Julia Lurie is an American teaching English at an all-girls high school in Gwangju, a city in South Korea. When she first got there, some things struck her as strange: On every floor of the school there was a full-length mirror, as well as a scale.

Until almost 10,000 years ago, everyone literally lived in a tribe of a few hundred or a small band of a few dozen people. U.C.L.A. scientist Jared Diamond talks about how back then, you could go your whole life without ever encountering a stranger.

A young idealist named Octavio Sanchez is chief of staff to the president of Honduras. He gets an idea: What if you could cure all your country's ills by just ... starting over? In one little spot, you could create a whole new, perfect city.

Salesman Jason Mascia has the most sales of anyone this month, as usual. Sean Cole spent a week with him watching how he does it.

While we were putting together this week's show, we heard about a real life avenger with a secret identity in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Writer Yuri Herrera lived on the border for several years and spent a lot of time in Juarez.

A story about a guy named Steven who wants in on a group he definitely was not born into — and seems very unlikely to be accepted by. Filmmaker Debbie Lum tells the story, which is excerpted from her documentary Seeking Asian Female.

At the first day assembly, the freshman seem confused and nervous while the seniors are boisterous and confident. It's exactly the kind of first day stuff you'd expect at any school.

Salesman Bob Tantillo has the fewest sales of anyone at Town and Country this month. Robyn Semien spoke to him.

Michael Lewis’ story continues, and he figures out why Emir Kamenica insists on remembering, and telling, the story of his life the way he does — even when he finds out that some of the facts may be wrong.

Emily Bonderer Cruz is American. Her husband is Mexican.

Ira talks with Producer Nancy Updike about when she first met Kirk Johnson in 2007. At the time he was mulling a crazy plan that involved Iraqi refugees, the Coast Guard and a boat.

Elna Baker tells a story about her friend Daryl Watson. Daryl was a talented playwright working in New York City.

Joe Monti’s real name is Joe Montalbano. But when he started in the car business, he didn't want to lose a sale because a customer couldn’t keep his name straight so he simplified it for the job.

Chicago has strict gun laws but, obviously, teenagers are somehow getting their hands on guns. Lots of guns.

To get a sense of what may be broken about our process for bringing these Iraqis into the US, the ones who worked with US forces and who believe their lives are now in danger because of that, Kirk Johnson tells Nancy Updike about one guy. Almost a year of his emails were forwarded to Kirk, who printed them out and started to realize that he was looking at a dead man’s attempt to immigrate to the U.S.

Painter Schandra Singh usually sells her paintings to wealthy art collectors. So when she gets a letter from a father of a boy with autism, saying his son loves her work, she decides to do a trade with him, one of her sketches for one of his.

For decades, the writer Alex Kotlowitz has been writing about the inner cities and the toll of violence on young people. So when he heard about a program at Drexel University where guys from the inner city get counseling for PTSD, he wondered if the effect of urban violence was comparable to the trauma that a person experiences from war.

Once the Fair Housing Act became law in 1968, there was some question about how to implement it and enforce it. George Romney, the former Republican Governor of Michigan and newly-appointed Secretary of HUD, was a true believer in the need to make the Fair Housing Law a powerful one — a robust attempt to change the course of the nation's racial segregation.

Reporter Julia Kumari Drapkin tells the story of Colorado’s State Climatologist, Nolan Doesken. Doesken has long believed that humans are driving climate change, but never connected it to his own life.

Producer Sarah Koenig talks with historian Nancy Tomes about a presidential scandal known as The Petticoat Affair. It involved Andrew Jackson and the honor of a woman who he didn't sleep with.

Writer Russell Banks tells the story of a teenager, estranged from his family, who plans a triumphant return home for the holidays. But when he puts his plan into action, it drives his family further away, and simultaneously puts him on the wrong side of the law.

The first day on the job inevitably means mistakes, mishaps, and sometimes... fiascos. A true story, told by a former rookie cop.

Kelly McEvers with the story of Zora, a self-made superhero. From the time she was five years old, Zora had recurring dreams in which she was a 6'5" warrior queen, who could fly and shoot lightning from her hands.