Writer Michael Harriot reexamines the DIY criminal justice system his mom invented to deal with his bad behavior as a child. (20 minutes)

Contributor Samuel James thought he knew what happened to his mother. But he was wrong.

Producer Elna Baker’s mom doles out some very harsh feedback for her daughter, which goes unnoticed for ten years. (15 minutes)

Chaunte Vaughn’s mother recently died of Parkinsons. Even though Chaunte doesn't believe in ghosts, she is visited by her mom's ghost multiple times.

Ira talks to author Etgar Keret about his mom, and the stories she used to tell him when she put him to sleep.  He explains why it's always been so hard to write about her.

Comedian Zarna Garg tells jokes onstage about the extreme ways she tries to control her daughter Zoya’s life.

When school closed and threw routines into disarray, one mom and daughter figured out a new way to make it work.

Producer Elna Baker’s mom doles out some very harsh feedback for her daughter, which goes unnoticed for ten years. (14 minutes)

Host Ira Glass talks to writer Mitchell S.

Lana has a problem lots of mothers have right now during the pandemic—but a more extreme version of it.

Producer Emanuele Berry talks to Jiayang Fan about how Jiayang’s trying to protect her mother, who she worries about as the virus spreads across New York City.

A mom checking in on her son. A son figuring out who he can talk to about his mom.

Diane Wu has the story of a woman who goes to South Korea to meet her birth mother, a trip that lets her visit one of the other worlds in which she almost lived.

Eleanor Gordon-Smith tells the story of a woman who wants to know why she was taken away from her mom as a kid. A version of this story is in Eleanor’s book Stop Being Reasonable: How We Really Change Our Minds.

Etgar Keret tells the story of how his mother convinced an army general to send her son home for a day in the middle of a war.

Ira re-listens to an interview he did with his mom 16 years ago, three years before she died.

Joshuah Bearman tells a story that’s a sequel to his memorable episode about his mother and half-brother David. It’s done onstage as a play that’s structured like a radio documentary, with Josh Hamilton playing Joshuah, and James Ransone playing his brother.

Sarah's mom, Mrs. Matthiessen, doubts that the staff of This American Life can find great stories about her conversational no-nos.

Gloria Harrison was pregnant and in labor when she decided that the thing she needed to do before heading to the hospital, was go to the Nissan dealership and buy a new car.

For generations, the gender of babies born into one family have all beendetermined in advance. The pregnant mothers receive a package in the mail,and if a little pink dress is inside, it's a girl.

Ira explains how a man named Chris Butler created a private detective agency where the investigators were good-looking soccer moms. Their publicist invited a reporter named Pete Crooks from Diablo magazine to do a ride-along with the P.I.