For years there was a word that Val’s mother did not want to use.

Writing a letter decades after an event that shaped her life was the only way that Nicole Piasecki could make some sense of it.

A family sits down to discuss one thing.

A politically divided couple searches for a news source they both can trust. (26 minutes)The original version of this story first appeared on Question Everything, a co-production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Every year, thousands of teenagers come from all over the world to experience American high school. Last year, thirteen students from Palestine came to the US on a program sponsored by the US State Department.

Ira talks to two members of a recreational swimming club who intentionally swam straight toward a shark that had just bitten their friend. (10 minutes)

Ira interviews David Wallechinsky, who wrote a wildly popular book in the 1970s called The Book of Lists, full of trivia and research, gathered into lists like "18 Brains" and "What They Weighed." The book sold millions of copies and had four sequels and a brief spin-off TV show. The list books were like the internet, before the internet.

Producer Aviva DeKornfeld talks to Caveh Zahedi about a crime he may or may not have committed, depending on who you ask. (7 minutes)Caveh Zahedi first told this story on his podcast, 365 Stories I Want to Tell You Before We Both Die. 

Guest-host Tobin Low talks to comedian Tig Notaro about a jarring ride to school with her son. (6 minutes)

The 251 hostages taken by Hamas a year ago have become a divisive symbol in Israel.

Ira talks with Zoe Chace about watching Trump’s victory from an ecstatic room in Michigan. Then he checks in with a DC cop who was injured at the Capitol on January 6.

Chen’s story continues, with a description of what it was like to be hidden in a small apartment with her children and their captors.

Banias, an 8-year-old in Gaza, tells us about her life––her friends, the games she plays, the things she cares about.

Over the course of one week in December, Yousef tries to get his sisters to safety, in Rafah. (29 minutes)

The story of a woman from Gaza City who ran out of words.