When a pet dies, to what degree can it be replaced by another? And to what degree can pets replace people in our lives? David Sedaris tells this story of cats and dogs and other animals.
Producer Ben Calhoun tells Ira about a secret move his friend uses all the time — the "good guy discount" — that gets Ben's friend money off all sorts of items when he's shopping.
Mike Birbiglia has this story about a time his good guy-ness was called into question. Mike is about to go on a new tour called "Thank God For Jokes" that will take him to 100 cities.
In New York, like in lots of cities, you can call 3-1-1 for help with city services, but there's lots of things that people call in for that operators don't have answers for. And so they improvise.
When Elna Baker was a kid, she hit her younger sister on the head with a broom, then lied and said it was an accident. So Elna’s dad held a family trial to find the truth.
Carin Gilfry explains how she once accidentally locked herself in a hotel closet, and because today’s show is being broadcast from an opera house stage, Ira is able to take the story to a place he never usually can.
Comedian Sasheer Zamata stages a radio play, complete with sound effects and comedians Nicole Byer, Chris Gethard, and Frank Garcia Hejl. It’s a true story about a recent bus accident.
Host Alex Blumberg talks about New York City’s long-standing ban on ferrets. And how, after years of forbidding them, the city is now poised to lift the ban.
Guest host Nancy Updike talks about learning something new, and unpleasant, about herself in — where else — a makeup store. She also talks with other people about moments where someone made an observation about them that was shocking.
Host Ira Glass tell the story of a city pride campaign in Calgary, Canada. He speaks with life-long Calgarian Ken Lima-Cuelho who explains how much people in the city loved the campaign — and the song at the center of it, "Hello Calgary." Except, Ira, and the song's composer, Frank Gari, have some bad news for Ken.
When Mike and Sara bought their first house, they didn’t have much money for furniture. So they looked for bargains at yard sales and estate auctions and finally, Sara found the perfect piece of furniture on eBay.
Comedian Sam Mullins tells a story onstage about being in middle school, and throwing a party for his longtime childhood friend, who is also a girl. Sam sees the beach party as the perfect opportunity to impress a bunch of teenage girls in bathing suits.
Producer Ben Calhoun tells Ira about a secret move his friend uses all the time — the "good guy discount" — that gets Ben's friend money off all sorts of items when he's shopping.
Jack Hitt tells the story of a small town production of Peter Pan in which the flying apparatus smacks the actors into the furniture, and Captain Hook's hook flies off his arm and hits an oldwoman in the stomach. By the end of the evening, firemen have arrived and all the normal boundaries between audience and actors have completely dissolved.