Dr Patricia Deegan hears voices in her head. She's a psychologist and she believes that the only way mental health workers can really understand what their patients go through is if they hear voices themselves.

New York City locksmith Joel Kostman tells the story of an act of kindness he committed, hoping for a small reward. From his book: Keys to the City: Tales of a New York City Locksmith.

Susan Berman, author of the memoir Easy Street, the True Story of a Gangster's Daugher, reads from her book about her father Davie Berman, a Jewish gangster and one of the men — with Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel — who created modern Las Vegas. (7 minutes)Act Two continues after the break.

David Sedaris recounts his shameful career as a performance artist. Recorded before a live audience by KUOW Seattle.

We begin to hear a story by Scott Carrier.

Michael Lewis on duck hunting.

Meema Spadola with Lou Zeidberg.

Jay Allison presents a woman who "talks" to animals and a slaughterhouse owner.

Ira with 19-year-old Claudia Perez at a furniture store in Claudia's Mexican neighborhood.

Writer David Sedaris on an unwelcome surprise in a toilet — a turd.

Cheryl Trykv hears she's gonna live.

Tapes from the Apology Line and interview with "Mrs. Apology," Marissa Bridge.

Dishwasher Pete on Letterman.

Gay Talese reads from his classic 1966 Esquire article, in which he followed around Sinatra at the height of Sinatra's power.

Dishwasher Pete, author of the book Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States, went to the National Restaurant Association convention on assignment from This American Life.

Foreign correspondent Jim Biederman reports from a cell phone inside the Louvre, in front of the Mona Lisa, on what people say while they're standing in front of some of the world's greatest works of art. It turns out to be pretty banal.

Howard Rabinowitz and The Truth About Cats and Dogs. (4 minutes)

Host Ira Glass talks to Amanda, who's 16 and lives with her mom in a Christian commune in Chicago.

David Sedaris, on his mother's lung cancer.

Joel Lovell tells a story about working in a mental institution, and what it's like when it feels like your grip on the keys isn't so steady.

Singles in Agriculture. By reporter Liz Weil and Alix Spiegel.

A story by Margy Rochlin.

Susan Bergman and the Christian convention. Susan is the author of Anonymity.

An interracial couple takes a plantation tour.