Mika’s parents, Carissa Heavy Runner and Kevin Howard, share recordings of their interactions with law enforcement. (8 minutes)

Emmanuel Dzotsi explores the phenomenon of people lying on first dates to project a better version of themselves.

A sparkly mystery.

David Kestenbaum tells the story of the suspicious disappearance of multiple shoes and a woman determined to explain it. (8 minutes)

Editor David Kestenbaum speaks with Jeff Permar, who is trapped in a Groundhog Day situation — with an actual groundhog! (9 minutes)See more videos of the groundhog Chunk on Jeff’s YouTube channel.

While riding in a patrol car to research a novel, crime writer Richard Price witnessed a misunderstanding that, for many people, is pretty much accepted as an upsetting fact of life. Richard Price told this story, which he describes as a tale taken from real life and dramatized, onstage at The Moth in New York.

A hardened PI works the toughest case of his very young life. (18 minutes)ALL IN: COMEDY ABOUT LOVE is written by Simon Rich and stars John Mulaney, Richard Kind, Fred Armisen, and Chloe Fineman.

Guest host Aviva DeKornfeld tells Ira Glass about breaking into a community pool as a kid, and the split-second decision that has haunted her ever since.

Two college baseball teams with horrible losing streaks — a combined 141 games — are scheduled to play each other.

Ira Glass introduces the first episode of an inventive new podcast from longtime This American Life producer and editor Susan Burton.

Comedian Mike Birbiglia talks about the questions his daughter asks him and how trying to answer them showed him surprising reflections of himself.  (15 minutes) This is an excerpt from Mike Birbiglia’s special, “The Good Life.”

Brittany’s job is to answer anonymous calls and texts from people in the military. This year, she’s gotten more than usual–most of them are wondering about what to do with orders they’ve been given.

Nunzio gets caught in a kind of servile relationship—with a scooter. (8 minutes)

Ira talks to producer Diane Wu about an informal survey she’s done with the staff of This American Life about a phrase Ira says a lot that includes the word “winners.” (8 minutes)

Carissa and Kevin take matters into their own hands. (20 minutes)

It gets extremely personal for the judges. Also, the story of one person who got pushed through the new immigration court system this summer.

Heavyweight host Jonathan Goldstein leaps in to help a family, who are not entirely sure they want or need his help, get rid of their stuff. (31 minutes)This story originally aired on the Heavyweight podcast.

Aviva DeKornfeld has the story of Leisha Hailey, who was certain she had the next million-dollar idea. (11 minutes)

Zoe Chace gives an eyewitness account of what has been happening at 26 Federal Plaza, an immigration courthouse in New York City.

USAID was founded in 1961. Since then, it has spent hundreds of billions of dollars all over the world.

Connie Wang tells the story of a championship window she didn't realize she was in — until it was too late. (14 minutes)Connie is the author of the book Oh My Mother! We got the idea to do this story from Aaron Reiss.

We go to orientation at Arizona State University and meet international students who are trying to make friends. (6 minutes)

Producer Aviva DeKornfeld talks to Ranjani Srinivasan, who tells the story of how her life was transformed over five days via a series of events that started out confusing and escalated to frightening. (25 minutes)

Susan Burton introduces Mindy, a labor and delivery nurse at UI Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago.