David Sedaris, on his mother's lung cancer.

Two people who've nearly died in gun battles describe what it's like, getting shot at. They draw opposite conclusions from their near death experiences.

A former addict and a former prisoner discuss the developmental retardation their experiences caused.

Host Ira Glass with Walt Strommer, on Dreams of Disabled People.

Julie throws up.

Ira interviews Bob Helms, creator of the zine Guinea Pig Zero, which is about people who make their living by donating their bodies to science for medical experiments. Bob says he wouldn't do spinal tap studies or psychoactive drugs (he calls the people who do the latter "brain sluts").

Michael Lesy reads.

Producer Nancy Updike with Ki Kim, who's not afraid of walking on coals. But maybe he should have been.

Ira Glass's grandmother.

Gay Talese reads from his classic 1966 Esquire article, in which he followed around Sinatra at the height of Sinatra's power.

The day Lawrence Steger left the AIDS clinic for the big road trip.