John Hodgman conducts an informal survey in which he asks the age-old question: Which is better: The power of flight or the power of invisibility? (14 minutes)John hosts the podcast Judge John Hodgman.

A story by John Hodgman about returning to the beach after a very bad year.

John Hodgman first encountered Cuervo Man on a press junket to Cuervo Nation, a small island owned by Jose Cuervo Tequila. Cuervo Man was wearing nothing but a Speedo, wraparound shades, and a red cape.

John Connors has very mixed emotions about attending a convention for viewers of the TV program Dark Shadows.

John Gravois tells the story of a potentially annoying San Francisco food trend: artisanal toast. John explains how, in fact, the trend's origins are very down to earth, and more heroic than annoying.

This American Life receives an emergency transmission from a rooftop somewhere in New York City, where John Hodgman reports on the true-life origins of Christmas traditions. John Hodgman is the author of More Information Than You Require.

In 2008, reporter Chris Neary told the story of John, a soldier who returned from tours of Iraq and Afghanistan with severe PTSD, and ended up attacking his fiancee and her mother. Chris finds out how John is coping today.

Catherine and John, two college undergrads, do a babysitting gig together.

John Fecile talks to his brother, Pat, about a list their other brother made before he died.

Reporter Mary Wiltenburg tells the story of a little boy stymied by the question "Where do you come from?" (8 minutes)You can read more of the family’s stories on Mary’s website.

A short story by John Jodzio that reveals the truth about infants. It's read by Sara Mollo-Christensen.

Chicago performance artist John Conners reads from a 1942 book called How To Improve Your Personality, from a chapter instructing men on how to avoid being sissies.

Some stunning parallels between the political strategies of the two leaders, by John Matisonn.

Ira talks to John Biewen about how remarkable it is that he could grow up in a town and never learn about the most significant event in its history. This show about Native Americans and settlers was first broadcast on Thanksgiving weekend 2012, on the 150th anniversary of the war.

Producer Jonathan Menjivar tells the story of John Smid, a gay man who did not want to be gay, and who tried to get other gay people to suppress their urges as well. Then...John changed.

We continue the story of John Pickle. He hires skilled, experienced welders in India and brings them to the United States.

John Hodgman tries to tell the real version of a war movie that's already been written, filmed and released on DVD—Star Wars.

Jane Doe walks into a public ethics hearing at the Idaho state capitol and navigates the aftermath. (23 minutes)Song: “Here We Have Idaho”  Fiona Apple (vocals) Amy Wood (drums and percussion) David Garza (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, vocals) Sabastian Steinberg (bass, electric autoharp, vocals) John Would (tremolo guitar) Engineered by John Would, Amy Wood, Fiona Apple Mixed and mastered by John Would

When John came back from fighting in Iraq, he refused to leave his house. He was paranoid.

Host Ira Glass talks to reporter John Bowe about the story of John Nash Pickle, who ran a company in Tulsa, Oklahoma that made steel tanks used in the oil industry. According to 52 Indian men whom Pickle hired and brought to America, Pickle was trying to compete with foreign companies, doing something most companies never try.

This American Life contributor John Hodgman was unexpectedly chosen to be in a series of high-profile Apple Computer commercials (he plays a PC). He tells the story of what happens when celebrity hunts you down and finds you...on your living room couch, pushing 40, and a couple sizes larger than you want to be.

Tapes recorded in a Chicago home Christmas morning, more than 50 years ago.

Professor Glenn Loury from Boston University and John Simpkins on basketball, hockey, and what makes a real black person.