This American Life

This American Life

About

Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.

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145 episodes

827: All the King's Horses

The things we break and the ones we can't fix. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/827/transcript

1h 0m
Mar 24
826: Unprepared for What Has Already Happened

People waking up to the fact that the world has suddenly changed. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/826/transcript

1h 2m
Mar 17
304: Heretics

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

59m
Mar 10
825: Yousef

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

1h 6m
Mar 03
824: Family Meeting

Your mother and I have something we want to talk with you about. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

58m
Feb 25
653: Crime Scene

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

1h 0m
Feb 18
823: The Question Trap

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

57m
Feb 04
822: The Words to Say It

What it means to have words—and to lose them. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

58m
Jan 28
821: Embrace the Suck

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/

58m
Jan 21
567: What’s Going On In There?

Often we see someone’s situation from the outside and think we know exactly what’s going on. This week, we get inside and find out just how much more interesting the reality of it is. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/567/transcript

59m
Jan 14
205: Plan B

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

1h 0m
Jan 07
241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes

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

59m
Dec 31, 2023
820: It Wouldn’t Be Make-Believe If You’d Believe In Me

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

1h 2m
Dec 24, 2023
818: Stand Clear of the Closing Doors

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

1h 17m
Dec 17, 2023
817: The Cavalry Is Not Coming

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

59m
Dec 03, 2023
816: Poultry Slam

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

57m
Nov 26, 2023
815: How I Learned to Shave

Things our dads taught us, whether they intended to or not. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

1h 0m
Nov 19, 2023
814: 814: Parents Are People

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

1h 3m
Nov 12, 2023
813: Is That What I Look Like?

You've been seeing yourself, getting to know what you look like, your whole life. So why does it often take an outsider to see things about you that are obvious, and set you straight? __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/813/transcript

56m
Nov 05, 2023
319: And the Call Was Coming from the Basement

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

58m
Oct 29, 2023
812: The Bear at the End of the Tunnel

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

1h 3m
Oct 22, 2023
477: Getting Away With It

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

59m
Oct 15, 2023
811: The One Place I Can’t Go

Spots we’re avoiding in our private maps of the world. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/811/transcript

1h 0m
Oct 01, 2023
810: Say It to My Face

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/

1h 3m
Sep 17, 2023
809: The Call

One call to a very unusual hotline, and everything that followed. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/809/transcript

1h 1m
Sep 10, 2023
388: Rest Stop

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

1h 0m
Sep 03, 2023
323: The Super

The mysterious hold supers have on their buildings, or that their buildings have on them. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/323/transcript

1h 0m
Aug 27, 2023
808: The Rest of the Story

Legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey had a popular show called “The Rest of the Story.” Today on our show, we do just that. We hear from people who, whether they want to or not, find themselves face-to-face with the rest of their stories. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/808/transcript

1h 3m
Aug 20, 2023
714: Day at the Beach

It’s the last few weeks of summer, so we’re going to the beach! This week, stories from the surf and sand. __ __ Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org https://www.thisamericanlife.org/714/transcript

1h 4m
Aug 13, 2023