Episodes - This American Life

Jessica Riddle reports on how, as a teenager, she and her friends would pick up the phone and dial the letters of the name "Heather" and talk to the old man who'd pick up the phone. At first they'd just prank call him.

245: Allure of the Mean Friend

Sept. 5, 2003

Act One: Return To The Scene Of The Crime

Jonathan Goldstein interrogates the girls, now grown up, who terrorized him and his classmates years ago in school—and finds they can be just as scary as ever. Jonathan Goldstein is the author of the novel Lenny Bruce is Dead.

230: Come Back to Afghanistan

Jan. 31, 2003

Act One: Teenage Embed, Part One

It's possible that the very first teenager to heed his invitation was Hyder Akbar, 17, from Concord, California. In the summer of 2002, he travelled with his father to live in their home country.

Prologue

In January 2002-- not long after the Taliban were driven from power in Afghanistan-- he came to the United States, partly to be on hand for the State of the Union address last year. And while he was here, he spoke with an audience that was mostly Afghan-Americans at Georgetown University.

239: Lost in America

June 6, 2003

Act One: Losing It

If you're going to do a show about people who are lost, you pretty much have to include a story about adolescents. Jonathan Goldstein tells a story from his teenage years.

244: MacGyver

Aug. 15, 2003

Act Four: A Girl's Guide To Mending The Unmendable

Susan Burton tells the story of how she used a clever scheme to get over a broken heart.

240: I’m In Charge Now

June 20, 2003

Act One: It's Not Just The Aces That Are Wild

David Sedaris tells a story about how, as a teenager, he was scared of certain people...until he made them scared of him, one fateful night. Sedaris is the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and other books.

248: Like It or Not

Oct. 24, 2003

Prologue

David Rakoff tells a story from when he was a kid, about the day he realized the he would inevitably be viewed a certain way by his classmates, no matter what he did or said.

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Act Two: Heather Help Me

Act One: Return To The Scene Of The Crime

Act One: Teenage Embed, Part One

Prologue

Act One: Losing It

Act Four: A Girl's Guide To Mending The Unmendable

Act One: It's Not Just The Aces That Are Wild

Prologue

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