Editor Nancy Updike tries to make sense of this current moment by talking to a master of dark comedy, Armando Ianucci. (19 minutes)

Two people see one of President Trump’s first executive orders and get excited, and then get to work. (46 minutes)

There are situations where making judgments about people based on limited information is not only accepted but required. One of those situations is open adoption, where birth mothers actually choose the adoptive parents for their child.

When Yousef Hammash left Gaza a year ago, his sisters decided to stay behind.

A man is hired along with a crew to dig a mysterious hole on the slopes of Mt. Shasta.

Editor Susan Burton reflects on the ramp-up to an era that comes for so many of us. (9 minutes)

Producer Aviva DeKornfeld looks into why comedian Daniel Sloss’s comedy special has been responsible for so many couples breaking up. (17 minutes)

We find someone brave enough to stand up and make a case FOR lying.

Seth Lind, our Operations Director, isn’t a crier.

A sixteen-year-old plans out a prank, and a complete stranger from Honduras ends up in a million-dollar deal. What could go wrong? (25 minutes)By Pablo Torre, adapted from his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out.

Ira joins Hamed on his Monday commute. He has to navigate a constantly changing series of checkpoints and roadblocks to get to work each day.

Ted was six when he first picked up a rock from the Petrified Forest National Park. Nearly 50 years later, he really wishes he hadn’t.

Heather, the head of obstetric anesthesia at UI Health, gets up onstage and asks a ballroom full of hundreds of anesthesiologists to wrestle with the question of why patients are feeling pain during C-sections, and what they can do to solve it. (8 minutes)Follow The Retrievals: Season 2 wherever you get your podcasts to listen to the full season.

Ira Glass introduces Zach Mack’s story. (1 minute)

Ira talks to producer Emmanuel Dzotsi, who brings the first exhibit into the studio with him: a chunk of concrete with some yellow paint on it.

Chana gives a short update about Banias, a 9-year-old girl in Gaza she's been speaking with for months.

Zach’s mother and sister weigh in on the agreement. (28 minutes)

Parking in a big city can be a real pain. Producer Valerie Kipnis speaks with a man who has taken it upon himself to try to mitigate the weekly hassle.

Some people are great in a crisis. Others, not so much.

Writer Etgar Keret reads his story about a bus driver who refuses to open the doors for late passengers. (9 minutes)This story is from Etgar's book, The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories.

Short fiction from Bess Kalb about a groundhog named Susan, who has her own opinions about the holiday named after her species. (7 minutes)You can find more work from Bess at The Grudge Report on Substack.

Angela's dad, an accountant, made a spreadsheet to prepare for their family trip to a national park.