmen-segarra2014-09-26T00:00:00-04:00535Little-known and surprising stories of how all sorts of institutions began.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/535/origin-story-20142014-09-19T00:00:00-04:00534School board disputes are pretty common, but not like this one.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/534/a-not-so-simple-majority2014-09-12T00:00:00-04:00533Alex Blumberg tells the incredible, sweat-stains-and-all saga of a man fumbling through starting a new business. And the man is: himself.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/533/its-not-the-product-its-the-person2014-09-05T00:00:00-04:00532Stories where people recite words that have the power to change their lives.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/532/magic-words2014-08-15T00:00:00-04:00531Stories where one person's powerlessness is transformed when they discover they have backup. And what happens when that backup goes away.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/531/got-your-back2014-07-25T00:00:00-04:00530A cellphone hidden in a bag of chips starts a messy turf war between the FBI and a local sheriff.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/530/mind-your-own-business2014-07-18T00:00:00-04:00529A Japanese reality show contestant has to enter sweepstakes from magazines to win enough sustenance to survive.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/529/human-spectacle2014-06-27T00:00:00-04:00528At our most ambitious live show to date, we turn journalism into a Broadway musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/528/the-radio-drama-episode2014-06-20T00:00:00-04:00527Stories of people who go one way, and then, for what ever reason, turn around and go the exact opposite direction.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/527/180-degrees2014-06-13T00:00:00-04:00526A woman wakes up from a coma having forgotten that she'd divorced her husband. And Molly Ringwald watches The Breakfast Club with her daughter.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/526/is-that-what-i-look-like2014-05-23T00:00:00-04:00525Stories of people coming to terms with being in serious trouble.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/525/call-for-help2014-05-09T00:00:00-04:00524Alex Blumberg talks to his dad about the daily pot habit he had while Alex was growing up.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/524/i-was-so-high2014-05-02T00:00:00-04:00523We ask the people who work at a hospice facility some personal questions about death and dying.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/523/death-and-taxes2014-04-25T00:00:00-04:00522A pedophile who has never acted on his impulses starts an online support group to help himself and others like him.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/522/tarred-and-feathered2014-04-11T00:00:00-04:00521They're small. And they're cuddly. But sometimes it feels as though our babies were replaced with demon replicas.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/521/bad-baby2014-03-28T00:00:00-04:00520Stories of people who are coming to terms with the places they call home.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/520/no-place-like-home2014-03-14T00:00:00-04:00519Last May, the FBI killed a guy in Florida who was loosely linked to the Boston Marathon bombings.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/519/dead-men-tell-no-tales2014-03-07T00:00:00-05:00518A clerical error allowed a convicted man to walk free for 13 years. Then the justice system realized its mistake.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/518/except-for-that-one-thing2014-02-14T00:00:00-05:00517David 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/517/day-at-the-beach-20142014-01-31T00:00:00-05:00516Stories about how it sucks to be in limbo, and a man who absolutely loves listening to hold music.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/516/stuck-in-the-middle2014-01-17T00:00:00-05:00515Stories 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/515/good-guys2014-01-10T00:00:00-05:00514It's the thought that counts. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not always so clear what that thought was.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/514/thought-that-counts2013-12-20T00:00:00-05:00513One car dealership tries to make its monthly quota: 129 cars. It is way more chaotic than we expected.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/513/129-cars2013-12-13T00:00:00-05:00512The history of racial housing discrimination in the United States and what has been done—and hasn't been done—to rectify it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/512/house-rules2013-11-22T00:00:00-05:00511Sarah Koenig's mother lives by a set of rules about conversation. We tried to prove her wrong.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/511/the-seven-things-youre-not-supposed-to-talk-about2013-11-08T00:00:00-05:00510The story of a police officer and a squirrel. Plus, a small town production of Peter Pan goes off the rails.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/510/fiasco-20132013-11-01T00:00:00-04:00509Stories of people whose lives are altered when seemingly boring documents like birth certificates and petitions are used against them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/509/it-says-so-right-here2013-10-25T00:00:00-04:00508Which is better: flight or invisibility?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/508/superpowers-20132013-10-18T00:00:00-04:00507What should a person suspected of murder say?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/507/confessions2013-10-11T00:00:00-04:00506A teenage girl becomes a whole new person when she becomes the school mascot — a tiger — at her high school.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/506/secret-identity2013-10-04T00:00:00-04:00505More than 150 Americans die each year on average after accidentally taking too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/505/use-only-as-directed2013-09-20T00:00:00-04:00504How 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/504/how-i-got-into-college2013-09-06T00:00:00-04:00503Planet Money looks at a charity that's decided to just give people money.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/503/i-was-just-trying-to-help2013-08-16T00:00:00-04:00502A journalist gets a disturbing tip: a phone number to a group of refugees being held hostage in the Sinai desert.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/502/this-call-may-be-recorded-to-save-your-life2013-08-09T00:00:00-04:00501An American woman suddenly trades her life for one in a place most people might think twice about: Juarez, Mexico.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/501/the-view-from-in-here2013-07-26T00:00:00-04:00500Ira asks the producers to talk about their very favorite moments on the show.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/500/5002013-07-12T00:00:00-04:00499The story of a guy named Kirk Johnson, who started a list of Iraqis who needed to get out of their country.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/499/taking-names2013-06-28T00:00:00-04:00498People who know something's a bad idea, but convince themselves to do that thing anyway.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/498/the-one-thing-youre-not-supposed-to-do2013-06-21T00:00:00-04:00497All of the stories in the show are things that have taken place in the last seven days.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/497/this-week2013-06-14T00:00:00-04:00496Why people say our patent system may be discouraging, not encouraging, innovation.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/496/when-patents-attack-part-two2013-05-31T00:00:00-04:00495Why has the conversation on climate change been stuck in the same place for years?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/495/hot-in-my-backyard2013-05-17T00:00:00-04:00494A man decides to take a trip from Philadelphia to San Francisco—by foot.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/494/hit-the-road2013-05-03T00:00:00-04:00493Israeli soldiers take snapshots of Palestinian boys, one house at a time, in the middle of the night.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/493/picture-show2013-04-19T00:00:00-04:00492Did a beloved family doctor with no criminal history suddenly up and strangle his own father?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/492/dr-gilmer-and-mr-hyde2013-04-12T00:00:00-04:00491A white guy who only wants to date Asian women has to adjust to the reality of a real actual Asian woman in his life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/491/tribes2013-03-29T00:00:00-04:00490The startling rise of the number of people on disability in America.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/490/trends-with-benefits2013-03-22T00:00:00-04:00489We asked listeners to send us their best coincidence stories, and we got more than 1,300 submissions!https://www.thisamericanlife.org/489/no-coincidence-no-story2013-03-01T00:00:00-05:00488Part two of our program on Harper High School in Chicago, where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/488/harper-high-school-part-two2013-02-22T00:00:00-05:00487We spent five months at a high school in Chicago where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/487/harper-high-school-part-one2013-02-15T00:00:00-05:00486A couple decides to sleep with other people before they tie the knot. Plus, more stories of love making us do crazy things.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/486/valentines-day2013-02-08T00:00:00-05:00485The proxy battle over a woman’s honor that became a presidential obsession.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/485/surrogates2013-01-25T00:00:00-05:00484We got a tip about a meat plant selling pig intestines as fake calamari and decided to investigate.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/484/doppelgangers2013-01-11T00:00:00-05:00483A perfectly normal guy gets rid of everything he owns, changes his name, says goodbye to his friends—and begins walking.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/483/self-improvement-kick2013-01-04T00:00:00-05:00482A show filled with stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/482/lights-camera-christmas-20122012-12-21T00:00:00-05:00481Stories united by one thing: They all happened in the seven days prior to broadcast.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/481/this-week2012-12-07T00:00:00-05:00480The This American Life staff confronts Ira about his dog, Piney.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/480/animal-sacrifice2012-11-30T00:00:00-05:00479Why Minnesotans don't talk much about the most important historical event ever to happen there.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/479/little-war-on-the-prairie2012-11-23T00:00:00-05:00478Not only do the two sides disagree on the solutions to the country’s problems, they don’t even agree on what the problems are.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/478/red-state-blue-state2012-11-02T00:00:00-04:00477Stories of people breaking the rules fully, completely, and with no bad consequences.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/477/getting-away-with-it2012-10-19T00:00:00-04:00476Stories of how people cope after brushes with death.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/476/what-doesnt-kill-you2012-10-05T00:00:00-04:00475People 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/475/send-a-message2012-09-28T00:00:00-04:00474A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/474/back-to-school2012-09-14T00:00:00-04:00473An estate attorney discovers a financial scheme that's all reward and no risk. The only catch? You have to die to get the money.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/473/loopholes2012-08-24T00:00:00-04:00472Favorite stories by our longtime contributor and friend David Rakoff.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/472/our-friend-david2012-08-17T00:00:00-04:00471An undercover FBI informant at the mosque in Orange County starts acting very odd.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/471/the-convert2012-08-10T00:00:00-04:00470Stories about people in trouble who look for help in mystifying places.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/470/show-me-the-way2012-07-27T00:00:00-04:00469The chief of security for a Colombian drug cartel decides to take the cartel down.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/469/hiding-in-plain-sight2012-07-13T00:00:00-04:00468People pretending to be people they're not: sometimes it's harmless, sometimes it's harmful, and sometimes it's hard to tell.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/468/switcheroo2012-06-29T00:00:00-04:00467It used to be that the American expats in China were the big shots. But that's changed.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/467/americans-in-china2012-06-22T00:00:00-04:00466A woman gambles away her inheritance and then sues the casino, saying they're to blame.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/466/blackjack2012-06-08T00:00:00-04:00465A Guatemalan immigrant living near Boston gets a phone call with some very strange news about his past.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/465/what-happened-at-dos-erres2012-05-25T00:00:00-04:00464David Sedaris, Tig Notaro, Ryan Knighton, and the late David Rakoff, in his final performance on the show.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/464/invisible-made-visible2012-05-18T00:00:00-04:00463Religion 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/463/mortal-vs-venial2012-04-27T00:00:00-04:00462Stories of people who can’t seem to stop getting in their own way.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/462/own-worst-enemy2012-04-13T00:00:00-04:00461Discovering just how much time members of Congress spend raising money.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/461/take-the-money-and-run-for-office2012-03-30T00:00:00-04:00460We'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 Apple in China. Marketplace's China correspondent Rob Schmitz discovered the fabrications.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/460/retraction2012-03-16T00:00:00-04:00459All across the country right now, local and state governments are finding they can't pay their bills.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/459/what-kind-of-country2012-03-02T00:00:00-05:00458Stories of people who decide to flip their personalities and do the exact opposite of what they normally do.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/458/play-the-part2012-02-17T00:00:00-05:00457A couple decides they need to sleep with other people before getting married, and a teenage boy falls for an undercover cop.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/457/what-i-did-for-love2012-02-10T00:00:00-05:00456Alabama's new immigration law aims to make life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they will "self-deport."https://www.thisamericanlife.org/456/reap-what-you-sow2012-01-27T00:00:00-05:00455The story of the European debt crisis is actually very surprising and dramatic.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/455/continental-breakup2012-01-20T00:00:00-05:00454This American Life has retracted this story.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory2012-01-06T00:00:00-05:00453A college rivalry goes viral, and personal.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/453/nemeses2011-12-16T00:00:00-05:00452Stories of what happens when humans and fowl collide.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/452/poultry-slam-20112011-12-02T00:00:00-05:00451Penn State fans and loyalists try to make sense of the actions of Coach Joe Paterno and school officials.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/451/back-to-penn-state2011-11-18T00:00:00-05:00450An orchestra teacher has a theory that he could kill cancer cells with electromagnetic waves.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/450/so-crazy-it-just-might-work2011-11-11T00:00:00-05:00449Stories from the awkward, confusing, hormonally charged world of middle school.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/449/middle-school2011-10-28T00:00:00-04:00448Stories that pinpoint when people's boring old lives turn into something wildly unfamiliar.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/448/adventure2011-10-07T00:00:00-04:00447What 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/447/the-incredible-case-of-the-pi-moms2011-09-23T00:00:00-04:00446A man has to give up parts of his life as he learns to live hearing a tone in his head all the time.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/446/living-without-20112011-09-16T00:00:00-04:00445We return to people who have been on the show in the last ten years, and whose lives were drastically altered by 9/11.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/445/ten-years-in2011-09-09T00:00:00-04:00444A sociologist collects journals filled with gossip about AIDS in Malawi.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/444/gossip2011-08-26T00:00:00-04:00443We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks!https://www.thisamericanlife.org/443/amusement-park2011-08-12T00:00:00-04:00442Like a lot of Mexican towns, Florencia has had its share of problems dealing with drug gangs. Until recently, when new narcos rolled into town.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/442/thugs2011-07-29T00:00:00-04:00441Why 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?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/441/when-patents-attack2011-07-22T00:00:00-04:00440Two professors each make a calculation that no one had made before.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/440/game-changer2011-07-08T00:00:00-04:00439Stories about people who find themselves either unexpectedly being singled out or doing the singling out.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/439/a-house-divided2011-06-24T00:00:00-04:00438Surprising stories of fathers trying to be good dads.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/438/fathers-day-20112011-06-17T00:00:00-04:00437Nurses at a small Texas hospital report a well-connected doctor for dangerous medical practices, and find themselves under arrest.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/437/old-boys-network2011-06-03T00:00:00-04:00436Jon Ronson investigates whether corporate leaders can, in fact, be psychopaths.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/436/the-psychopath-test2011-05-27T00:00:00-04:00435Can politicians truly create many jobs?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/435/how-to-create-a-job2011-05-13T00:00:00-04:00434An hour of stories about...this week.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/434/this-week2011-05-06T00:00:00-04:00433Stories where the fine print changes everything, whether you read it or not.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/433/fine-print-20112011-04-15T00:00:00-04:00432The story of an entire country deciding whether to give up on just one of its citizens.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/432/know-when-to-fold-em2011-04-08T00:00:00-04:00431Stories of people pretending that everything is okay and ignoring the awful stuff that's staring them straight in the face.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/431/see-no-evil2011-04-01T00:00:00-04:00430A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/430/very-tough-love2011-03-25T00:00:00-04:00429Stories of people who've grown so accustomed to wartime that the lives they've left behind no longer make sense.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/429/will-they-know-me-back-home2011-03-11T00:00:00-05:00428Stories about the perils of giving and receiving gifts.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/428/oh-you-shouldnt-have2011-03-04T00:00:00-05:00427We think we may have found the original recipe for Coca-Cola, one of the most guarded trade secrets in the world.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/427/original-recipe2011-02-11T00:00:00-05:00426We go backstage with comedy writers at The Onion.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/426/tough-room-20112011-02-04T00:00:00-05:00425The story of a wedding 17 years in the making.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/425/slow-to-react2011-01-21T00:00:00-05:00424When it comes to governing, can kids do any better than grown-ups?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/424/kid-politics2011-01-14T00:00:00-05:00423Five reporters stumbled on what seems like a basic question: What is money?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/423/the-invention-of-money2011-01-07T00:00:00-05:00422The holidays are stressful so we booked a seasonal pick-me-up: an hour of comedy.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/422/comedians-of-christmas-comedy-special2010-12-17T00:00:00-05:00421Stories about people who feel compelled to keep going, especially when everyone else has given up.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/421/last-man-standing2010-12-03T00:00:00-05:00420Stories of neighbors watching out for each other, for better and worse.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/420/neighborhood-watch2010-11-19T00:00:00-05:00419The rise and fall of a school maintenance man in Schenectady, New York who terrorized his staff and got away with it for decades.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/419/petty-tyrant2010-11-12T00:00:00-05:00418Reporters from Planet Money bought a toxic asset that turned out to be an encyclopedia of the financial crisis.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/418/toxie2010-11-05T00:00:00-04:00417Two best friends get tired of yelling at their TVs and decide to form a Tea Party chapter to effect political change.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/417/this-party-sucks2010-10-29T00:00:00-04:00416We spend a month in Iraq talking to Iraqis and Americans about the war that tore the country apart.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/416/iraq-after-us2010-10-15T00:00:00-04:00415Stories of crybabies in sports, in politics, on Wall Street, on the streets of California.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/415/crybabies2010-09-24T00:00:00-04:00414A New York police officer secretly records his supervisors ordering officers to do all sorts of things that police aren't supposed to do.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/414/right-to-remain-silent2010-09-10T00:00:00-04:00413Nine of us go to small towns in Georgia to ask around until we find stories.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/413/georgia-rambler2010-07-30T00:00:00-04:00412Michael Larson made the most money ever on the game show Press Your Luck. And it was no accident.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/412/million-dollar-idea2010-07-16T00:00:00-04:00411Stories of first encounters with unknown and distant beings—girls, foreigners, and perhaps even aliens.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/411/first-contact2010-06-25T00:00:00-04:00410Richard Ravitch has helped fix three governmental crises, so what makes it so much harder for him to solve the state's current financial crisis?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/410/social-contract2010-06-18T00:00:00-04:00409Stories of people held captive — by criminals, by paperwork, and in one man's case, his own body — and the ways they try to cope.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/409/held-hostage2010-06-04T00:00:00-04:00408Blanketing a country in aid and money has never really worked so well. Is there a chance things could be different in Haiti?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/408/island-time2010-05-21T00:00:00-04:00407Stories of bridges from three different countries, including one in China that's famous for its massive size and its high suicide rate.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/407/the-bridge2010-05-07T00:00:00-04:00406Can a rat crawl through your plumbing and end up in your toilet?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/406/true-urban-legends2010-04-23T00:00:00-04:00405The inside story of one company that made hundreds of millions of dollars for itself while worsening the financial crisis for the rest of us.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/405/inside-job2010-04-09T00:00:00-04:00404Living behind enemy lines, among the enemy, it's sometimes hard to remember why you're fighting in the first place.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/404/enemy-camp-20102010-04-02T00:00:00-04:00403A car plant in Fremont California that might have saved the U.S. car industry.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/403/nummi-20102010-03-26T00:00:00-04:00402Stories about one person single-handedly taking charge of a situation gone wrong.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/402/save-the-day2010-03-12T00:00:00-05:00401A chimp is raised twice—once as a human child, and again as a chimp.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/401/parent-trap2010-02-19T00:00:00-05:00400For our 400th show, we try something harder than anything we've ever tried.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/400/stories-pitched-by-our-parents2010-02-12T00:00:00-05:00399A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/399/contents-unknown2010-01-22T00:00:00-05:00398Stories of people betting on something with very bad odds.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/398/long-shot2010-01-08T00:00:00-05:00397We asked our contributors to predict real events that will happen to them and the people they know in 2010.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/397/20102010-01-01T00:00:00-05:00396The show goes to Penn State to report on tailgating, frat parties, and other alcohol-induced mayhem.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/396/1-party-school2009-12-18T00:00:00-05:00395Stories of people who are up while the rest of us are sleeping.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/395/middle-of-the-night2009-11-27T00:00:00-05:00394The story of man who tries to investigate a neighborhood crime and ends up in jail himself.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/394/bait-and-switch2009-11-06T00:00:00-05:00393Stories of cheating, cheaters and the cheated.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/393/infidelity2009-10-30T00:00:00-04:00392A deeper look inside the health insurance industry and the dark side of prescription drug coupons.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/392/someone-elses-money2009-10-16T00:00:00-04:00391An hour explaining the American health care system—specifically, why it is that costs keep rising.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/391/more-is-less2009-10-09T00:00:00-04:00390We mark the anniversary of the economic collapse.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/390/return-to-the-giant-pool-of-money2009-09-25T00:00:00-04:00389Tales of estranged sisters, BFFs breaking up, and how reality stars walk the fine line between making friends and getting famous.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/389/frenemies2009-09-11T00:00:00-04:00388Nine radio reporters. Two days. One rest stop on the New York State Thruway.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/388/rest-stop2009-09-04T00:00:00-04:00387The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man suspected of being an illegal arms dealer.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/387/arms-trader-20092009-08-07T00:00:00-04:00386Stories where the fine print changes everything, whether you read it or not.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/386/fine-print2009-07-24T00:00:00-04:00385It's tempting to act as your own lawyer, to argue your own cause.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/385/pro-se2009-07-10T00:00:00-04:00384When things go wrong, it's easy to pin it all on one person and watch them go down in flames.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/384/fall-guy2009-06-26T00:00:00-04:00383Little-known and surprising stories of how all sorts of institutions began.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/383/origin-story-20092009-06-19T00:00:00-04:00382Where were the regulators and watchdogs who were supposed to be overseeing the banks and the finance industry?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/382/the-watchmen2009-06-05T00:00:00-04:00381A well-known activist is accused of spying on other activists for the FBI.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/381/turncoat2009-05-22T00:00:00-04:00380Stories of people who find themselves in situations far from the beaten path, without guidelines or useful precedents.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/380/no-map2009-05-15T00:00:00-04:00379A live episode of the radio program, including stories told on stage by Dan Savage and Mike Birbiglia.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/379/return-to-the-scene-of-the-crime2009-05-01T00:00:00-04:00378Stories of people forced to let go of their firmly held beliefs.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/378/this-i-used-to-believe2009-04-17T00:00:00-04:00377We highlight the unusual circumstances our economic drought has left us in.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/377/scenes-from-a-recession2009-03-27T00:00:00-04:00376Stories of people with wildly popular or unpopular views for one moment in time, and how those views stand up years later.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/376/wrong-side-of-history2009-03-13T00:00:00-04:00375We tackle a very tough subject: Trying to explain exactly what a bank is and does.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/375/bad-bank2009-02-27T00:00:00-05:00374Of the billions of people in the world, what are the odds that any two people are a real match?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/374/somewhere-out-there2009-02-13T00:00:00-05:00373Stories about what happens when someone new takes over—someone with a vision of how things ought to be.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/373/the-new-boss2009-01-30T00:00:00-05:00372On the eve of Obama's inauguration, we sent reporters out to talk to people about how they're feeling.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/372/the-inauguration-show2009-01-16T00:00:00-05:00371We document life in a mall in Tennessee during the run-up to Christmas.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/371/scenes-from-a-mall2008-12-26T00:00:00-05:00370Stories of people who ruin things for everyone else, or who are accused of that.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/370/ruining-it-for-the-rest-of-us2008-12-19T00:00:00-05:00369A man in Pakistan buys an amulet with the power to protect anyone from harm. He tests it out on a chicken.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/369/poultry-slam-20082008-11-28T00:00:00-05:00368Stories of privilege and the lengths some will go to to maintain it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/368/who-do-you-think-you-are2008-11-07T00:00:00-05:00367We go to Pennsylvania to figure out why both McCain and Obama think they can win there.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/367/ground-game2008-10-24T00:00:00-04:00366Stories about people trying to find new solutions to age-old problems.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/366/a-better-mousetrap-20082008-10-10T00:00:00-04:00365A look at what regulators could've done to prevent the financial crisis from happening in the first place.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/365/another-frightening-show-about-the-economy2008-10-03T00:00:00-04:00364Stories about people who take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/364/going-big2008-09-26T00:00:00-04:00363Stories about people who take the law into their own hands.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/363/enforcers2008-09-12T00:00:00-04:00362Shalom Auslander goes on vacation with his family, and suspects the chatty old man in the room next door is an imposter.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/362/got-you-pegged2008-08-22T00:00:00-04:00361Mike Birbiglia talks about the sleepwalking that nearly killed him.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/361/fear-of-sleep2008-08-08T00:00:00-04:00360Two baby girls born in a small-town hospital are accidentally switched, and go home with the wrong families.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/360/switched-at-birth2008-07-25T00:00:00-04:00359Stories of people haunted by guilt over their role in others' deaths.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/359/life-after-death2008-07-18T00:00:00-04:00358Stories of social engineering on a small scale.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/358/social-engineering2008-06-27T00:00:00-04:00357Stories of concealed truths bubbling to the surface, including a new story by Etgar Keret.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/357/the-truth-will-out2008-06-13T00:00:00-04:00356Things go badly for the lead prosecutor in one of the first high-profile terrorist cases since 9/11.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/356/the-prosecutor2008-05-30T00:00:00-04:00355The surprisingly entertaining story of how the U.S. got itself into a housing crisis.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/355/the-giant-pool-of-money2008-05-09T00:00:00-04:00354Freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/354/mistakes-were-made2008-04-18T00:00:00-04:00353Stories of the Bush Administration's quest to redefine the limits of presidential power.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/353/the-audacity-of-government2008-03-28T00:00:00-04:00352In 1912, a four-year-old boy went missing in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found. But two grief-stricken mothers both claimed the same boy as their own.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/352/the-ghost-of-bobby-dunbar2008-03-14T00:00:00-04:00351Stories of people who try to revisit their childhoods—what they find and what they do not find.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/351/return-to-childhood2008-03-07T00:00:00-05:00350Teachers tell us about a secret room in the New York City Board of Education building called "the rubber room."https://www.thisamericanlife.org/350/human-resources2008-02-29T00:00:00-05:00349Stories about couples that happen decades after the moment their eyes meet.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/349/valentines-day-20082008-02-15T00:00:00-05:00348We go into the writers' room at The Onion, where they start with over 600 potential headlines for their fake-news newspaper each week.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/348/tough-room2008-02-08T00:00:00-05:00347Making a lasting love match isn't as simple as writing a check.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/347/matchmakers2008-01-18T00:00:00-05:00346A 79-year-old woman dies alone in Los Angeles. No one knows her—or her next of kin.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/346/home-alone2007-12-21T00:00:00-05:00345A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/345/ties-that-bind2007-12-14T00:00:00-05:00344Stories of the unintended consequences of market forces.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/344/the-competition2007-11-30T00:00:00-05:00343Our annual program about turkeys, chickens, and fowl of all types.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/343/poultry-slam-20072007-11-23T00:00:00-05:00342What happens to the people left behind after the detectives close the case?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/342/how-to-rest-in-peace2007-11-02T00:00:00-04:00341Stories of adults taking very different approaches to communicating with children.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/341/how-to-talk-to-kids2007-10-05T00:00:00-04:00340Stories of people trying to exorcize their inner demons.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/340/the-devil-in-me2007-09-07T00:00:00-04:00339Starlee Kine tries to write the perfect break-up song with some help from Phil Collins.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/339/break-up2007-08-24T00:00:00-04:00338Stories of what can happen when you go from being a private person to a public face.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/338/the-spokesman2007-08-10T00:00:00-04:00337Stories about people taking history into their own hands.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/337/man-vs-history2007-07-27T00:00:00-04:00336Stories about the pitfalls of trying to do the right thing.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/336/who-can-you-save2007-07-06T00:00:00-04:00335When he was a teenager, Haider worked in the Iraqi Ministry of Information. He was treated like a celebrity.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/335/big-wide-world2007-06-15T00:00:00-04:00334Josh's family didn't play much of a role in his daily life—until duty called, and they took over his life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/334/duty-calls2007-06-01T00:00:00-04:00333Four years into the Iraq War, what have we learned?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/333/the-center-for-lessons-learned2007-05-25T00:00:00-04:00332Stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/332/the-ten-commandments2007-05-04T00:00:00-04:00331Is Guantanamo Bay a camp full of terrorists, or a camp full of our mistakes?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/331/habeas-schmabeas-20072007-04-27T00:00:00-04:00330Stories of people trying to recover from damage to their reputations.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/330/my-reputation2007-04-13T00:00:00-04:00329Stories of sudden fame, quick riches, and the downside of the dream job.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/329/nice-work-if-you-can-get-it2007-04-06T00:00:00-04:00328Stories recorded during our 2007 live tour, by Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, Dan Savage, and others.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/328/what-i-learned-from-television2007-03-16T00:00:00-04:00327Stories of proxy fights, proxy arguments, and proxy situations of all kinds.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/327/by-proxy2007-03-09T00:00:00-05:00326A man with social anxiety goes through a transformation on a TV game show.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/326/quiz-show2007-02-16T00:00:00-05:00325An old man in Brooklyn invites some homeless prostitutes into his house on a cold winter night. They never leave.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/325/houses-of-ill-repute2007-02-02T00:00:00-05:00324An American reporter in Iraq decides to rent a house in a residential Baghdad neighborhood. Plus other big ideas gone amok.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/324/my-brilliant-plan2007-01-26T00:00:00-05:00323Stories of the mysterious hold supers have on their buildings, or their buildings have on them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/323/the-super2007-01-05T00:00:00-05:00322Stories of Muslims and non-Muslims trying to communicate with each other and not always getting their point across.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/322/shouting-across-the-divide2006-12-15T00:00:00-05:00321Stories of people who are in over their heads and trying to stay afloat.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/321/sink-or-swim2006-12-01T00:00:00-05:00320The remarkable story of what it took to determine the number of Iraqis who've died since the U.S. invasion.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/320/whats-in-a-number-2006-edition2006-11-03T00:00:00-05:00319Scary stories that are all true—kidnappings, zombie raccoons, and real haunted houses.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/319/and-the-call-was-coming-from-the-basement2006-10-27T00:00:00-04:00318Stories of everyday people who get saddled with great power.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/318/with-great-power2006-10-06T00:00:00-04:00317A family uses a controversial therapy to train their son to love them, and other stories about the hard work of loving other people.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/317/unconditional-love2006-09-15T00:00:00-04:00316When something you thought was gone forever keeps returning, against all odds.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/316/the-cat-came-back2006-08-18T00:00:00-04:00315Stories about animals who don't even seem like they should know each other, much less appear on the same radio show.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/315/the-parrot-and-the-potbellied-pig2006-07-21T00:00:00-04:00314A grown man tries to get to the bottom of why his schoolmates threw him in a lake 20 years earlier.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/314/its-never-over2006-06-23T00:00:00-04:00313Stories about kids who actually want their parents looking out for them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/313/parental-guidance-suggested2006-05-19T00:00:00-04:00312We 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/312/how-we-talked-back-then2006-05-12T00:00:00-04:00311Stories about people trying to find new solutions to age-old problems.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/311/a-better-mousetrap-20062006-04-14T00:00:00-04:00310Is Guantanamo Bay a camp full of terrorists, or a camp full of our mistakes?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/310/habeas-schmabeas2006-03-10T00:00:00-05:00309Stories about the kinds of chase games that just never end.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/309/cat-and-mouse2006-02-24T00:00:00-05:00308Stories of how love blossoms, even when (perhaps) it shouldn't.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/308/star-crossed-love2006-02-10T00:00:00-05:00307Stories that take place on the edge of civilization, just out of sight.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/307/in-the-shadow-of-the-city2006-02-03T00:00:00-05:00306Lotto fever grips the cast of Riverdance.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/306/seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time2006-01-13T00:00:00-05:00305A full-throttle, show-stopping, no-holds-barred Christmas Spectacular!https://www.thisamericanlife.org/305/the-this-american-life-holiday-spectacular2005-12-23T00:00:00-05:00304A rising star in the evangelical movement casts aside the idea of hell.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/304/heretics2005-12-16T00:00:00-05:00303Variations on an old tale, with very modern consequences.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/303/david-and-goliath2005-12-02T00:00:00-05:00302Three people tell their stories from Iraq about the fighting, the locals, and why you subscribe to Details magazine.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/302/strangers-in-a-strange-land2005-11-18T00:00:00-05:00301Stories about the lengths we go to make things right, and about what money can and cannot fix.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/301/settling-the-score2005-11-11T00:00:00-05:00300A study estimated the number of Iraqi casualties since the war began at 100,000. Most of the deaths were caused by coalition forces.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/300/whats-in-a-number2005-10-28T00:00:00-04:00299Stories about people and places that have come back to life after everything seemed lost.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/299/back-from-the-dead2005-10-07T00:00:00-04:00298How far will we go to get money? And once we've got it, what should we spend it on?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/298/getting-and-spending2005-09-23T00:00:00-04:00297Stories from the largest mass resettlement that America has seen since the Civil War, as over 400,000 people—victims of Hurricane Katrina.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/297/this-is-not-my-beautiful-house2005-09-16T00:00:00-04:00296Surprising stories from survivors in New Orleans.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/296/after-the-flood2005-09-09T00:00:00-04:00295A 9/11 widow finds herself having to comfort another distraught woman on national TV.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/295/not-what-i-signed-up-for2005-08-26T00:00:00-04:00294Some librarians in Michigan embark on an audacious act of rebranding their libraries.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/294/image-makers2005-08-05T00:00:00-04:00293Stories about the pitfalls of knowing just a little bit too little.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/293/a-little-bit-of-knowledge2005-07-22T00:00:00-04:00292The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man named Hemant Lakhani.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/292/the-arms-trader-20052005-07-08T00:00:00-04:00291Stories about getting back together with your parent, your spouse, your ... Brahman bull.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/291/reunited-and-it-feels-so-good2005-07-01T00:00:00-04:00290We spend an hour trying to remember why anyone liked the separation of church and state in the first place.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/290/godless-america2005-06-03T00:00:00-04:00289Sons and daughters get to find out the one thing they've always wanted to know about their father.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/289/go-ask-your-father2005-05-13T00:00:00-04:00288Stories about how easy it is for communication to go awry, and what the consequences can be after it does.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/288/not-what-i-meant2005-05-06T00:00:00-04:00287Stories about people who end up making choices they'd rather not make, when their options begin to run out.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/287/backed-into-a-corner2005-04-15T00:00:00-04:00286Stories of people who try simple mind games on others, and then find themselves way in over their heads.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/286/mind-games-20052005-04-08T00:00:00-04:00285An LA prosecutor thought he'd make a name for himself by taking the lead singer of the Dead Kennedys to court for obscenity.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/285/know-your-enemy2005-03-25T00:00:00-05:00284A software writer loses his job, but continues to show up at work, sneaking in the door each day and putting in long hours.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/284/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go2005-03-11T00:00:00-05:00283A dying mother makes a tape for her developmentally disabled daughter, hoping she'll watch it someday, knowing she might not.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/283/remember-me2005-02-25T00:00:00-05:00282After four lawyers fail to get an innocent man out of prison, his friend takes on the case himself.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/282/diy2005-02-11T00:00:00-05:00281Sometimes, getting your big break isn't all it's cracked up to be.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/281/my-big-break2005-01-21T00:00:00-05:00280What life is like for American soldiers in Iraq.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/280/in-country2005-01-07T00:00:00-05:00279Stories about people who love their cars, for better or for worse.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/auto-show2004-12-10T00:00:00-05:00278A woman starts hearing her neighbors making drug deals over her baby monitor's frequency.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/278/spies-like-us2004-11-19T00:00:00-05:00277It's rare that a successful apology happens.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/277/apology2004-11-05T00:00:00-05:00276A journey through the minds of undecided voters.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/276/swing-set2004-10-29T00:00:00-04:00275The rise and fall of school reform.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/275/two-steps-back2004-10-15T00:00:00-04:00274Behind enemy lines, sometimes people get confused about whose side they're on and how to fight the enemy.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/274/enemy-camp-20042004-10-08T00:00:00-04:00273Stories about people deciding whether to give it their all.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/273/put-your-heart-in-it2004-09-24T00:00:00-04:00272We leave behind the official Republican talking points and ask them to speak instead about what they actually believe.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/272/big-tent2004-09-10T00:00:00-04:00271Stories about adults struggling to figure out what is in the best interest of some child.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/271/best-interests2004-08-20T00:00:00-04:00270Every family has its share of grudges, secrets, and bad behavior.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/270/family-legend2004-08-06T00:00:00-04:00269Letting someone else take care of you can change everything.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/269/someone-to-watch-over-me2004-07-16T00:00:00-04:00268People who decide to try out a new life—the kind of life their parents never wanted for them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/268/my-experimental-phase2004-06-25T00:00:00-04:00267By 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/267/propriety2004-06-11T00:00:00-04:00266Nancy 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/266/im-from-the-private-sector-and-im-here-to-help2004-06-04T00:00:00-04:00265A Seattle group called AGHOST is using whatever scientific principles they can find to hunt for ghosts.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/265/fake-science2004-05-21T00:00:00-04:00264A defense of special treatment, by people who receive it and people who give it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/264/special-treatment2004-05-07T00:00:00-04:00263Stories of people stuck in unfixable situations who try desperate measures.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/263/desperate-measures2004-04-16T00:00:00-04:00262A son tries to help his mom in a faraway place defy the laws of medical science.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/262/miracle-cures2004-04-02T00:00:00-05:00261A generation of researchers has revolutionized the way we see marriage.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/261/the-sanctity-of-marriage2004-03-26T00:00:00-05:00260How a bungled Nazi sabotage operation became the legal foundation for the Bush administration's push to try U.S. citizens in military tribunals.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/260/the-facts-dont-matter2004-03-12T00:00:00-05:00259David Rakoff tries a 20-day fast to see if it will bring him any form of enlightenment.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/259/promised-land2004-02-20T00:00:00-05:00258A popular, progressive politician becomes...a talk show host. One you've probably heard of.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/258/leaving-the-fold2004-01-30T00:00:00-05:00257People return to the scene of the crime where they should have spoken clearly and forcefully to review what the hell went wrong.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/257/what-i-shouldve-said2004-01-16T00:00:00-05:00256Sarah Vowell explains the cheerful journalism of deprivation. And other stories.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/256/living-without-20042004-01-09T00:00:00-05:00255The vexing difficulty of finding the perfect gift.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/255/this-american-lifes-holiday-gift-giving-guide2003-12-19T00:00:00-05:00254Hyder returns to Afghanistan.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/254/teenage-embed-part-two2003-12-12T00:00:00-05:00253The tiny island of Nauru is at the center of several of the decade's biggest global events.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/253/the-middle-of-nowhere2003-12-05T00:00:00-05:00252We bring you stories of turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, fowl of all kinds, real and imagined, and their mysterious hold over us.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/252/poultry-slam-20032003-11-28T00:00:00-05:00251In his ongoing effort to write his own version of the Bible, Jonathan Goldstein retells the story of Cain and Abel.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/251/brothers-keeper2003-11-21T00:00:00-05:00250Why is it always harder than you think it'll be?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/250/the-annoying-gap-between-theoryand-practice2003-11-07T00:00:00-05:00249We 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/249/garbage2003-10-31T00:00:00-05:00248David Rakoff guest hosts.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/248/like-it-or-not2003-10-24T00:00:00-04:00247What 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/247/what-is-this-thing2003-09-19T00:00:00-04:00246Stories of very unusual pen pals, people whose relationship could not exist without the help of the postal service.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/246/my-pen-pal2003-09-12T00:00:00-04:00245They treat us badly, they don't call us back, they cancel plans at the last minute, and yet we come back for more.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/245/allure-of-the-mean-friend2003-09-05T00:00:00-04:00244Four real stories in which real people invent amazingly clever solutions to their problems.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/244/macgyver2003-08-15T00:00:00-04:00243Stories about what the passage of time can do to someone.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/243/later-that-same-day2003-07-25T00:00:00-04:00242The story of a fixer for the Catholic Church and how he came to sympathize with the people that he was sent to deceive.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/242/enemy-camp2003-07-18T00:00:00-04:00241All kinds of little stories that we ordinarily can't use on the radio show because they are just too short.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/241/20-acts-in-60-minutes2003-07-11T00:00:00-04:00240There is a ominous information gap between the U.S. officials running the country and the Iraqi people being governed.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/240/im-in-charge-now2003-06-20T00:00:00-04:00239Stories of people who are lost, histories that are lost, and things that are lost.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/239/lost-in-america2003-06-06T00:00:00-04:00238Jonathan Goldstein and Starlee Kine go to a karaoke club that has, along with all the songs, comedy routines for people to perform.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/238/lost-in-translation2003-05-30T00:00:00-04:00237Stories of regime change in everyday life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/237/regime-change2003-04-18T00:00:00-04:00236We try to figure out the paradox of the current economy, where Americans are simultaneously both losing jobs and buying new homes and cars.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/236/my-two-cents2003-04-11T00:00:00-04:00235Stories from the beginnings of the war in Iraq, and how it compares with wars in our country's past.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/235/the-balloon-goes-up2003-03-21T00:00:00-05:00234Does talking about it really help?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/234/say-anything2003-03-14T00:00:00-05:00233A man in retirement tries to start over in a new life with a new venture: a cable channel, with lots of puppies.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/233/starting-from-scratch2003-03-07T00:00:00-05:00232Real stories from three very different wars.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/232/the-real-story2003-02-14T00:00:00-05:00231Stories of sudden truths delivered by complete strangers.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/231/time-to-save-the-world2003-02-07T00:00:00-05:00230A California teenager returns to the home country he's never known.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/230/come-back-to-afghanistan2003-01-31T00:00:00-05:00229Stories of some of the secrets our government keeps: of imprisonment, deportation, and spying.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/229/secret-government2003-01-10T00:00:00-05:00228Two modern-day reinterpretations of the Frog Prince story.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/228/you-are-so-beautifulto-me2003-01-03T00:00:00-05:00227We still have some basic questions about why we're going to war and whether it's a good thing.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/227/why-we-fight2002-12-20T00:00:00-05:00226Stories of people stuck in moments that they revisit over and over again.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/226/reruns2002-12-06T00:00:00-05:00225Home 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?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/225/home-movies2002-11-08T00:00:00-05:00224"Hi, middleman. Here are three splendid acts to toast your subtle virtues."https://www.thisamericanlife.org/224/middlemen2002-10-25T00:00:00-04:00223We take the classifieds from one Sunday edition of the paper and fill a program with stories that come from the ads.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/223/classifieds2002-10-11T00:00:00-04:00222Some people have a rather dark worldview that divides people into two groups: Suckers and non-suckers.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/222/suckers2002-09-27T00:00:00-04:00221Stories of people traveling under false identities, not for power or personal gain, but for their own deeper personal reasons.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/221/fake-id2002-09-20T00:00:00-04:00220The pros and cons of the hormone of desire.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/220/testosterone2002-08-30T00:00:00-04:00219What 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/219/high-speed-chase2002-08-16T00:00:00-04:00218A group of inmates at a high-security prison stage a production of the last act of Hamlet.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/218/act-v2002-08-09T00:00:00-04:00217Two years after the Mideast peace process collapsed, we wanted to understand what that has done to people living in Israel and the West Bank.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/217/give-it-to-them2002-08-02T00:00:00-04:00216Ira Glass goes to a fake wedding at a home for Alzheimer's patients.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/216/give-the-people-what-they-want2002-07-12T00:00:00-04:00215Stories about people who turned to the experts and got horrible advice.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/215/ask-an-expert2002-06-14T00:00:00-04:00214We take the laws of physics and apply them to the realm of human relationships.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/214/family-physics2002-05-31T00:00:00-04:00213Stories of people who try to convince you that the devil is there, whispering in your ear.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/213/devil-on-my-shoulder2002-05-24T00:00:00-04:00212Stories about what happens when a new guy comes on the scene and changes everything.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/212/the-other-man2002-05-10T00:00:00-04:00211When you turn someone over to the authorities, it can set into motion lots of huge, unintended consequences.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/211/naming-names2002-05-03T00:00:00-04:00210DNA evidence isn't just proving wrongdoing by criminals, it's proving wrongdoing by police and prosecutors.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/210/perfect-evidence2002-04-19T00:00:00-04:00209The story of an eighth grader who set himself on fire, and what led to that.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/209/didnt-ask-to-be-born2002-03-29T00:00:00-05:00208Stories of high drama from our nation's workplaces.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/208/office-politics2002-03-15T00:00:00-05:00207Stories about people who were told that they're different.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/207/special-ed2002-03-08T00:00:00-05:00206Life aboard an aircraft carrier stationed in the Arabian Sea supporting bombing missions over Afghanistan.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/206/somewhere-in-the-arabian-sea2002-03-01T00:00:00-05:00205There's the thing you plan to do, and then there's the thing you end up doing.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/205/plan-b2002-02-01T00:00:00-05:00204How the American Psychiatric Association decided that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/204/81-words2002-01-18T00:00:00-05:00203The story of what some have called the greatest phone message in the world.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/203/recordings-for-someone2002-01-11T00:00:00-05:00202Stories of faith: losing it, talking about it, constructing it, and working within it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/202/faith2001-12-21T00:00:00-05:00201In 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."https://www.thisamericanlife.org/201/them2001-12-07T00:00:00-05:00200Of all the wars to win, perhaps the propaganda war is the hardest.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/200/hearts-and-minds2001-11-30T00:00:00-05:00199A young boy, an abandoned house, and the mysterious family who disappeared without a trace.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/199/house-on-loon-lake2001-11-16T00:00:00-05:00198Stories of people climbing to be number one. How do they do it?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/198/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people2001-11-02T00:00:00-05:00197In 1946, a man started to investigate the Holocaust before it was known as the Holocaust, gathering the first recorded testimonials of concentration camp survivors.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/197/before-it-had-a-name2001-10-26T00:00:00-04:00196The events of September 11th, and how its meaning changes depending on who you talk to.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/196/rashomon2001-10-05T00:00:00-04:00195We try to sort out what the war in Afghanistan will be like.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/195/war-stories2001-09-28T00:00:00-04:00194Stories in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/194/before-and-after2001-09-21T00:00:00-04:00193A collection of stories in which people try to make sense of loss.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/193/stories-of-loss2001-09-14T00:00:00-04:00192The story of one man's journey from obscurity to international professional celebrity.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/192/meet-the-pros2001-08-31T00:00:00-04:00191Scott 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/191/i-know-what-you-did-this-summer2001-08-17T00:00:00-04:00190There's a deep impulse in American culture that says that you can make yourself into anyone.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/190/living-the-dream2001-08-03T00:00:00-04:00189A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/189/hitlers-yacht2001-07-13T00:00:00-04:00188Stories of kids using perfectly logical arguments, and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/188/kid-logic-20012001-06-22T00:00:00-04:00187Stories of dads who are utterly human in scale.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/187/fathers-day-012001-06-15T00:00:00-04:00186While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/186/prom2001-06-08T00:00:00-04:00185Stories of people worshiping false idols, and whether that's always a bad thing.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/185/golden-calf2001-05-25T00:00:00-04:00184An average Chicagoan decides to appeal the disputes and problems in his neighborhood to a higher authority, Mr. Rogers. Yes, that Mr. Rogers.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/184/neighbors2001-05-11T00:00:00-04:00183Women 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/183/the-missing-parents-bureau2001-04-20T00:00:00-04:00182Tales of personal humiliation, romance gone wrong, and people who profoundly misjudge how they're perceived by others.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/182/cringe2001-04-13T00:00:00-04:00181Stories from Scott Carrier, whose strange and compelling tales sound like nothing else on the radio.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/181/the-friendly-man2001-04-06T00:00:00-04:00180Alex Blumberg tries to find a woman who babysat him when he was nine, and other stories of people trying to revisit their childhoods.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/180/return-to-childhood-20012001-03-23T00:00:00-05:00179The story of what was, at one time, one of most notoriously racist and corrupt suburbs in America.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/179/cicero2001-03-16T00:00:00-05:00178Which is better: flight or invisibility?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/178/superpowers2001-02-23T00:00:00-05:00177Stories of people living completely outside the grid of American life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/177/american-limbo2001-02-09T00:00:00-05:00176Democrats explain why they're having trouble getting over the 2001 election, and Republicans explain why this is so infuriating.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/176/two-nations-one-president2001-01-26T00:00:00-05:00175A brother and sister decide to invent children to babysit, as an excuse to get out of their own house.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/175/babysitting2001-01-05T00:00:00-05:00174A live show taped for our fifth anniversary.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/174/birthdays-anniversaries-and-milestones2000-12-29T00:00:00-05:00173A story of self-deception, a story about deceiving others, and a story about accidental deception.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/173/three-kinds-of-deception2000-12-15T00:00:00-05:00172One day in a Chicago diner.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/172/24-hours-at-the-golden-apple2000-11-17T00:00:00-05:00171Stories for the eve of the 2000 presidential election, in which we try to look beneath the candidates' soundbites.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/171/election2000-11-03T00:00:00-05:00170We 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/170/immigration2000-10-13T00:00:00-04:00169What does it mean to grow up in a country with an inalienable right to pursue happiness?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/169/pursuit-of-happiness2000-09-29T00:00:00-04:00168We go inside the back rooms of one multinational corporation and hear the intricate workings of how they put the fix in.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/168/the-fix-is-in2000-09-15T00:00:00-04:00167Stories of people who are trying to control how they'll be seen by generations to come.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/167/memo-to-the-people-of-the-future2000-09-08T00:00:00-04:00166Does anyone's family ever change?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/166/nobodys-family-is-going-to-change2000-08-11T00:00:00-04:00165David Sedaris takes Ira on a tour of his favorite spots in Paris.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/165/americans-in-paris2000-07-28T00:00:00-04:00164Crime scenes and the stories they tell.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/164/crime-scene-20002000-07-07T00:00:00-04:00163Stories of people who stand up alone for what's right, damn the consequences.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/163/can-you-fight-city-hallif-you-are-city-hall2000-06-30T00:00:00-04:00162Stories of people who did not want to move but circumstance forced their hands.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/162/moving2000-06-23T00:00:00-04:00161A look at what's going on inside the individual glass and steel worlds of our cars.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/161/million-bubbles2000-06-02T00:00:00-04:00160David Foster Wallace reports on a turning point in the 2000 presidential primary.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/160/character-assassination2000-05-19T00:00:00-04:00159Stories of moms: How they treat us, how we treat them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/159/mothers-day2000-05-12T00:00:00-04:00158The pleasure and the terror of being in a rampaging, angry mob.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/158/mob-mentality2000-05-05T00:00:00-04:00157All those people you see in the middle of the workday, in coffee shops and bookstores—why aren't they at work?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/157/secret-life-of-daytime2000-04-14T00:00:00-04:00156Stories of people revisiting what happened, and who they were back when.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/156/what-remains2000-03-31T00:00:00-05:00155Stories of people who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else does.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/155/hoaxing-yourself-20002000-03-17T00:00:00-05:00154Exactly how much are the animals that live in our home caught up in everyday family dynamics?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/154/in-dog-we-trust-20002000-03-10T00:00:00-05:00153The story of the book The Lonely Doll and its author, and how the author's life came to resemble something from her book.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/153/dolls2000-03-03T00:00:00-05:00152What if you held onto a high-school crush? Under what conditions would it never go away? Tobias Wolff reads a short story called "Kiss."https://www.thisamericanlife.org/152/crush2000-02-11T00:00:00-05:00151Stories 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/151/primary2000-01-28T00:00:00-05:00150Stories of kids trying to act like adults—some by choice—some because they're forced to.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/150/kids-as-adults2000-01-21T00:00:00-05:00149In the hospital, we're in a place that has its own rules and its own language and its own customs.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/149/bedside-diplomacy2000-01-14T00:00:00-05:00148The many, many different versions of Santa Claus.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/148/the-angels-wanna-wear-my-red-suit1999-12-24T00:00:00-05:00147Oh faithless and perverse generation? How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?—Matthew 17.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/147/a-teenagers-guide-to-god1999-12-17T00:00:00-05:00146David Rakoff visits Iceland, where the government is careful not to disturb certain boulders because some people believe that elves live there.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/146/urban-nature1999-12-10T00:00:00-05:00145Our annual program about turkeys, chickens, fowl of all types, and their mysterious hold over our imaginations.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/145/poultry-slam-19991999-11-26T00:00:00-05:00144People struggle to invent words adequate to cope with death.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/144/where-words-fail1999-11-05T00:00:00-05:00143Have mandatory minimum sentences gone too far?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/143/sentencing1999-10-22T00:00:00-04:00142We hear the story of one African-American single mother who recorded her family's life over the course of seven months.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/142/barbara1999-10-15T00:00:00-04:00141Stories of people who are trying to make invisible worlds visible.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/141/invisible-worlds1999-10-01T00:00:00-04:00140What happens when the tension of family dynamics collides with the pressure of capitalist market forces.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/140/family-business1999-09-24T00:00:00-04:00139Stories designed to provide some small sense of hope about American politics.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/139/ghosts-of-elections-past1999-09-03T00:00:00-04:00138Stories of people drawn to some idea, some picture, some "thing" that they just want to be.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/138/the-real-thing1999-08-27T00:00:00-04:00137We want to believe our lives can be changed by a set of ideas contained in a book.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/137/the-book-that-changed-your-life1999-08-20T00:00:00-04:00136Three stories, three people, and three sets of maps.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/136/you-are-here1999-08-06T00:00:00-04:00135Through our crimes, we express who we are.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/135/allure-of-crime1999-07-23T00:00:00-04:00134It 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/134/we-didnt1999-07-09T00:00:00-04:00133We 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?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/133/sales1999-06-25T00:00:00-04:00132Photographer Joel Meyerowitz goes on a last big trip with his father, who has Alzheimer's, and his son.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/132/fathers-day-991999-06-18T00:00:00-04:00131Stories in which young people take matters into their own hands, broadcast for the tenth anniversary of the crackdown at Tiananmen Square.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/131/the-kids-are-alright1999-06-04T00:00:00-04:00130Stories of people going home to places they've never been before.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/130/away-from-home1999-05-21T00:00:00-04:00129What if you asked people for advice and actually took ALL of the advice that everyone gave you? Sarah Vowell tried exactly that.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/129/advice1999-05-14T00:00:00-04:00128We try to tell the story of life in America through portraits of life in four different states across the nation.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/128/four-corners1999-04-30T00:00:00-04:00127A former pimp tells how he and three childhood friends became pimps in the 1970s in Oakland, California.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/127/pimp-anthropology1999-04-16T00:00:00-04:00126Two do-gooders try to change things in their hometown for the better. But the more they try, the more people resent them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/126/do-gooders1999-04-09T00:00:00-04:00125Fundamentalist Christians and Orthodox Jews are combining forces to breed a perfect red cow that could bring about the end of the world.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/125/apocalypse1999-04-02T00:00:00-05:00124Stories of people moving to this country: what they see and hear that those of us who were born here don't.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/124/welcome-to-america1999-03-19T00:00:00-05:00123Stories of people who choose not to live every moment to the fullest or smell the roses.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/123/high-cost-of-living1999-02-26T00:00:00-05:00122Stories of impossible love and heartbreak.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/122/valentines-day-991999-02-12T00:00:00-05:00121What happens if you're too good at throwing everything out and starting over?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/121/twentieth-century-man1999-01-29T00:00:00-05:00120Three stories of people pretending to be something they're not, and what happens to them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/120/be-careful-who-you-pretend-to-be1999-01-22T00:00:00-05:00119Stories of the lives of prisoners in the United States, and the lives of their families.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/119/lockup1999-01-08T00:00:00-05:00118Stories about seeing and being seen, taped before a live audience in Town Hall in New York City.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/118/what-you-lookin-at1998-12-18T00:00:00-05:00117The family table is stage on which many family dramas are played out.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/117/you-gonna-eat-that1998-12-11T00:00:00-05:00116Our annual program about turkeys, chickens, and fowl of all types.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/116/poultry-slam-19981998-11-27T00:00:00-05:00115A rookie cop and a squirrel, and other stories of first days on the job.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/115/first-day1998-11-13T00:00:00-05:00114Stories of people's last words before death.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/114/last-words1998-10-23T00:00:00-04:00113What happens when you suddenly strike it rich?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/113/windfall1998-10-16T00:00:00-04:00112How irrational fear of germs means that you aren't going to get good apple cider in your local supermarket this fall.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/112/ladies-and-germs1998-10-02T00:00:00-04:00111I thought this was supposed to be easy.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/111/adventures-in-the-simple-life1998-09-11T00:00:00-04:00110The world redrawn by the five senses.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/110/mapping1998-09-04T00:00:00-04:00109We attempt to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between camp people and non-camp people.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/109/notes-on-camp1998-08-28T00:00:00-04:00108A woman who'd been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis talks about the lies she told herself as a child.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/108/truth-and-lies-at-age-ten1998-08-07T00:00:00-04:00107Sarah Vowell re-traces the route her Cherokee ancestors took when expelled from their own land by President Andrew Jackson.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/107/trail-of-tears-19981998-07-03T00:00:00-04:00106Stories in which fathers and their kids sit down and try to have an honest moment together.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/106/fathers-day-981998-06-19T00:00:00-04:00105Two stories of people who try to cross the color line, and why it's still so hard.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/105/take-a-negro-home1998-06-12T00:00:00-04:00104David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell on what's frustrating about music lessons, what's miraculous about them, and what they actually teach us.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/104/music-lessons1998-06-05T00:00:00-04:00103An NPR reporter leaves her three-year-old son and heads to Omaha—for cancer treatment, and a last chance to save her life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/103/scenes-from-a-transplant1998-05-29T00:00:00-04:00102With 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/102/road-trip1998-05-22T00:00:00-04:00101The story of a town that started with something huge—the falls—and built nothing lasting from it.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/101/niagara1998-05-01T00:00:00-04:00100A radio show about what makes radio so great, and what makes it so terrible.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/100/radio1998-04-24T00:00:00-04:0099Variations on what it means to be a girl and what it means to be a woman.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/99/i-enjoy-being-a-girl-sort-of1998-04-10T00:00:00-04:0098Stories about what it means to be a person who throws the first punch, and how hard it is to give up.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/98/throwing-the-first-punch1998-03-27T00:00:00-05:0097David 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/97/death-to-wacky1998-03-20T00:00:00-05:0096Stories 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/96/pinned-by-history1998-03-13T00:00:00-05:0095Stories of people struggling to redefine monogamy, to stay monogamous, and what we should make of these ad hoc experiments in everyday life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/95/monogamy1998-03-06T00:00:00-05:0094Ira teaches Sarah Vowell how to drive with some advice from the hosts of Car Talk.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/94/how-to1998-02-27T00:00:00-05:0093Stories about couples that all take place decades after that moment their eyes first meet.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/93/valentines-day-981998-02-13T00:00:00-05:0092When someone tries to tell you a little bit more about themselves than you'd really rather know.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/92/leave-the-mask-on1998-02-06T00:00:00-05:0091Stories of people trying to escape the box of their own lives, and create new lives.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/91/escape-the-box1998-01-30T00:00:00-05:0090The 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/90/telephone1998-01-16T00:00:00-05:0089Stories about people who are destined to fight: brothers and sisters.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/89/sibling-rivalry1998-01-09T00:00:00-05:0088People trying to use numbers to describe things that should not be quantified.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/88/numbers1998-01-02T00:00:00-05:0087Holiday stories from David Sedaris and Julia Sweeney.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/87/a-very-special-sedaris-christmas1997-12-19T00:00:00-05:0086A con man who's so good he's thanked.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/86/how-to-take-money-from-strangers1997-12-12T00:00:00-05:0085Chickens and turkeys are a mirror of ourselves.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/85/poultry-slam-19971997-12-05T00:00:00-05:0084The story of Harold Washington and the white backlash that was set off when he became Chicago's first black mayor.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/84/harold1997-11-21T00:00:00-05:0083Stories of outsiders who want to be insiders, and vice versa.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/83/one-of-us1997-11-14T00:00:00-05:0082Stories of people who are haunted, not by ghosts or phantoms, but by other people.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/82/haunted1997-10-31T00:00:00-05:0081Americans who love their guns, and the Americans who love them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/81/guns1997-10-24T00:00:00-04:0080Scott Carrier with the latest installment in his 12-year quest to chase down and catch an antelope.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/80/running-after-antelope1997-10-17T00:00:00-04:0079People stuck in the wrong decade, or simply carrying a lot of the props from another decade.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/79/stuck-in-the-wrong-decade1997-10-10T00:00:00-04:0078Ira Glass talks to three teenage boys who buy computer equipment using stolen credit card numbers. And other stories.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/78/how-bad-is-bad1997-10-03T00:00:00-04:0077Can the secular world and the religious world understand each other?https://www.thisamericanlife.org/77/pray1997-09-26T00:00:00-04:0076The mob as portrayed in movies, and as it is in real life. And its hold over us.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/76/mob1997-09-19T00:00:00-04:0075A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/75/kindness-of-strangers1997-09-12T00:00:00-04:0074What happens when people with a common interest gather in fluorescent-lit halls? Sometimes they drive each other crazy, sometimes they fall in love.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/74/conventions1997-08-29T00:00:00-04:0073Mona LisaThe darker side of the art world: petty jealousies, competitiveness, failure.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/73/blame-it-on-art1997-08-22T00:00:00-04:0072The story of two Americans—one white, one black—who go to South Africa and have very different opinions about what they find.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/72/trek1997-08-08T00:00:00-04:0071A man goes on a last big trip with his father who has Alzheimer's.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/71/defying-sickness1997-08-01T00:00:00-04:0070Four stories of people who read other people's mail, and what happens to them once they get caught up in these other lives.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/70/other-peoples-mail1997-07-25T00:00:00-04:0069Parents moving the family to some new place, hoping it works out for the kids.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/69/dream-house1997-07-18T00:00:00-04:0068We look at the legacy of the most moving, poetic inaugural speech in American history.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/68/lincolns-second-inaugural1997-07-04T00:00:00-04:0067An interracial couple takes a plantation tour. And other stories in which someone's dream is someone else's nightmare.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/67/your-dream-my-nightmare1997-06-27T00:00:00-04:0066Listeners sent us samples of what they're finding on the internet, including postings from Usenet groups, favorite web pages, and their own email.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/66/tales-from-the-net1997-06-06T00:00:00-04:0065Canadians claim they're no different from red-blooded Americans. We put their position to the test.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/65/whos-canadian1997-05-30T00:00:00-04:0064We want summer to be this wonderful break, but so often it fails to deliver.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/64/summer1997-05-23T00:00:00-04:0063A man tries to run for President as a utopian nudist, and other stories of people whose lives are organized around one thing.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/63/one-thing1997-05-09T00:00:00-04:0062Twenty-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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/62/something-for-nothing1997-05-02T00:00:00-04:0061Stories of when things go wrong. Really wrong.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/61/fiasco-19971997-04-25T00:00:00-04:0060Stories of people for whom death is a job—undertakers, homicide detectives, slaughterhouse workers, and others.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/60/business-of-death1997-04-18T00:00:00-04:0059Stories about people who are not afraid of fire, though perhaps they should be.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/59/fire1997-04-11T00:00:00-04:0058The claustrophobia, freedom, and yearning people feel in small towns.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/58/small-towns1997-04-04T00:00:00-05:0057Stories about the delivery business and the people in it: UPS men, bike messengers, FedEx dispatchers.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/57/delivery1997-03-14T00:00:00-05:0056Name changes are particularly American stories: they're the dream of starting over with a clean slate.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/56/name-change1997-03-07T00:00:00-05:0055Radio producer Sandy Tolan was supposed to do a documentary about strippers with an aspiring writer—and stripper—named Susan. But then Susan disappeared.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/55/three-women-and-the-sex-industry1997-02-28T00:00:00-05:0054Stories, tributes, and attempts to understand the Chairman of the Board.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/54/sinatra1997-02-21T00:00:00-05:0053Stories about our parents falling in love.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/53/valentines-day-971997-02-07T00:00:00-05:0052Stories about the border between mental health and mental illness.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/52/edge-of-sanity1997-01-31T00:00:00-05:0051Stories of people who handle dead animals. (Don't worry—it's not as gross as it sounds.) Featuring a story by George Saunders.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/51/animals-die-people-ponder1997-01-24T00:00:00-05:0050A man decides to live as if he'll die in six months. That, and other stories of starting life over.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/50/shoulda-been-dead1997-01-17T00:00:00-05:0049Stories about the animalness of animals, the irreducible ways in which they are not human.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/49/animals1997-01-10T00:00:00-05:0048A portrait of Americans at the International Tribunal.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/48/justice1997-01-03T00:00:00-05:0047The intersection of Christmas and retail, including David Sedaris's "Santaland Diaries."https://www.thisamericanlife.org/47/christmas-and-commerce1996-12-20T00:00:00-05:0046A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/46/sissies1996-12-13T00:00:00-05:0045People struggling at the fringes of our nation's infotainment industry.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/45/media-fringe1996-12-06T00:00:00-05:0044Stories about turkeys, chickens, ducks, and fowl of all kinds.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/44/poultry-slam-19961996-11-29T00:00:00-05:0043People who made a deal with the devil.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/43/faustian-bargains1996-11-22T00:00:00-05:0042Trying to forget the past and move on.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/42/get-over-it1996-11-15T00:00:00-05:0041Stories of the election you can't hear anywhere else.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/41/politics1996-11-08T00:00:00-05:0040Spalding Gray on finding the zen of skiing.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/40/lessons1996-11-01T00:00:00-05:0039Stories of things that are supposed to be scary, but aren't.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/39/halloween1996-10-25T00:00:00-04:0038Civil War reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle, and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/38/simulated-worlds1996-10-11T00:00:00-04:0037Scott Carrier got a job interviewing schizophrenics. After awhile, he began to wonder if he was a schizophrenic himself.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/37/the-job-that-takes-over-your-life1996-09-27T00:00:00-04:0036We took out advertisements in Chicago inviting people to share letters they've received, sent, or found.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/36/letters1996-09-20T00:00:00-04:0035Stories that haven't fit into any of our regular "theme" shows.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/35/fall-clearance-sale1996-09-06T00:00:00-04:0034Unusual stories from the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/34/democratic-convention1996-08-30T00:00:00-04:0033Ira Glass spends a night at one of the most boisterous hot dog stands in the nation: Chicago's Wiener Circle.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/33/a-night-at-the-wiener-circle1996-08-23T00:00:00-04:0032Unusual stories about day-to-day life at the Republican Convention.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/32/republican-convention1996-08-16T00:00:00-04:0031Stories of people whose lives are transformed by music.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/31/when-you-talk-about-music1996-08-09T00:00:00-04:0030What happens when a little idea starts to control you.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/30/obsession1996-07-26T00:00:00-04:0029Unusual perspectives on the presumptive Republican nominee.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/29/bob-dole1996-07-19T00:00:00-04:0028David Sedaris recalls the days when his mother and sister played armchair detective.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/28/detectives1996-07-12T00:00:00-04:0027A story of youthful backstabbing by David Sedaris.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/27/the-cruelty-of-children1996-06-21T00:00:00-04:0026Ira's own father, Barry Glass, co-hosts this special Father's Day show.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/26/fathers-day-961996-06-14T00:00:00-04:0025The Chicago Bulls and their grip on Chicagoans' hearts and lives during the NBA playoffs.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/25/basketball1996-06-07T00:00:00-04:0024Girls who have to figure out how they're going to act when the ground rules are constantly shifting.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/24/teenaged-girls1996-05-24T00:00:00-04:0023Stories of the people who fall for a life in the theater.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/23/drama-bug1996-05-10T00:00:00-04:0022Stories of the difficult relationships between parents and their grown children.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/22/adult-children1996-05-03T00:00:00-04:0021Friends get together to start a business, start a church, do political action together. And after a while, they start fighting and split up.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/21/factions1996-04-26T00:00:00-04:0020Stories of admiring someone from afar, and trying to get closer to them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/20/from-a-distance1996-04-19T00:00:00-04:0019Men who had comfortable, decent lives, yet decided to do something wild and eccentric.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/19/rich-guys1996-04-12T00:00:00-04:0018A 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.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/18/liars1996-03-28T00:00:00-05:0017Our first show as This American Life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/17/name-change-no-theme1996-03-21T00:00:00-05:0016Politics, the economy, and the big picture.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/16/economy1996-03-14T00:00:00-05:0015Jack Hitt stumbles onto an epic story of the Old South and changing cultural norms in America.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/15/dawn1996-02-28T00:00:00-05:0014Stories made from old recordings found in attics and thrift stores.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/14/accidental-documentaries1996-02-21T00:00:00-05:0013The dream of true love and the difficulties with achieving and maintaining that dream.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/13/love1996-02-07T00:00:00-05:0012The animalness of animals, and the irreducible ways in which they are not human.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/12/animals1996-01-31T00:00:00-05:0011A friendship between two young boys that was destroyed through the manipulative acts of one of them.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/11/enemies1996-01-24T00:00:00-05:0010People living their lives, just like the rest of us. Plus an extra life.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/10/double-lives1996-01-17T00:00:00-05:009Julia Sweeney and her brother found out they each had cancer six months apart.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/9/julia-sweeney1996-01-10T00:00:00-05:008Reflecting back on 1995.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/8/new-year1996-01-03T00:00:00-05:007People who quit everything in their lives that they hated.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/7/quitting1995-12-29T00:00:00-05:006A Christmas radio play by David Sedaris.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/6/christmas1995-12-22T00:00:00-05:005Stories that reveal the societal "trend" toward anger and away from genuine forgiveness.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/5/anger-and-forgiveness1995-12-15T00:00:00-05:004Vacations gone awry—or perhaps vacations that never should have happened.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/4/vacations1995-12-08T00:00:00-05:003Decrying the wonders of turkeys, chickens, and other fowl.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/3/poultry-slam-19951995-12-01T00:00:00-05:002Three teenage boys tell us about their forays into low-level credit card hacking.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/2/small-scale-sin1995-11-24T00:00:00-05:001Our very first broadcast.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/1/new-beginnings1995-11-17T00:00:00-05:00