The story Etgar's mother told him, to explain what her father was like.

Ira Glass talks with Scharlette Holdman, who works with defense teams on high profile death row cases, and who has not talked to a reporter in more than 25 years. Why did she suddenly end the moratorium on press? Because her story is about something important: namely, a beautiful chicken.

People who fall in love at first sight often describe it as a kind of magic. One of our producers, Aviva DeKornfeld, is skeptical of these sorts of claims.

Nadia tells the story of her father, Alex, who lives near Bucha, and how differently he and she view the Russian atrocities there. (10 minutes)

Ira talks with Shalom Auslander, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew and who made a pivotal break with his faith at a Rangers game.

Brothers Wes and Jeff spent a winter tagging black bears in Bryce Canyon National Park. One of the bears they needed to tag decided to hibernate at the end of an usually long tunnel.

A species of massive, mysterious, highly intelligent beings have recently been making contact with humanity. Or our boats, anyway.

The story of Wes and Jeff venturing into the bear den continues. (11 minutes) 

DeSantis has passed law after law about what can and can’t be taught in Florida classrooms. Reporter Emmanuel Dzotsi followed how things unfolded at Florida State.

Reporter Chenjerai Kumanyika visits Savannah, Georgia to learn about the city’s popular ghost tours. He’s heard the tourist attractions actually include the brutal reality of slavery.

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka moved suddenly from Japan to the U.S. when she was eight years old, and has long joked that it was because her grandmother kidnapped her from her dad. But she'd never talked to anyone in her family about what had actually happened. (31 minutes) Tickets for Atsuko’s comedy tour at atsukocomedy.com.

Sean Cole attempts to kick his 35 year-long smoking habit, using a book that’s said to have helped millions of people to quit. (33 minutes)

How did Alberta, Canada pull off a feat that has eluded the rest of human civilization? Ira visits the largest rat-less land in the world. (15 minutes)

Jane Doe sent some questions for us to ask Chanel Miller. For years, Chanel was known as Emily Doe.

Valerie Kipnis tells Ira about riding the subway, shoulder-to-shoulder with someone she knows quite well, pretending she doesn’t see him.

Etgar mom asks for a disturbing favor.

Reporter Brenna Smith tells the story of Renee, a mom who is determined to get back nearly $3000 worth of food stamps stolen from her. She soon finds herself caught in a bureaucratic runaround.

Etgar remembers throwing a fit at a restaurant as a little boy, and what his mother said to him. (3 minutes)Most of these stories about Etgar's mom were written for an exhibition about her called "Inside Out" at the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

Three girls, whose families traveled thousands of miles to get to New York, navigate their latest challenge: American middle school. (11 minutes)

At the announcement of New York City’s inaugural rat czar, we meet Darneice Foster, who despises the rats outside her apartment.

Luka’s parents – Nadia and Karen – try to figure out where to take him once war breaks out. (6 minutes)

In the 1920s, at the height of the Spiritualism movement, a friendship blossomed between two men with opposing views on the topic: Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Houdini was a skeptic.

Jasmine and Gabbie are best friends. BFFs! But there’s something major that they’ve never been able to talk about.

In 2022, Michigan Republicans ran anti-establishment candidates who claimed the last presidential election was stolen. And they lost big.