On October 13, 2002, David MacLean woke up in India with no memory of who he was or how he got there. He had no choice but to let the people who recognized him—and even strangers—fill in his identity.

Richard Ravitch has helped fix three governmental crises, including when New York City nearly went bankrupt in 1975. What's changed, to make it so much harder for him to solve the state's current financial crisis? Host Ira Glass reports.

A fable about being a crybaby, from David Sedaris' new book of animal fables, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.

Host Ira Glass investigates two urban legends—alligators in the sewer, rats in the toilet—to find out if they're true.

Ira speaks with Richard Dorsay, who became famous in 2004 when police learned that for years Richard and a friend had been living inside of a Chicago bridge. And this was no ordinary bridge.

Producer Sarah Koenig tells the story of Duke Fightmaster, who refused to give up his simple dream: to replace Conan O'Brien.

In California, a kind of crybaby cottage industry has popped up around, of all things, the Americans with Disabilities Act—the federal law that requires all public places to meet a minimum level of accessibility. Some people make a living by suing business owners for not being up to code.

A short story, "Fatso," by Etgar Keret from his collection "The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God." A woman reveals to her boyfriend that she's not always what she seems, especially at night. Matt Malloy reads.

Producer Jane Feltes speaks with Adam Vickers, one of the owners of Vickers Music in the town of Douglas.

Ira speaks with Scott Krepel—via his interpreter Marc Holmes—about what happened when Scott got cochlear implants as a kid and could suddenly hear for the first time.

Host Ira Glass talks to his dad and stepmom about a story his dad thought might be good for the radio, concerning a mishap with a lost suit on a train. Ira then gathers the producers and announces a contest: Whoever makes the best story out of their parent's pitch wins.

One day, Joe Lipari had a frustrating encounter with a worker at the Apple Store. And then Joe did what a lot of us would do: He vented.

When Wells Tower started to try to fix up and save his dad's house, he knew it'd be incredibly hard. Lots of people told him not to.

Apricot Irving grew up on a missionary compound in Limbe, in the north of Haiti, and visits the missionary hospital there. It's pretty well stocked and staffed but, oddly, kind of a ghost town.

Two very, very short stories by Edith Zimmerman. Edith is the editor of TheHairpin.com.

Host Ira Glass introduces the story of Steve Raucci, by way of an anecdote about a contraband space heater. It seems that everyone who knew Raucci experienced something he did that was just a bit...off.

Shalom Auslander knows his next door neighbor will die in 2010. He's the author, most recently, of the memoir Foreskin's Lament.

One Switch.

Lucy was a chimpanzee raised in captivity, who adopted a surprising number of human traits. But this proved problematic—in quite unexpected ways—when her adoptive human parents decided that Lucy should be released in the wild.

Shawn Allee tells a story of the oldest kind of million dollar idea, the scam. Or was it an honest venture? Back in the 1980s Michael Larson made the most money ever on the game show Press Your Luck.

Patrick Wall was a special kind of monk. He was a fixer.

Harry Brakeman University.

Stand-up comedian Julian McCullough tells this story about heading to someone else's home for the holidays. You can watch Julian's Comedy Central Presents special at his website, julianmccullough.com.

David and Chana discover a dark criminal plot inside their toxic asset.