Ira calls his parents Shirley Glass and Barry Glass in Baltimore to ask them for advice about his new radio show.

Peter Clowney reports on Christmas at the Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church. Music from Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church all through the hour.

Writer/singer/performer Sandra Tsing Loh reads a story about a family vacation arranged by her mother, who believed that vacations couldn't be merely for leisure—they had to be educational. Which is how the family ended up vacationing in...Ethiopia.

Julie Showalter, who grew up on a turkey farm, tells the story of the night 3,000 turkeys died.

Poet Michael Warr talks with Ira and reads some of his poems inspired by his childhood. Warr grew up as a Jehovah's Witness and found that he had some problems with the religion's rules.

Ira explores the question of when it's time to quit a relationship through rare recordings of bickering between roommates—recorded by the next-door neighbors.

A story about Christmas at Juvenile Court by Chicago novelist/editor Reginald Gibbons.

Evan Harris was entrenched in her life, stalled and going nowhere both personally and professionally. A silly conversation with a co-worker about the letter "Q" led her to start a magazine called Quitter Quarterly. That one conversation changed her life completely.

Performance artists Iris Moore and Larry Steeger provide monologues on forgiveness.

Lisa Buscani reads a two-part story about not being able to quit something or someone. The piece was written for This American Life.

In the 1990s, Eli was a member of MOD, one of the most infamous and accomplished computer hacking groups in history. He was eventually arrested and served time in a minimum-security prison and home confinement.

Verda Mae Grosvenor, host of NPR's Seasonings, shows Ira how to tell a chicken is done simply by listening the sound of the grease.

A Christmas radio play by David Sedaris and the Pinetree Gang.

Three teenage boys—going under the pseudonyms "K-Rad", "Mr. Warez", and "Fred"—spill their guts about their forays into low-level credit card hacking and computer fraud.

In the last few years, laws and sentencing guidelines have become much harsher. Sociologically this has had some good effects.

When Danielle's family serves poultry at their dinner table, no one utters the word "chicken." Instead, it is always called "fish." Danielle explains why with the help of her friend "Duki." (20 minutes)

When filmmaker and performance artist Lawrence Steger found out he was HIV positive, he was just about to go out on across country road trip with a friend of his.

Starting on radio station WCFL in Chicago, "Chickenman" was a much-loved radio feature in the 1960s. Ira presents the first new "Chickenman" episode since 1969.

Former Harpers magazine editor and TAL contributor Jack Hitt wrote an editorial about Susan Smith, who murdered her two children in South Carolina. The editorial redirected the rage from Smith toward Hitt.

After he goes to Jerusalem and sleeps on what is supposedly the very spot where Jesus was crucified, Kevin Kelly has a revelation: that he should live the next six months as if he would die at the end of them. So he gives away nearly everything he owns, and tries to live each day as if his death is imminent — which turns out to be a great challenge.