Prologue
When you're a preteen, you walk around every day with the knowledge that your body is about to change. You don’t know exactly when or how.
Act Two: The Road To Badness
Yale psychologist Paul Bloom tells Ira about his research into the morality of babies and young children.
Act Two: You Don't Say
A person is accused of a murder he didn't commit. But in this story there is no false confession.
Act One: Take Your Kid to Work Day
A boy rides shotgun in a memorable car ride with his mother, and in the process learns how his father earns money for their family. This story appears in Domingo Martinez’s memoir, The Boy Kings of Texas, which was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Act Three: The Geeks Come Out at Night
Because the line between a mortal and venial sin can be hazy, sometimes the only way to tell is to test it. And that's particularly true when you're a kid, trying to figure out if you agree with where your parents draw that line.
Prologue
Host Ira Glass plays clips of interviews with several people whose dads have tried reach out to them the best way they know how, which often means...awkwardly.
Act Four: May Be Hazardous To Children
Susan Burton rereads her parents' divorce papers—the fine print that changed her life forever.
Act Two: Bar Car Prophesy
Writer Rosie Schaap tells the story of how she ingratiated herself into the adult society of the Metroliner commuter train bar car as a teenager. She would cast Tarot card prophesies for riders, in exchange for beer.
Act One: When I Grow Up
Back in 2004, a reporter named David Holthouse published a remarkable story in the weekly paper he worked for, Westword. It's about something he waited his entire life to do...since childhood.
Act Three: My Own Private U.F.O.
A story about God and extraterrestrials, told by Elna Baker.
My Own Private U.F.O.
Comic by Chris Ware
Act One: Error at First Base
Ira Glass mentions a very silly mistake he made with a girl when he was in junior high. Then comedian Mike Birbiglia tells the story of his rocky foray into the world of making out with girls.
Prologue
When Luke Davies was 11 years old in Australia, his family moved from the boring suburbs to an incredibly fun place: a tourist park full of attractions, where his dad had gotten a job. There, he was considered kind of a wimpy kid, until he got his chance to save the day.
House on Loon Lake
Act Five: Bump In The Night
Producer Jane Feltes talks with her parents about staying up at night with a sick child—specifically, after Jane had a serious injury when she was six.
Act Five: The Case Of The Long Lost Frenemy
Ira talks to a woman about a childhood friend of hers who mysteriously shows up after decades, for reasons that are only revealed as their correspondence unfolds.
Act Four: May Be Hazardous To Children
Susan Burton rereads her parents' divorce papers—the fine print that changed her life forever.
Act Four: Bill Clinton’s 7-year-old Brother
Reporter Mary Wiltenburg tells the story of a little boy stymied by the question "Where do you come from?" (8 minutes)
Act Four: If The Shoe Fits
Actor Matt Malloy reads a short piece of fiction called "Shoes," about a boy trying not to be a turncoat. It's from Etgar Keret's book of short fiction The Busdriver Who Wanted to Be God, and Other Stories.
Act Three: Putting The Cart Before The Porsche
Sara was raised in a fancy suburban neighborhood with strict parents who liked to flaunt their wealth—with his and hers Porsches, for instance. But when Sara was 12, her mother and father sat her down in the den with her siblings, and told them that their father had done a terrible thing, and their lives were about to change forever.