When is too soon for that celebrity comeback, that joke that is either brilliant or full-on repugnant, that parent-child conversation? Stories about a fallen man trying to kickstart his career with a reality show and an awkward moment between a mom and a daughter. __ Act Two: One of the show's producers, Zoe Chace, tells Ira about a joke she made pretty soon after something terrible had happened.__ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/564/transcript
People taking it upon themselves to solve the tiny, overlooked crimes of the world. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/
Mysteries that exist in relationships we thought couldn't possibly surprise us. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/587/transcript
The things we break and the ones we can't fix. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/827/transcript
People waking up to the fact that the world has suddenly changed. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/826/transcript
The story of Reverend Carlton Pearson. He was a rising star in the evangelical movement when he cast aside the idea of hell and, with it, everything he'd worked for over his entire life. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/304/transcript
A series of phone calls to a man in Gaza named Yousef Hammash, between early December and now. He talks about what he and his family are experiencing, sometimes as they are experiencing it. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/825/transcript
Your mother and I have something we want to talk with you about. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/
Every crime scene hides a story. In this week's show, we hear about crime scenes and the stories they tell. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/653/transcript
An investigation of when and why people ask loaded questions that are a proxy for something else. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/823/transcript
What it means to have words—and to lose them. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/
People finding themselves in situations that are worse than they thought and deciding to really go with it. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/
Often we see someone’s situation from the outside and think we know exactly what’s going on. This week, we get inside and find out just how much more interesting the reality of it is. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/567/transcript
There's the thing you plan to do, and then there's the thing you end up doing. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/205/transcript
Instead of the usual "each week we choose a theme, and bring you 3 or 4 stories on that theme" business, we throw all that away and bring you 20 stories—yes, 20—in 60 minutes. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/241/transcript
A major political party in a major swing state bets on a new leader: a total political outsider. How does that work out for them? __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/820/transcript
In the last year and a half, New York City has scrambled to try and provide shelter and services to over 150,000 migrants. We take a look at how that’s going. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/818/transcript
When you realize that help is not on the way, what do you do next? __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/817/transcript
During the highest turkey consumption period of the year, we bring you a This American Life tradition: stories of turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, fowl of all kinds—real and imagined—and their mysterious hold over us. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/816/transcript
Things our dads taught us, whether they intended to or not. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/
What happens when you realize the people in charge don’t have the answers. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/814/transcript
You've been seeing yourself, getting to know what you look like, your whole life. So why does it often take an outsider to see things about you that are obvious, and set you straight? __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/813/transcript
For the lead up to Halloween, scary stories that are all true. Zombie raccoons, haunted houses—real haunted houses!—and things that go "EEEEK!!!" in the night. Plus, a story by David Sedaris in which he walks among the dead. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/319/transcript
People who have a good, long time to think about what they’re doing, look hard at what’s ahead of them, and decide to keep moving forward anyway. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/812/transcript
People breaking the rules fully, completely, and with no bad consequences. Some justify this by saying they’re doing it for others, or for a greater good. Some really don’t care. And, unlike the mealy weaklings you usually hear on this program: none of these wrongdoers seem regretful about what they’ve done. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/477/transcript
Spots we’re avoiding in our private maps of the world. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/811/transcript
Friends and ex-friends finally talk about the one thing between them they've been avoiding. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/
One call to a very unusual hotline, and everything that followed. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/809/transcript
Nine radio reporters. Two days. One rest stop on the New York State Thruway. Stories of people who are just passing through, and the ones who can’t leave, because this is where their jobs are. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/388/transcript