Episodes - This American Life

At the start of the year, Warren Carpenter was a Kristina Karamo supporter; helped her get elected.

Prologue

In 2022, Michigan Republicans ran anti-establishment candidates who claimed the last presidential election was stolen. And they lost big.

The Michigan GOP’s newly elected leader, Kristina Karamo, faces her first big test: Can she organize and pull off the state party’s fabled, expensive Mackinac Island conference as a political outsider – with no fundraising experience or establishment connections? (9 minutes)

806: I Can't Quit You, Baby

July 28, 2023

Act Three: Tender Resignation

Even people who vehemently disagreed with Heider Garcia wanted him to stay in his job. But then something happened that made staying impossible.

820: It Wouldn’t Be Make-Believe If You’d Believe In Me

Dec. 22, 2023

Act Four: Karamo Fights Back

Kristina Karamo and her camp defend themselves against Warren’s attacks that they’re bad at fundraising and bad at leading the party. (13 minutes)

797: What I Was Thinking As We Were Sinking

Apr. 21, 2023

Act Two: Going Down With the Censorships

When to leave Twitter is a question lots of executives faced when Elon Musk took over the company — those who weren't immediately fired, anyway. We hear an insider’s account from the man who ran Trust & Safety at the company, until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

820: It Wouldn’t Be Make-Believe If You’d Believe In Me

Dec. 22, 2023

Act Two: Another Purity Test

Two young Michigan GOP vice chairs are totally on board with Kristina Karamo’s take on politics and hate the establishment like her.

798: Leaving the Fold

May 5, 2023

Act One: He Contains Multitudes

Alex Blumberg tells the true story of Jerry Springer's life before he was a talk show host.

809: The Call

Sept. 8, 2023

Act Two: Stephen

An EMT learns he was connected to the call, in more ways than he realized.

817: The Cavalry Is Not Coming

Dec. 1, 2023

Act One: Serious as a Heart Attack

Tim Reeves runs a hospital in rural Pennsylvania, and he’s trying to do something that is so hard to do and that he knows is completely up to him.

805: The Florida Experiment

July 14, 2023

Act One: Prescription for Freedom

Among the big items in DeSantis's run for president is medical freedom. Producer Zoe Chace wanted to understand its appeal and its growing popularity.

790: You're It

Jan. 27, 2023

Act Two: Game of Phones

Over the last few years, producer Chana Joffe-Walt has been checking in with someone who wears the mantle of being “it” well. She’s a school principal named Teresa Hill.

812: The Bear at the End of the Tunnel

Oct. 20, 2023

Act 2: The Devil Is in the Details. And There Are So Many Details.

Miki Meek reports on the situation for pregnant women in Idaho under the state’s new, post-Roe abortion laws, which are some of the most restrictive in the country. OB-GYNs say the state is in a crisis.

817: The Cavalry Is Not Coming

Dec. 1, 2023

Act Two: Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses...Or Don't

One of our producers, Nadia Reiman, talked to officials who work in the asylum and refugee branches at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

792: When to Leave

Mar. 3, 2023

Act One: First, Do No Harm

Dr. Amelia Huntsberger loves everything about her rural town in northern Idaho.

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Act Three: The Insurrectionists Insurrect Again