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47: Christmas and Commerce 12.20.96
Stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, including David Sedaris's story "Santaland Diaries," which was first broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition many years ago in a much shorter...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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46: Sissies 12.13.96
Though being gay no longer has much of a stigma in some parts of the country, being a sissy still does — even among gay men. In this show we have a number of surprising and unusual stories of sissies...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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45: Media Fringe 12.6.96
Four stories about people struggling at the fringes of our nation's media/music/infotainment industry.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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44: Poultry Slam 1996 11.29.96
In the midst of the five biggest poultry-consumption weeks of the year—the five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when Americans consume one-fourth of all the turkey they eat in a year—This...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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43: Faustian Bargains 11.22.96
Inspired by a spate of new Chicago stage adaptations of the Faust story, This American Life brings you stories of people who made a deal with the devil.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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42: Get Over It! 11.15.96
Three stories of people trying to forget the past and move on.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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41: Politics 11.8.96
More stories of the election you can't hear anywhere else.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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40: Lessons 11.1.96
Stories from acclaimed storyteller Spalding Gray and others.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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39: Halloween 10.25.96
This week: A show for Halloween. Stories of things that are supposed to be scary, but aren't.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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38: Simulated Worlds 10.11.96
Simulated worlds, Civil war reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America. (4 minutes)- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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37: The Job That Takes Over Your Life 9.27.96
Radio producer Scott Carrier quit his job at a low moment in his life. His wife left him and took the kids. And he got a job interviewing schizophrenics for some medical researchers. After doing it a...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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36: Letters 9.20.96
Host Ira Glass and playwright David Hauptschein took out advertisements in Chicago inviting people to come to a small theater with letters they've received, sent or found.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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35: Fall Clearance Sale 9.6.96
Evocative, funny, emotional stories collected over the last few months that haven't fit into any of our regular "theme" shows.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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34: Democratic Convention 8.30.96
Unusual stories from the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago, with scenes and moments not documented elsewhere.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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33: A Night at the Wiener Circle 8.23.96
Host Ira Glass spent a Saturday night — from 9:00 p.m. until dawn the next morning — at one of the most frenetic, joyous, efficient, angry, boisterous hot dog stands in the nation: Chicago's own...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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32: Republican Convention 8.16.96
Unusual stories about day-to-day life at the Republican Convention.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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31: When You Talk About Music 8.9.96
Stories of people whose lives are transformed by music.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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30: Obsession 7.26.96
Stories of obsession and compulsion. What happens when a little idea starts to control you. Co-hosted by Paul Tough.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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29: Bob Dole 7.19.96
Unusual perspectives on the presumptive Republican nominee.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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28: Detectives 7.12.96
Writer David Sedaris recalls the days when his mother and sister played armchair detective — until a very odd crime wave hit within their own home. Plus, host Ira Glass goes out on surveillance with...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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27: The Cruelty of Children 6.21.96
Stories about kids being mean to each other.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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26: Father's Day '96 6.14.96
Ira's own father Barry Glass co-hosts this special father's day edition of the show.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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25: Basketball 6.7.96
A set of documentary stories, radio essays and monologues about basketball, the Chicago Bulls, and their grip on Chicagoans' hearts and lives during the NBA Playoffs.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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24: Teenaged Girls 5.24.96
Stories of girls who have to figure out how they're going to act when the ground rules are constantly shifting.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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23: Drama Bug 5.10.96
Stories of the people who fall for a life in the theater.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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22: Adult Children 5.3.96
Stories of the difficult relationships between parents and their grown children, including two long stories from Sandra Tsing Loh about her father.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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21: Factions 4.26.96
A show about something most people have gone through. Friends get together to start a business, start a church, do political action together. And after a while, they start fighting and split up. We...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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20: From A Distance 4.19.96
Stories of hero worship, of people admiring someone from afar, and trying to get closer to them.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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19: Rich Guys 4.12.96
Men who had comfortable, decent lives, yet decided to do something wild and eccentric with their lives instead.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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18: Liars 3.28.96
April first is the one day of the year when we're allowed to enjoy deceiving others. But April Fools' Day is for amateur deceivers. The real pros are the people who can't control their lying, who lie...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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17: Name Change / No Theme 3.21.96
Our first show as This American Life.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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16: Economy 3.14.96
Stories of politics, the economy, and the big picture.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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15: Dawn 2.28.96
Writer Jack Hitt goes on a search for a mysterious neighbor from his childhood in Charleston, South Carolina, and stumbles onto an epic story of the Old South, the New South, gender confusion,...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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14: Accidental Documentaries 2.21.96
What unites these stories on the surface is that they're all made from old tapes, recordings found in attics and thrift stores. What unites them under that surface — and not far under it — is that...
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12: Animals 1.31.96
Stories about the animalness of animals, the irreducible ways in which they are not human.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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11: Enemies 1.24.96
A story of a friendship between two adolescent boys that was destroyed through the manipulative acts of one of them.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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10: Double Lives 1.17.96
People living their lives, just like the rest of us. Plus an extra life.- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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9: Julia Sweeney 1.10.96
When comedienne Julia Sweeney and her brother both got cancer, she decided to tell the story the best way she knew how: in a comedy club. It might seem like a strange choice, but what resulted is...- You must be logged in to access these features. Login / Register
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8: New Year 1.3.96
Stories that reflect back on 1995.
