Nubar Alexanian was forced to give up one thing—and then gave up another thing by choice. This story was put together by Nubar and his daughter Abby, with help from Jay Allison, for Transom.org, with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Patrick Howell, a gay Republican from Orlando, goes on what might seem like an ill-fated hearts-and-minds mission at the Republican Convention.

We continue with the story of Eddie Schmidt and his parents, Josie and Bob, who tell the greatest Aunt Mary story of all time: the one about the provolone, the glance, and an aggrieved woman's attempt at revenge.

This American Life host Ira Glass talks about one thing you probably haven't heard about the occupational hazards of working in Iraq: Since you work every single day, you never know what day of the week it actually is.

Fake science can be fun. Fake science can make people happy.

Julia Whitty's father's cancer medication cost $47,000 a year if she bought it in the United States. It cost $1,200 a year if she bought it in a foreign country.

Ira talks with Shalom Auslander, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew and who made a pivotal break with his faith at a Rangers game. Shalom Auslander is the author of a book of short stories, called Beware of God.

When Ira heard that Cathy La Luz, the best public school teacher he'd met during all his years of education reporting, was considering leaving her job, he went to see her in her classroom.

Aimee Bender reads her story "The Rememberer," about a woman whose lover is undergoing reverse evolution. One day he's a man, the next, a salamander.

Host Ira Glass visits Arlington Racetrack on opening day with four regulars who explain their quasi-scientific systems for winning.

Host Ira Glass visits the Richard E. Byrd Community Academy, a public elementary school in Chicago in need of repair.

Hillary Frank with a story of a train ride, an overheard conversation, and two people seeking two different promised lands.

Sarah Vowell introduces you to a magazine that—if you're lucky—you've never had to read. A magazine called Living Without. Her story is part of the Hearing Voices project, which gets funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Starlee Kine gets answers about her parents marriage from her dad...after a lifetime of mystery. She and her sister had wanted her parents to divorce since they were little.

We continue with the story of Irving Elementary, and hear what's happened to make Cathy La Luz think about quitting. In just nine months, the reforms that had made the school a model began to unravel.

Host Ira Glass talks with two Vietnam veterans about what it was like to leave the army and come back to civilian life. Both of them, to their surprise, missed the excitement of combat.

Matthew Chasteen is 18 years old. He's joined the Navy, and he's voting for the first time.

Ira talks with a college freshman in Michigan about her governor's new Cool Cities Initiative. (4 minutes) Then Sarah Koenig reports on how the towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk went in for an unusual makeover to try to save their town fifty years ago.

This American Life producer Lisa Pollak goes canvassing with her friend Andy in Ohio. He's a first time door-knocker for MoveOn.

Out with a man on a moonlit walk on Lake Geneva, an American woman does the proper thing. He does not.

The President of the Maryland State Senate, Mike Miller, a veteran political operator, talks about the off-the-cuff remark in 1989 that many people say changed his life forever.

Some family legends are most notable for their absence. They're too disturbing or scandalous to tell.

A story by regular contributor David Sedaris involving his sister Lisa, a secret, and her very understanding parrot. David read this story live, and it's on his CD Live at Carnegie Hall. The story is also published in his book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

When a 24-year-old runs for city council in Washington, D.C., he has to answer one question over and over: What's a 24-year-old doing running for city council? Sam Brooks is the candidate. At one point his campaign looks so hopeless, even he doesn't believe he's the better man for the job.