Writer David Sedaris on parents' dreams and children's nightmares.

Julie throws up.

Writer Dirk Jamison, who gave up a 9-to-5 job and succeeded in getting something for nothing: he decided he'd feed the family by diving into dumpsters for free food. His father's very zen attitude about this, and how it affected the family.

Hilton Als reads an excerpt from his book The Women. (12 minutes)

David Sedaris tells a story from his boyhood, when a voice inside his head commanded him to lick every light switch and tap his forehead with his heel. It's from his book Naked.

Tapes recorded in a Chicago home Christmas morning, more than 50 years ago.

This American Life producer Nancy Updike on a family where the father was one kind of sissy and the son was another kind, and how the family was destroyed despite the fact that no one wanted it to be.

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." (16 minutes)

Alix Spiegel tells the story of her friend Jayna, who made a Faustian bargain at 11 years old.

Julie Showalter, on a costume she wore as a kid.

Carmen Delzell/Jay Allison's story on a guitar player.

Radio producer Dan Gediman's story about his older brother, "Alex Jones," who he idolized when they were kids. After many unsuccessful attempts to become a rock star, he finally made it in music, as a Tom Jones impersonator.

A woman obsessed with the number 2.

Ira talks about one of the purest expressions of ordinary folks' desire to be detectives: a child's detective notebook — full of information, secret codes, cases, and an application to become an FBI agent.

David Sedaris reads one of his funniest and most affecting stories from his book Naked before a live audience. As an adolescent boy, David feared he might be a homosexual.

Chicago playwright Beau O'Reilly talks about how he reconciled with his estranged father years ago by becoming an alcoholic just like him.