We use cookies and other tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. If you continue to use our site, you agree to the use of such cookies. For more info, see our privacy policy.
Skip to main content

Hi. We love you. Be our Life Partner.

Support the show to get ad-free listening, bonus content, and our new Greatest Hits Archive.

Learn more
This American Life Partners logo
00:00
00:00
  • Transcript
  • Share
This American Life
  • Life Partners
  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Follow Us
  • Life Partners
289
May 13, 2005

Go Ask Your Father

In honor of Father’s Day, stories of sons and daughters finding out the one thing they've always wanted to know about their father. The answers aren't always what they’d hoped for.

  • Download
    Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
  • Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
  • Transcript

Getty/Nathanael Kiefer

Prologue

Prologue

As a kid, Aric Knuth sent cassette tapes to his dad, a merchant marine gone for months at a time. He’d leave one side blank and ask for a reply—but none ever came. Aric talks to Ira Glass about what it was like to finally ask his dad why. (7 minutes)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Make Him Say Uncle

Lennard Davis was always told to avoid his no-good Uncle Abie. After his father died, Abie claimed he was actually Lenny’s biological father via artificial insemination. At first, the story seemed possible, then doubtful. It took Lenny more than 20 years to sort out whether it was true, and he finds out the answer—definitively—as tape is rolling. (31 minutes)

Lennard Davis wrote a book about these experiences, called "Go Ask Your Father."

By

Ira Glass
Act Two

My Favorite Martian

Paul Tough’s father was a mild-mannered professor—until he suddenly left the family to pursue a lifelong quest: making contact with extraterrestrial life. For the first time, Paul joins him and asks the questions he’s long kept to himself about his father’s alien pursuits. (18 minutes)

Paul Tough is one of the original contributing editors to This American Life. His father's website is ieti.org.

By

Paul Tough

Related

If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
521: Bad Baby
Mar. 28, 2014

Act Three: The Devil Went Down To Jersey

Producer Jonathan Menjivar tells the story of a bad baby who stopped being bad.
132: Father’s Day ‘99
June 18, 1999

Act One: Paddington's Day At The Dump

The story begun in the Prologue continues.
577: Something Only I Can See
Jan. 15, 2016

Act One: Do These Genes Make Me Look Fatless?

Journalist David Epstein tells the story of Jill Viles, who has muscular dystrophy and can’t walk.

Staff Recommendations

View all
387
Aug. 7, 2009

Arms Trader (2009)

The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man suspected of being an illegal arms dealer.

465
May 25, 2012

What Happened at Dos Erres

A Guatemalan immigrant living near Boston gets a phone call with some very strange news about his past.

This American Life

This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.

  • How to Listen
  • Episodes
  • Recommended
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Announcements
    • Fellowships
    • Jobs
    • Music
    • Make Radio
    • On The Road
    • FAQ
    • Submissions
    • Merch
    • Contact Us
    • Our Other Shows
  • Merch
  • Contact
  • Life Partners
  • Serial
  • S-Town
© 1995 - 2025 This American Life Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Subscribe

  • on Spotify
  • in Apple Podcasts

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email