Browse our archive by

Filter by

Clear

Act Eleven: Toledo

On election night, producer Emmanuel Dzotsi was the last person at our office. Just before midnight, he got on the phone to his mom in Ohio, and recorded their conversation.
601: Master of Her Domain… Name
Nov. 4, 2016

Act Two: Knowing What We Know

After Huma Abedin’s emails were discovered on her husband’s computer by the FBI, and after FBI Director James Comey publicly declared the agency would be investigating those emails, Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers dropped. What was the conversation Huma Abedin then had with her boss, Hillary Clinton? Actors Tami Sagher and Cady Huffman tried to imagine it.
Nov. 3, 2016

Seriously

15 million people watched this on Facebook. Right before the 2016 election, we asked Sara Bareilles to imagine what President Obama might be thinking about Donald Trump, but couldn’t say publicly. Leslie Odom Jr. sang. 

Nov. 3, 2016

Party Guy

The third song we commissioned on the eve of the 2016 election. Broadway composer Michael Friedman imagined what RNC Chairman Reince Priebus might be thinking, but not expressing publicly. John Ellison Conlee sang.

Nov. 3, 2016
Paul Ryan standing behind two mics, smiling

A Better Way

Just before the 2016 election, we asked the Frozen songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez to imagine what Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was feeling, but couldn’t say publicly, about Donald Trump. Neil Patrick Harris sang the part of Paul Ryan.

602: The Sun Comes Up
Nov. 11, 2016

Prologue

Host Ira Glass explains that this hour we will hear from people from all over the country, with different points of view, explain what they’re feeling and thinking about Donald Trump’s election.
599: Seriously?
Oct. 21, 2016

Act Four: Seriously?

We’ve been wondering about some of the things President Obama thinks about the current election, but can’t say publicly. But since he hasn’t told us his thoughts explicitly, we asked singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles – who did the Broadway musical “Waitress” – to imagine those thoughts for us.
587: The Perils of Intimacy
May 27, 2016

Prologue

Ira talks to Rachel Rosenthal, who spent years trying to figure out who had stolen her identity. She was closing bank account after bank account, getting more and more paranoid, until she realized she knew exactly who the thief was.

Act Three: Hero Today, Gone Tomorrow

Comedian Kyle Mizono, in a live performance, tells about the time she met her hero, spent a week working with him every day, and it went really well. And then, she emailed him.
591: Get Your Money's Worth
July 15, 2016

Act Three: Make It Count

Most stories of customer satisfaction are told by the customers. In this act, we ask: is the product satisfied by life with you? We get answers, from a product itself. Simon Rich reads his short story, “Unprotected.” Please note: this story does vaguely acknowledge the existence of sex.