Writer David Rakoff travels to a place where everyone seems to be looking at him, a place where no one follows the customs people follow back home in New York City, a place called...New Hampshire.

Carmen Maria Machado tells the story of being stuck in an abusive relationship as a “Choose Your Own Adventure” tale.

Ira plays tapes of his own father, Barry, who was a radio deejay in the mid-1950s. Barry gave up spinning records when he decided that he couldn't make a decent living at it, and for over a decade he was against his son going into radio, not wanting him to waste time the way he did.

The official investigation by the city of Muskegon into the officer’s past gets underway– and we have a transcript of what went down! Finally we hear the officer – and his wife – explain themselves.

When Luke Davies was 11 years old in Australia, his family moved from the boring suburbs to an incredibly fun place: a tourist park full of attractions, where his dad had gotten a job. There, he was considered kind of a wimpy kid, until he got his chance to save the day.

At a fairly bleak time in his life, Scott took a job driving all over the state of Utah, interviewing people who were diagnosed with schizophrenia. His job was to administer a standard test, which measured mental health.

David Sedaris with a parable of the pressures on modern women, and how one woman — his sister — responded. David's father thought it was very important that his daughters be thin.

Radio producer Scott Carrier quit his job at a low moment in his life. His wife left him and took the kids.

Our former colleague Neil Drumming has never seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” – which makes no sense given that he’s seen almost every other movie there is.

Eight-year-old Betsy Walter goes on a campaign to understand her parents' divorce.

Zoe Chace goes to a favorite bar of the Lower 9th Ward: Mercede’s Place. She finds people who want so badly to go back to their lives before the storm, but know they can’t.

Ira speaks with New York Times Magazine Reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones about her years reporting on education and the various kinds of school reforms administrators have tried to close the achievementgap that never seem to work. Nikole says there's one reform that people have pretty much given upon, despite a lot of evidence that it works – school integration.

David Rakoff takes us inside the world of a Greek family-owned ice cream parlour, and what he learned about the husband and wife and son who owned it...and what he didn't figure out until later.

There's a whole nation where the idea of suckerdom permeates almost every aspect of culture and politics. Adam Davidson reports on the Israeli word "freier," which literally translates as sucker, but means much, much more.

At one grain elevator on the outskirts of Lincoln, Nebraska, during the slow months, the five burly men who load corn, soybeans, wheat and milo onto trains spend their work hours watching soap operas.

New York writer Sarah Miller talks about two men she knows.

Hilton Als reads an excerpt from his book The Women. (12 minutes)

Audio artist Gregory Whitehead weaves a story of sexual discovery. And This American Life producer Nancy Updike makes an odd discovery about condom use ... or the lack thereof.

As a teenager he saw himself as an historical figure, then that ended up becoming true. Producer Zoe Chace tells the story of Newt Gingrich, the man who either reinvented politics or broke it.

Host Ira Glass talks to producer Zoe Chace about what she learned about the President and conspiracy theories at a Trump rally.

Stephanie Foo talks with two Army officers with very different political views about the week’s results.

Someone writes into the advice column Dear Sugar to ask whether or not they should quit a relationship, and gets a strange but very persuasive response. (9 minutes)An adaptation of some of Cheryl Strayed’s columns is now streaming on Hulu.

What do cats want to see on television? Steve Malarky, creator of the world's best-selling home video for cats, tells all. And—in the interest of equal time—a cashier who works at a chain store that sells pet products rants about the absurdity of the items she's ringing up every day: St.

Reporter Mary Wiltenburg tells the story of a little boy stymied by the question "Where do you come from?" (8 minutes)You can read more of the family’s stories on Mary’s website.