Ira visits an 83-year-old man named Dick Paterniti who’s been waging a long and lonely war against a woodpecker.

Ira asks Jefrey Emtman do to the impossible—describe the indescribable color he sees in his left eye. Jefrey Emtman is the host of the podcast Here Be Monsters.

Charles Foster has always been obsessed with trying to figure out how animals see the world. So he decides to find out—by living life as a badger.

The story from the prologue continues. Eleanor tries to persuade Zack and Mike not to catcall or accost women in the streets of King’s Cross.

Comedian Chris Gethard has a new podcast called Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, where people can call in to talk to him about anything for an hour. Our editor, Joel Lovell, tells us about his favorite episode thus far — featuring a man who calls in desperately seeking Chris’ guidance.

As a California game warden Terry Grosz went to great lengths — and some depths — to stop illegal fishing. Terry also tells this story in his book Wildlife Wars.

Jonathan Goldstein tries to convince his uncle and his father to get into the same room and have a conversation for the first time in decades, before it’s too late and one of them dies. This story comes from Jonathan’s podcast Heavyweight, from Gimlet Media.


When Mariya Karimjee was little, members of her family made a decision that would affect her entire life. Years later, she wants to know why.

Journalist David Epstein tells the story of Jill Viles, who has muscular dystrophy and can’t walk. But she believes that she somehow has same condition as one of the best hurdlers in the world, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep.

Producer Stephanie Foo talks to veteran Michael Pitre, who had to change the way he talked about his experiences in the military after he realized the effect it was having on people.

Samantha Broun interviews her mom about surviving a brutal attack by Reginald McFadden 20 years ago, and sets out to interview friends, family and policymakers about how that attack changed Pennsylvania law regarding life sentences at the time. Additional information and outtakes are available on the Transom website.