Sarah Vowell examines what happens when TV takes on a subject it really has no business exploring at all, but seems fairly obsessed with nonetheless: The Pilgrims. Sarah's most recent book is Assassination Vacation.

Susan Drury reports from Tennessee on a test that provides sudden truth from a stranger. It's based on a science whose goals could not be grander—to aid in the fight between good and evil.

How the science of radio enabled V103 to become tied for number one in the Chicago market. And how it cost DJ Ida Hackele her job.

Scott Carrier in Salt Lake City with the latest installment in his 12-year quest to chase down and catch an antelope. This story and others are included in his book Running After Antelope.

Producer Brian Reed recounts one of the more riveting arguments he's ever heard about whether marijuana is dangerous or relatively benign. It takes place in Congress.

In the 1930s, the designer of the U.S. Supreme Court made a frieze to adorn the courtroom walls.

Or is that "Ooting?" 90210 expert Danny Drennan on the pro-Canadian bias in the hit TV show Beverly Hills 90210 now that Canadian Jason Priestly is not just a star of the show, but a producer and director as well.

Producers Diane Wu and Lina Misitzis spend the night at a corner grocery store in Brooklyn, New York and talk to some of the people that pass by. (25 minutes)

The secret games delegates play to amuse themselves, differences between Republican and Democratic convention delegates, and more.

Producer David Kestenbaum drops in on some Republicans who are still trying to field a candidate to challenge this president.

We bring you this very matter-of-fact article from 1853, about something profoundly troubling: a slave auction in Virginia.

Updike and Ephron reconstruct the night of the murder, with Ephron describing what he recalls (he reported from Israel at the time and covered the rally where Rabin was assassinated). A police investigator talks about interrogating Amir in the hours after the assassination.

What we want on the road — many of us — is adventure. And what is adventure but a moment you never could've predicted before you left home? Chicago writer Cheryl Trykv tells the story of one such moment.

Katya and Alla are introduced to each other shortly after moving from Russia to a small town outside of Flint, Michigan. The mutual friend who introduces them figures they're both from Russia, they'll obviously hit it off.

A reading of a pamphlet written by ex-con Stephen Donaldson for heterosexual men who are about to enter prison, about how to "hook up" with a stronger man —"daddy" or "jocker"—who'll provide protection in return for sex. He explains the rules and mores that govern this part of American prison culture.

Ira with Michael Lewis, author of Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House and many other books, who says that in the '96 Presidential Election all the candidates with new ideas, all the candidates capable of talking the way real people act in their real lives, were shunned by the media as "wacky." (10 minutes)

A tale of two siblings — separated, but not at birth. Reporter Paul Tough and his sister grew up in Toronto, the most American of Canadian cities.

This American Life contributor David Rakoff, who swore off TV in college, returns to it in dramatic fashion: He attempts to watch the same amount of television as the average American—29 hours in one week. David is author, most recently, of the book Don't Get Too Comfortable.

Ira introduces the first part of the latest podcast from Brian Reed (S-Town) and Hamza Syed — which all started when Hamza was a student with a burning question.

Independent producer Dan Collison, on Pilottown and a feature story that fell apart.

Brett Leveridge reads from his column for Might magazine, which he turned into the book Men My Mother Dated and Other Mostly True Tales.

Reporter Alix Spiegel tells the story of the Ostwind, the boat that came to be known as "Hitler's Yacht." (25 minutes)

There are at least two American citizens being held without charges, unable to see lawyers, in military jails in the U.S. There may be more.

How much can you trust whether somebody who you think is close to you really is close to you? Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr.’s been thinking about that question since a recent visit with some of his childhood friends in Sierra Leone. (37 minutes)