Archive
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995

202: Faith 12.21.01

Stories of faith: losing it, talking about it, constructing it, and working within it.

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201: Them 12.7.01

In 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." Some people need a good "them." Other people tend to see all "thems" as...

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200: Hearts and Minds 11.30.01

Of all the wars to win, perhaps the propaganda war is the hardest. In this show, we bring you stories of propaganda wars past and present, by those who fought them and those who survived them.

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199: House on Loon Lake 11.16.01

Our entire show this week is one long story, sort of a real-life Hardy Boys mystery. More than most of our shows, this one lends itself to a Hollywood-style tagline. Perhaps: "You Might Break In......

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198: How to Win Friends and Influence People 11.2.01

Stories of people climbing to be number one. How do they do it? What is the fundamental difference between us and them?

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197: Before It Had A Name 10.26.01

There's the time when you know something is happening, but you're not sure exactly what. The illness before it's diagnosed. The era, before it's been given a title. And something changes when the...

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196: Rashomon 10.5.01

In the movie Rashomon, one story is told from four different points of view. The story changes dramatically depending on who's telling it. This week, the events of September 11th, and how their...

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195: War Stories 9.28.01

In September 2001, we tried to sort out what the war in Afghanistan would be like, and what our lives would be like during this war.

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194: Before and After 9.21.01

Stories in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001.

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193: Stories of Loss 9.14.01

In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a collection of stories in which people try to make sense of loss.

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192: Meet the Pros 8.31.01

The story of one man's journey from obscurity to international professional celebrity—aided only by his own hard work, a sneaker commercial, and mad handles. And other stories of amateurs hurtling...

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191: I Know What You Did This Summer 8.17.01

Stories for the stultifying, torpor-inducing, hottest heat of summer.

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190: Living the Dream 8.3.01

There's a deep impulse in American culture that says that you can make yourself into anyone. Today, three stories about people who tried to do just that.

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189: Hitler's Yacht 7.13.01

Nearly this entire show is devoted to the story of the boat known as "Hitler's Yacht." It's a modern-day fable about what happens when the free market, the media, the World War II buffs, the Neo-...

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188: Kid Logic 6.22.01

Stories of kids using perfectly logical arguments, and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.

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187: Father's Day '01 6.15.01

For Father's Day, stories of dads who are utterly human in scale.

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186: Prom 6.8.01

While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town, destroying about a third of it. When they emerged from the dance, they discovered what...

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185: Golden Calf 5.25.01

Stories of people worshiping false idols...and if that's always a bad thing.

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184: Neighbors 5.11.01

Stories of people trying to love their neighbors...and failing.

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183: The Missing Parents Bureau 4.20.01

Stories about the legacy of absent parents. We hear four cases from the files of the Missing Parents Bureau.

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182: Cringe 4.13.01

Stories that make us cringe, and an investigation into just what, exactly, makes some stories capable of forcing this physical reaction out of us when other stories don't. We hear tales of personal...

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181: The Friendly Man 4.6.01

A special show, composed entirely of stories from just one This American Life contributor: Scott Carrier, whose strange and compelling stories sound like nothing else on the radio.

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180: Return to Childhood 3.23.01

Stories of people who try to revisit their childhoods. What they find. And what they do not find.

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179: Cicero 3.16.01

The story in a way of a town that time forgot, or more accurately, a town that tried to forget the times. A special broadcast co-hosted by award-winning journalist Alex Kotlowitz, author of the books...

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178: Superpowers 2.23.01

We answer the following questions about superpowers: Can superheroes be real people? (No.) Can real people become superheroes? (Maybe.) And which is better: flight or invisibility? (Depends who you...

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177: American Limbo 2.9.01

Stories of people living completely outside the grid of American life. Americans in Paris. Chinese in America. West Virginians in treehouses. Mexican-Americans in Rochester.

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176: Two Nations, One President 1.26.01

In the wake of the 2001 election debacle in Florida, the two political halves of this country seemed angrier at each other than they had in decades. This week we bring you tales of that widening rift...

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175: Babysitting 1.5.01

Stories of babysitters, and what goes on while mom and dad are away that mom and dad never find out about.

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