453: Nemeses 12.16.2011
This week, stories where a longtime standoff keeps both sides coming back for more. Including a story about the time in Poland's recent history where the country's two political blocks came ...
452: Poultry Slam 2011 12.02.2011
We bring you our sort-of-annual holiday tradition: The Poultry Slam! Stories of what happens when humans and fowl collide, including the tale of one notorious turkey who unleashed a long reign of ...
451: Back to Penn State 11.18.2011
In the wake of the recent news, listeners have contacted us and tweeted about the show we did two years ago at Penn State, #1 Party School.
450: So Crazy It Just Might Work 11.11.2011
A few years ago a cancer researcher named Jonathan Brody gave a speech at his alma mater saying that people in his field really needed to think outside the box to find a cure. Afterward he was ...
449: Middle School 10.28.2011
This week, at the suggestion of a 14-year-old listener, we bring you stories from the awkward, confusing, hormonally charged world of middle school. Including a teacher who transforms peer ...
448: Adventure! 10.07.2011
Sometimes you choose the adventure and sometimes the adventure chooses you. This week, stories that pinpoint when people's boring old lives turn into something wildly unfamiliar. Including a story ...
447: The Incredible Case of the P.I. Moms 09.23.2011
What 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.
446: Living Without (2011) 09.16.2011
Stories of people living without. Nubar Alexanian explains what fish can do for him that his own ears cannot. Bobby Morris, on leaving baseball. And other stories.
445: Ten Years In 09.09.2011
In this show, we return to people who've been on This American Life in the last ten years, whose lives were drastically altered by 9/11, including Hyder Akbar, an Afghan-American teen who moved to ...
444: Gossip 08.26.2011
This week, Sarah Koenig hosts, as we tackle the thing we all hate to love: Gossip. That's right; we've got rumor, we've got innuendo, and we've got a story of gossipers gone pro. Sarah even makes ...
443: Amusement Park 08.12.2011
We head to some of the happiest places on Earth: Amusement Parks! Jonathan Goldstein revisits one he worked at as a teen, Ira takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the ...
442: Thugs 07.29.2011
Like a lot of Mexican towns, Florencia has had its share of problems dealing with drug gangs. That is until recently, when new narcos rolled into town telling residents that they were there to ...
441: When Patents Attack! 07.22.2011
Why 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? The answer involves a controversial billionaire physicist in ...
440: Game Changer 07.08.2011
A professor in Pennsylvania makes a calculation, to discover that his state is sitting atop a massive reserve of natural gas—enough to revolutionize how America gets its energy. But another ...
439: A House Divided 06.24.2011
Stories about people who find themselves either unexpectedly being singled out or doing the singling out. Including one story about nine public officials whose constituents are trying to throw ...
438: Father's Day 2011 06.17.2011
Yes yes yes you've heard it all before, when it comes to stories of fathers and their children. There's the story of the kid who idolizes his dad, but then learns something and becomes ...
437: Old Boys Network 06.03.2011
Stories about standing up to the man—or, really, the men. Nurses at a small Texas hospital report a well-connected doctor for dangerous medical practices, and find themselves under arrest. ...
436: The Psychopath Test 05.27.2011
Recently we heard about this test that could determine if someone was a psychopath. So, naturally, our staff decided to take it. This week we hear the results. Plus Jon Ronson asks the question: ...
435: How To Create a Job 05.13.2011
It seems like every politician has a plan for putting people back to work. But we and the Planet Money team couldn’t help but wonder…how do you create a job? Can politicians truly create many ...
434: This Week 05.06.2011
This week we're trying something we've never tried before: An hour of stories about...this week. We take a crack at major news events, like what's happening in Egypt; and at the most minor, like ...
432: Know When To Fold 'Em 04.08.2011
When is it time to walk away, and when is it time to run? This week we have the story of an entire country deciding whether to give up on just one of its citizens, when to hold 'em in order to win ...
431: See No Evil 04.01.2011
When things are awkward or uncomfortable or distressing, a lot of times it's easier to not think about it. This week we have stories of people pretending that everything is okay and ignoring the ...
430: Very Tough Love 03.25.2011
This week: A drug court program that we believe is run differently from every other drug court in the country, doing some things that are contrary to the very philosophy of drug court. The ...
429: Will They Know Me Back Home? 03.11.2011
Stories of people who've grown so accustomed to wartime that the lives they've left behind no longer make sense. Including a US battalion going home on leave after 15 months of deployment, and an ...
428: Oh You Shouldn't Have 03.04.2011
Stories about the perils of giving and receiving gifts: Ones that go over spectacularly well in spite of being in poor taste, and ones that flop even with the best intentions. Including what ...
427: Original Recipe 02.11.2011
The formula for Coca-Cola is one of the most jealously guarded trade secrets in the world. Locked in a vault in Atlanta. Supposedly unreplicable. But we think we may have found the original ...
426: Tough Room 2011 02.04.2011
This week we bring you backstage with comedy writers at The Onion. They start with over 600 potential headlines for their fake-news newspaper each week, and over the course of two days, in the ...
425: Slow To React 01.21.2011
This week we have stories where people's reactions move very slowly, including the story of a wedding 17 years in the making, and what it's like when you have a terminal illness that's supposed ...
424: Kid Politics 01.14.2011
What if, say, the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada in 1983 had been decided, not by Ronald Reagan, but by a bunch of middle-schoolers? And what if every rule at your high school had been determined, ...
423: The Invention of Money 01.07.2011
Five reporters stumbled on what seems like a basic question: What is money? The unsettling answer they found: Money is fiction. Photo: Stone money on the island of Yap.
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