It's the thought that counts. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not always so clear what that thought was.
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One car dealership tries to make its monthly quota: 129 cars. It is way more chaotic than we expected.
Google sometimes invites people in to give little talks or Q&As. Ira was asked, while he was visiting California.
The history of racial housing discrimination in the United States and what has been done—and hasn't been done—to rectify it.
Sarah Koenig's mother lives by a set of rules about conversation. We tried to prove her wrong.
The story of a police officer and a squirrel. Plus, a small town production of Peter Pan goes off the rails.
Stories of people whose lives are altered when seemingly boring documents like birth certificates and petitions are used against them.
Which is better: flight or invisibility?
What should a person suspected of murder say?
An update on episode 465, "What Happened At Dos Erres."
Artist Alice Leora Briggs created a drawing to accompany a story from "Secret Identity."
A drawing by Alice Leora Briggs accompanies the text of this story.
A teenage girl becomes a whole new person when she becomes the school mascot — a tiger — at her high school.
Hear the full statement from Vice President for Medical Affairs, Ed Kuffner.
More than 150 Americans die each year on average after accidentally taking too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.
After talking to us, the Georgia Tech Admissions Director got this email.
How a stolen library book got one man into his dream school and changed his life forever. Or at least that's the story he tells himself.
Planet Money looks at a charity that's decided to just give people money.
A journalist gets a disturbing tip: a phone number to a group of refugees being held hostage in the Sinai desert.
Harper High has lost its first student since our shows about the school.
An American woman suddenly trades her life for one in a place most people might think twice about: Juarez, Mexico.
We thought it would be fun to commission some illustrations to mark our 500th episode.
The notes from our brainstorm about the show name.
Ira asks the producers to talk about their very favorite moments on the show.
His family has finally left Iraq.
There are still tens of thousands of Iraqis whose lives are in danger because they worked with the United States during the war. We — Americans — have known about this issue for years. This chain of emails shows what we’ve got instead of a solution.
The story of a guy named Kirk Johnson, who started a list of Iraqis who needed to get out of their country.
People who know something's a bad idea, but convince themselves to do that thing anyway.
All of the stories in the show are things that have taken place in the last seven days.
Why people say our patent system may be discouraging, not encouraging, innovation.
When the Academy of Arts and Letters gave Ira a medal for spoken language, he gave this speech.
Why has the conversation on climate change been stuck in the same place for years?
"I did not mean to imply that Huntington's is what made Vince do this violent thing."
A man decides to take a trip from Philadelphia to San Francisco—by foot.
Here are some of the pieces of art that Anthony and artists traded — and collaborated on.
Israeli soldiers take snapshots of Palestinian boys, one house at a time, in the middle of the night.
Did a beloved family doctor with no criminal history suddenly up and strangle his own father?
She will meet with students and counselors to hear about their experiences.
When Fred co-hosted our “Doppelgangers” show, he mentioned that he’d once played Ira in a sketch that never made it onto TV. This is that killed sketch.
A white guy who only wants to date Asian women has to adjust to the reality of a real actual Asian woman in his life.
Trying to understand what disability means for American workers.
The startling rise of the number of people on disability in America.
Extra coincidence stories from you that all involve your photographs.
We asked listeners to send us their best coincidence stories, and we got more than 1,300 submissions!
Part two of our program on Harper High School in Chicago, where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.
The school's administrators have set up a donation page.
We spent five months at Harper High School in Chicago, where last year alone 29 current and recent students were shot. 29. Here are photos of the school.
We spent five months at a high school in Chicago where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.
A couple decides to sleep with other people before they tie the knot. Plus, more stories of love making us do crazy things.
The proxy battle over a woman’s honor that became a presidential obsession.
ProPublica, our partner in the story, has uncovered information about one of the soldiers who is wanted by authorities for participating in the massacre.
We got a tip about a meat plant selling pig intestines as fake calamari and decided to investigate.
He'll be imitating a public radio personality, one familiar to This American Life listeners.
A perfectly normal guy gets rid of everything he owns, changes his name, says goodbye to his friends—and begins walking.