As a joke, Jessica Williamson posts a fake “CAT FOUND” poster with pictures of a possum instead of a cat. To her surprise, she gets hundreds of phone calls that ultimately shift her view on humanity.

Hamza and Brian visit Tahir Alam, the alleged mastermind of a plot to ‘Islamize’ Birmingham’s schools.

Comedian Casey Wilson’s mom was a stabilizing force in her family. So after her unexpected death, both Casey and her father felt devastated and unmoored.

Our producer Zoe Chace goes to Fairview Heights, Illinois, where Planned Parenthood has opened a massive new abortion clinic just across the river from Missouri. Abortion is banned in Missouri and lots of the surrounding states now that Roe has been overturned.

Chris Benderev speaks with writer Georgie Codd, who went searching for someone to be the father she never had.

Producer Alix Spiegel tells the story of a Lithuanian man who devises a plan to solve a problem related to the war in Ukraine.

Host Ira Glass zooms in on five surreal minutes of Hungary’s opposition campaign. (5 minutes)

An elections administrator in Texas, Heider Garcia, uses a radical approach to try to win over election skeptics: tactical patience.

Mike McFarland tells Ira about trying to get a message to someone under the most critical deadline imaginable—emphasis on the “imagine.” (8  minutes)

Tobin Low tells Ira about Paul, who intended to have an anonymous, romantic rendezvous but instead wound up having to decide whether or not to clear up a big misunderstanding.

When school closed and threw routines into disarray, one mom and daughter figured out a new way to make it work.

Sandy and Lonnie’s daughter, Jessi, died back in 2012, when a gunman opened fire in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Since then, they’ve organized their whole lives to be able to reach out to other parents like themselves.

Host Ira Glass looks into what’s going on behind the scenes of this year’s midterm election.

Yang Yi, in China, tells the story of a strange journey he took that started at home and ended at home.  But somehow took a very long path. Yang Yi’s podcast is called Go LIVE.

Writer Kiese Laymon talks to comedian Darryl Lenox about how his trust in strangers dramatically shifted after he lost his sight. (17 minutes)

Host Sean Cole tells us the story of Seattle residents who’ve had their bikes stolen, only to get them back in a way they really are not expecting.

Ira Glass introduces Nancy Updike, one of This American Life's founding producers.

Alex Edelman grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household in Boston. But one year, unexpectedly, his family decided to celebrate Christmas – for what he says are very Jewish reasons.

Reporter Ashley Cleek talks to one Russian protestor in the middle of re-evaluating one of her oldest friendships. (15 minutes)

Ira introduces us to Santa Allen. A man who is NOT the real Santa Claus but who will – for the first time ever – be sitting in a chair, dressed as Santa, asking little children what they want for Christmas this year.  He’s nervous.

Guest host Bim Adewunmi talks to Mona Chalabi about why she sometimes feels like an imposter in her own home.

Rebecca Grant introduces us to an abortion pill smuggler, who walks us through her undercover operation to mail pills to people who want medication abortions in places where it's hard to get them.