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832
May 31, 2024

That Other Guy

People tethered to one particular other person, whether they want to be or not.

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Illustration of a person playing basketball against a shadow

Peter Ryan

Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.

Prologue

Prologue

Guest host Emmanuel Dzotsi talks to Leroy Smith about how one high school basketball tryout forever changed Leroy’s relationship to a childhood friend. (7 minutes)

By Emmanuel Dzotsi
Act One

I Would Run 500 Miles

A man finds himself sucked into an intense head-to-head running competition against a perfect rival – all for free burritos from Chipotle. (18 minutes)

By Emmanuel Dzotsi
Act Two

I Wish I Knew How to Force Quit You

Writer Simon Rich grapples with an A.I. chatbot that threatens to make him obsolete. (21 minutes)

Excerpts from the audiobook edition of I am Code, written by code-davinci-002, edited by Brent Katz, Josh Morgenthau, and Simon Rich; read by Werner Herzog, Brent Katz, Josh Morgenthau, and Simon Rich, used with permission from Hachette Audio.

I am Code © 2023 by Brent Katz, Josh Morgenthau, and Simon Rich; ℗ 2023 by Hachette Audio. All Rights Reserved.

By David Kestenbaum
Act Three

You, Me and Her

For writer Marie Phillips, moving in with her partner meant finding herself deeply connected to the woman who came before her. (12 minutes)

Marie Phillips is the author of Gods Behaving Badly.

By Marie Phillips; Produced by Bim Adewunmi

Song:

“Can’t Get You Out of My Head” by Kaiak (Originally performed by Kylie Minogue)

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Act Two: God And Hockey

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June 23, 2023

Act One: First Contact

We’ve witnessed a revolution in A.I. since the public rollout of ChatGPT.  Our Senior Editor David Kestenbaum thinks that even though there’s been a ton of coverage, there’s one thing people haven’t talked much about: have these machines gotten to the point that they’re starting to have something like human intelligence? Where they actually understand language and concepts, and can reason? He talks with scientists at Microsoft who’ve been trying to figure that out.
261: The Sanctity of Marriage
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Act Three: I Want To Be A Statistic

Starlee Kine gets answers about her parents marriage from her dad...after a lifetime of mystery.

Staff Recommendations

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206
Mar. 1, 2002

Somewhere in the Arabian Sea

Life aboard an aircraft carrier stationed in the Arabian Sea supporting bombing missions over Afghanistan.

84
Nov. 21, 1997

Harold

The story of Harold Washington and the white backlash that was set off when he became Chicago's first black mayor.

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

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