Teenage girls ask for advice about their love lives, and Ira's tribute to his very grown-up friend Mary.
A show about rules and what happens when they’re vague and randomly enforced.
People going to very extreme measures to demonstrate their feelings.
We document what happened when the President’s executive order went into effect temporarily banning travel from seven countries.
Some people are super-stoked for the political changes that are coming.
Why has it been so hard for us to get the tens of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans that have helped the U.S. to safety?
Stories from people who want something desperately and then have their wishes fulfilled. Or do they?
Stories of kids using perfectly logical arguments, and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.
Samantha Broun interviews her mom about surviving a brutal attack 20 years ago that ended up changing Pennsylvania law regarding life sentences.
Stories of people who decide to rethink the way they’ve been doing things.
People around the country talking about the coming four years after Trump's election.
A story about Hillary Clinton that offers a different picture than what we’ve been hearing from both sides during the campaign.
The third song we commissioned on the eve of the 2016 election. Broadway composer Michael Friedman imagined what RNC Chairman Reince Priebus might be thinking, but not expressing publicly. John Ellison Conlee sang.
Ira on how the three original songs for the 2016 election came about.
15 million people watched this on Facebook. Right before the 2016 election, we asked Sara Bareilles to imagine what President Obama might be thinking about Donald Trump, but couldn’t say publicly. Leslie Odom Jr. sang.
Just before the 2016 election, we asked the Frozen songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez to imagine what Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was feeling, but couldn’t say publicly, about Donald Trump. Neil Patrick Harris sang the part of Paul Ryan.
Right now a lot of Republicans feel like they don’t recognize their own party.
Watching lies become the truth in the 2016 election.
Ira explains how to use our Shortcut app to share clips from This American Life on social media.
San Francisco’s Spider-Man dropped into buildings from skylights and leapt 10 feet from one roof to another. But mostly, his talent got him into trouble.
Stories in which ordinary people make last ditch efforts to get through to their loved ones.
See a video of his theatrical one-man show in France.
Stories about people trying their best to turn themselves into something else—like a badger.
What do you do when you're thrown into a situation you’re not prepared for?
See photos of the WWII interrogation camp PO Box 1142.
“The program had the opposite effect we have hoped for.”
Summer is a time when change seems more possible than ever. But is that really how it happens?
A list of groups we interacted with in Greece that are helping refugees.
Stories of refugees in Greece trying to move on with their lives in whatever way they can.
57,000 refugees are stuck in Greece, making homes in some surprising locations.
A hilarious and honest look at the lives of professional funny people.
A political donor has to decide whether or not he's going to support Trump. Plus other stories of people trying to make sure they get what they paid for.
Stories of people making the wrong choice, even though the right one is staring them squarely in the eye.
Maybe it’s time to rethink the way we see being fat.
The group Improv Everywhere tries to give an unknown band the best day of their lives. But the band doesn't see it that way.
Stories about mysteries that exist in relationships we thought couldn't possibly surprise us.
When Mariya Karimjee was little, her family made a decision that would affect her entire life. Years later, she wants to know why.
Three very different stories of people not admitting the truth.
The older and wiser we get, the more bewildering our past decisions can seem.
Kids do not like being told it’ll make sense when they’re older. They’re pretty sure the grown-ups are wrong.
Stories where animals drop in and show us who's the boss.
The story of a rape investigation gone undeniably wrong.
The story of a young voter who defies political categorization.
A hospital staffer finds a patient on the floor of his room. He is unarmed, and has been shot by the cops in the hospital.
A conservative radio host is completely baffled by the candidate his audience has decided to get behind this election season.
Sarah Koenig, host of Serial, talked to Stephen Colbert about Season Two.
A woman with muscular dystrophy tries to convince doctors that she has the same gene mutation as an Olympic athlete.
Experience the magic.