Unlike Reykjavik, some cities don't coddle citizens in their idiosyncratic beliefs about nature. We hear New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani react (with vehemence) to a man who believes New Yorkers should have the right to keep ferrets in their homes.

Clay Elder grew up Mormon, with a fear of outsiders. That changed on a visit to New York City.

Geoffrey Canada, author of the book Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America, talks about what it's like to carry a gun. He also talks about what poor neighborhoods in New York were like before the proliferation of handguns among young people.  When he grew up in the South Bronx, kids had fistfights in a very formal arrangement with formal rules that everyone lived by. He reads from his book and talks with Ira.

The people who pick up our trash don't call themselves garbagemen. They're san men ("san" being short for "sanitation").

New York writer Sarah Miller talks about two men she knows.

Brett Leveridge was standing on the subway. A guy comes walking down the platform, stopping in front of each passenger and delivering a quiet verdict: "You're in.

Ira talks with producer Blue Chevigny about how a prank caller taught her that when it comes to pursuing happiness, Carole King, the world of independent cinema and the New York City Police Department have a lot more in common than she ever imagined. He also talks with MIT Professor Pauline Maier, author of the book American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence.

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.

Writer and poet Imani Brown takes us through her experience at the parade that takes place in the early hours before the parade.

David Rakoff on how he tried to pass as a local once he moved from Toronto to New York. He claims that there must be a chip in his head — or something like it — that automatically tells him when someone or something famous is Canadian.

Host Ira Glass introduces a story on the most ambitious and hopeful solution to urban poverty in the country—the Harlem Children's Zone. The project's goal is nothing less than changing the lives of thousands of children in Harlem, starting at birth and continuing until they go to college.

Producers Marlon Bishop and Nadia Reiman go inside a heated steel pan competition and meet a mother and daughter who could be competing together for the last time.

Mike Birbiglia has this story about a time his good guy-ness was called into question. Mike is about to go on a new tour called "Thank God For Jokes" that will take him to 100 cities.

Mike Birbiglia has this story about a time his good guy-ness was called into question.

Writer/Comedian Amanda Marks shares the story of a couple that didn't fall in love, didn't get together, didn't form a future. Then coincidence and fate kick in...confusingly.

Fifty years ago, New York City started to put garbage out in plastic bags. This has become the number one food source for rats.

David Sedaris talks about American and French reaction to the recent news in Paris, where he lives. He's the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and other books.

We hear the secret recordings that ended mob control of New York garbage collection, and talk to Rick Cowan, the NYPD detective who went undercover for three years to make them.

In the middle of the night, host Ira Glass meets a woman on a mission at Port Authority bus station. (13 minutes)

Producer Neil Drumming has steadfastly avoided one bar in his neighborhood because of the controversy that surrounds it—until recently, when he noticed that lots of people he didn’t expect to go there were becoming regulars.

One woman needs to find shelter for 27 young men in a matter of hours. (15 minutes)

New York City has a paratransit service called Access-a-Ride for passengers who are disabled and elderly. But people who rely on the system refer to it as Stress-a-Ride.

All those people you see in the middle of the workday, in coffee shops and bookstores? Who are they? Why aren't they at work? Reporter George Gurley tackled these tough questions. On four separate days, he interviewed these loafers in New York.

Our regular host Ira Glass talks to some Hasidic Jews who also live in the neighborhood to get a different take on the parade.  (10 minutes)