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Normalize form of This American Life Episodes

List_of_1995_This_American_Life_episodes

In 1995, there were seven new This American Life episodes; all were broadcast under the original name of the program Your Radio Playhouse.

Air Date: 1995-11-17
Description: Our program's very first broadcast
Interlude: Dinah Washington – "Destination Moon"
Kevin Kelly has a sort of religious experience in Jerusalem and decides to live the next six months of his life to the fullest. This plot was revisited for episode 50 – Shoulda Been Dead
Ira calls his parents in for advice about broadcasting.
Steger recounts a road trip he and a friend took after hearing about Steger's HIV diagnosis.
Interlude: The Treniers – "(Uh-Oh) Get Out of the Car"
Ryder was wrongly imprisoned for twenty years and recently released, and he discusses dream of playing music. Ryder performs "God Bless the Child"—this performance was re-broadcast in episode 119 – Lock-Up.
Interlude: Django Reinhardt – "I've Had My Moments"
Air Date: 1995-11-24
Description: Small-scale stories on the nature of small-scale sin
  • Prologue – Ira Glass visits the Hackers On Planet Earth conference and talks to three teenagers who committed credit card fraud tell their stories. (16 minutes)
  • Act 1
Playwright Jeff Dorchen writes a play about the previous act. (10 minutes)
Poet Warr discusses his childhood as a Jehovah's Witness. (8 minutes)
  • Act 3
A member of the hacking group MOD discusses his arrest and imprisonment and his success as a criminal. (26 minutes)
Air Date: 1995-12-01
Description: Stories decrying the wonders of turkeys, chickens, and other fowl
  • Act 1
Danielle explains why her family calls chicken "fish" at the dinner table. (20 minutes)
Interlude: Louis Jordan – "Saturday Night Fish Fry"
  • Act 2
Julie discusses life on a turkey farm (8 minutes)
Rodriguez reads a poem about poultry. (4 minutes)
Interlude: Cab Calloway – "A Chicken Ain't Nothing But a Bird"
The hostess of NPR's Seasonings explains how to cook a chicken. (6 minutes)
Interlude: Charles Mingus – "Eat That Bird"
Sedaris buys a taxidermied turkey. (3 minutes)
Glass presents the first new episode of the WCFL radio program "Chickenman" since 1969. (8 minutes)
Air Date: 1995-12-08
Description: Stories about vacations gone awry—or perhaps vacations that never should have happened
Ira discusses his family photos from a trip to Hawaii. (9 minutes)
Loh reads a story about her family vacation in Ethiopia. (22 minutes)
Sedaris discusses hitchhiking. (25 minutes)
Interlude: Ozark Mountain Devils – "If You Wanna Get to Heaven"
Air Date: 1995-12-15
Description: Stories that reveal the societal "trend" toward anger and away from genuine forgiveness
Prologue – Ira Glass
Glass reads a list of words that Newt Gingrich advised Republicans use when referring to Democrats. (7 minutes)
Hitt is confronted by someone who read an article he wrote about Susan Smith. (15 minutes)
Moore and Steeger give monologues about forgiveness. (9 minutes)
Interlude: Unknown artist – "I Blame God"
Bowden explains the effects of harsh criminal sentences on minors. (6 minutes)
Interlude: Johnny Cash – "The Wall"
Glass interviews Glen Fitzgerald, a Christian missionary who works with gang members. (9 minutes)
Interlude: Johnny Cash – "Folsom Prison Blues"
A story read before a live audience about someone who doesn't want forgiveness. (14 minutes)
Air Date: 1995-12-22
Description: Several Christmas-themed performances
A Christmas radio play with Sedaris and the Pinetree Gang. (28 minutes)
A Christmas tree story. (14 minutes)
A story about Christmas at juvenile court. (10 minutes)
Christmas at the Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church, whose choir provides music for the entire episode. (9 minutes)
Air Date: 1995-12-29
Description: Stories of people who quit everything in their lives that they hated—and what happened to them afterwards
Evan Harris starts the magazine Quitter Quarterly with Shelley Ross (22 minutes)
Interlude: Ella Fitzgerald – "Don't Fence Me In"
Loh reads a story about quitting. (10 minutes)
Interlude: Brave Combo – "Do Something Different (Disappear)"
Glass plays excerpts from Shut Up, Little Man! (9 minutes)
A story about being unable to quit. (13 minutes)
Interlude: Robert Metrick – "The Calendar Song"
Okita reads the poem "Farewell Samba" from his book Crossing with the Light and Glass reads Philip Larkin's "Poetry of Departures". (3 minutes)
[edit]



List_of_1996_This_American_Life_episodes

In 1996, there were 40 original This American Life episodes; the first nine were broadcast under the original name of the program Your Radio Playhouse.

Air Date: 1996-01-03
Description: Stories that reflect back on 1995
Air Date: 1996-01-10
Description: When comedian Julia Sweeney and her brother both got cancer, she decided to tell the story the best way she knew how: in a comedy club. It might seem like a strange choice, but what resulted is halfway between standup comedy and true-life diary entries.
Air Date: 1996-01-17
Description: Susan Bergman's father was a family man, head of the church choir, and, secretly, having sex with men. He died before his children had a chance to really talk to him about what they should make of his hidden life. When Bergman wrote a book about her family's experience, other gay men tried to explain her father's actions to her. That, and other stories of parents deceiving their children.
Air Date: 1996-01-24
Description: A story of a friendship between two adolescent boys that was destroyed through the manipulative acts of one of them.
  • Act 1: Dave's Love
  • Act 2: Dave's Hate
  • Act 3: Dave Today
  • Act 4: Another Dave – David Sedaris
Air Date: 1996-01-31
Description: Stories about the animalness of animals, the irreducible ways in which they are not human.
Air Date: 1996-02-07
Description: Explorations of the dream of true love ... and the difficulties with achieving and maintaining that dream.
  • Prologue
  • Al Green, Love and Happiness
  • Act 1: Yearning
  • Act 2: Sex
  • Madonna, Forbidden Love
  • Act 3: A Wedding
  • Ready, an original song performed by kids at Daniel J. Nellum Youth Services in Chicago
Air Date: 1996-02-21
Description: Stories made from old tapes found in various places, including a "letter on tape" found in a Salvation Army thrift store. Host Ira Glass with tapes of his father on the radio, circa 1956. And radio producer Nora Moreno with tapes of her father, a Spanish broadcasting pioneer in America. Her mother fell in love with him over the radio, with tragic results.
Air Date: 1996-02-28
Description: Writer Jack Hitt goes on a search for a mysterious neighbor from his childhood in Charleston, South Carolina, and stumbles onto an epic story of the Old South, the New South, gender confusion, Chihuahuas, and changing values in American journalism.
  • Prologue
  • Digital Underground, ?
  • Act 1: Dawn – Jack Hitt tells the story of Gordon Langley Hall, a.k.a. Dawn Langley Hall Simmons
  • Marlene Dietrich, ?
  • Act 2 – from the 1998 rebroadcast of this episode, Jack Hitt discusses his new conclusions two-and-a-half years after his first report of the story
Air Date: 1996-03-14
Description: Stories of politics, the economy, and the big picture.
Air Date: 1996-03-21
Description: First show as This American Life.
Air Date: 1996-03-28
Description: April first is the one day of the year when we're allowed to enjoy deceiving others. But April Fools' Day is for amateur deceivers. The real pros are the people who can't control their lying, who lie without even knowing what the truth is. Everyone's known someone like this, but it's a topic that's only rarely studied or discussed publicly. Journalist and TAL contributing editor Margy Rochlin co-hosts.
Air Date: 1996-04-12
Description: Men who had comfortable decent lives, yet decided to do something wild and eccentric with their lives instead.
Air Date: 1996-04-19
Description: Stories of hero worship, of people admiring someone from afar, and trying to get closer to them.
Air Date: 1996-04-26
Description: A show about something most people have gone through. Friends get together to start a business, start a church, do political action together. And after a while, they start fighting and split up. We hear three true stories.
Air Date: 1996-05-03
Description: Stories of the difficult relationships between parents and their grown children, including two long stories from Sandra Tsing Loh about her father.
Air Date: 1996-05-10
Description: Stories of the people who fall for a life in the theater.
Air Date: 1996-05-24
Description: Stories of girls who have to figure out how they're going to act when the ground rules are constantly shifting.
Air Date: 1996-06-07
Description: A set of documentary stories, radio essays and monologues about basketball, the Chicago Bulls, and their grip on Chicagoans' hearts and lives during the NBA Playoffs. These are unusual stories about people in the throes of love for basketball, including a story about the dreams about the Bulls Chicagoans have while sleeping.
Air Date: 1996-06-14
Description: Ira's own father Barry Glass co-hosts this special father's day edition of the show.
Air Date: 1996-06-21
Description: Stories about kids being mean to each other.
Air Date: 1996-07-12
Description: Writer David Sedaris recalls the days when his mother and sister played armchair detective—until a very odd crime wave hit within their own home. Plus, host Ira Glass goes out on surveillance with a real-life private eye.
Air Date: 1996-07-19
Description: Unusual perspectives on the presumptive Republican nominee.
Air Date: 1996-07-26
Description: Stories of obsession and compulsion. What happens when a little idea starts to control you. Co-hosted by Paul Tough.
Air Date: 1996-08-09
Description: Stories of people whose lives are transformed by music.
Air Date: 1996-08-16
Description: More campaign diaries from The New Republic's Michael Lewis.
Air Date: 1996-08-23
  • This episode is about the unique culture in a Chicago fast food restaurant.
  • Prologue – New introduction recorded in 2006, saying this show was never broadcast nationally – Ira Glass
  • Ira records various colorful personalities at the Wiener's Circle.
  • Act Two: "The Customer" by Beau O'Reilly.
  • Act Three: "A Parable of Politics" by Shirley Jahad.
  • Act Four: "Fast Food Heart" by Cassandra Smith.
Air Date: 1996-08-30
Description: Unusual stories from the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago, with scenes and moments not documented elsewhere.
Air Date: 1996-09-06
Description: Evocative, funny emotional stories collected over the last few months that haven't fit into any of our regular "theme" shows.
  • Ira Glass at the Navy Pier
  • David Sedaris recollections from the nudist camp
  • "Haiku stories" by Scott Carrier
  • Zoofilia, the stallion
  • Carmen Detzell Her grandmother's beliefs and the guitar player
Air Date: 1996-09-20
Description: Open Mic at the Lunar Cabaret. Host Ira Glass and playwright David Hauptschein took out advertisements in Chicago inviting people to come to a small theater with letters they've received, sent or found. People came for two nights and read their letters onstage. Some were funny. Some were poignant. They told a wide range of stories: a heartfelt letter from prison, a hilariously pretentious job letter sent to the New Yorker magazine, a ringingly sincere teenage "should we be more than friends" letter. Four hours of letters were recorded in all. These were edited down to an hour of letters, with a few unusual songs about letters thrown in.
  • Episode 37 – "The Job That Takes Over Your Life"
Air Date: 1996-09-27
Description: Radio producer Scott Carrier quit his job at a low moment in his life. His wife left him and took the kids. And he got a job interviewing schizophrenics for some medical researchers. After doing it a while, he began to wonder if he was a schizophrenic himself. And more stories.
Air Date: 1996-10-11
Description: Simulated worlds, Civil war reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America.
  • Act I: Travels in Hyper-Reality; a Quick National Tour.
  • Act II: Simulated Dinosaur Worlds.
  • Act III: Ira Glass and Michael Camille, a scholar from the University of Chicago, attend Medieval Times.
Air Date: 1996-10-25
Description: This week: A show for Halloween. Stories of things that are supposed to be scary, but aren't.
  • Act 1: Dark Shadows
  • Act II: A Scientist in a Haunted House.
  • Act III: Vampire Girl.
  • Act IV: Discovering Evil.
  • Act V: Gang Girl.
  • Act VI: (Your) Screams.
Air Date: 1996-11-01
Description: Stories from acclaimed storyteller Spalding Gray and others.
  • Act I: Ski Lessons.
  • Act II: Swimming Lessons; Harvard instructor.
  • Act III: Shooting Lessons; spud gun.
  • Act IV: Lessons for men on how to have an affair.
Air Date: 1996-11-08
Description: More stories of the election you can't hear anywhere else.
Air Date: 1996-11-15
Description: Three stories of people trying to forget the past and move on.
Air Date: 1996-11-22
Description: Inspired by a spate of new Chicago stage adaptations of the Faust story, This American Life brings you stories of people who made a deal with the devil.
  • Act I: Dangerous Minds; author and teacher LuAnne Johnson
  • Act II: Satan's telemarketer; voice artist pastor
  • Act III: Voyager; Peabody violinist Mendelssohn
  • Act IV: Carmen becomes Faust
  • Act V: First Contact; the story of the kid and the devil
Air Date: 1996-11-29
Description: In the midst of the five biggest poultry-consumption weeks of the year — the five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when Americans consume one-fourth of all the turkey they eat in a year — This American Life presents stories about turkeys, chickens, ducks and fowl of all kinds.
  • Ducky
  • Chicken Man
  • Growing in a Turkey Farm
  • David Sedaris an excerpt from his diaries: A turkey head.
  • Chicken Rustler, South African Chicken Blood.
  • Chicken Man Like The Phoenix - New Episode since 1969
Air Date: 1996-12-06
Description: Four stories about people struggling at the fringes of our nation's media/music/infotainment industry.
  • Act I: How to Get Famous; Sandra Tsing Loh
  • Act II: Whoring in Commercial Radio News; Scott Carrier and The Friendly Man;
  • Act III: Doing a personal act for money; Sarah Vowell; analog love
  • Act IV: Lifestyles of the rich and famous; Cheryl Trykv
Air Date: 1996-12-13
Description: Though being gay no longer has much of a stigma in some parts of the country, being a sissy still does—even among gay men. In this show we have a number of surprising and unusual stories of sissies, their families, and why people still get so upset about them.
  • Act I: Anti-Oedipus
  • Act II: Instruction For Sissies; John Conners reads from: "How to Improve Your Personality"
  • Act III: Pancy Kings Sing Songs Of love; Dave Awl
  • Act IV: Dan Savage; Who Loves a Sissy? The Other Love That Dares Not Speak Its Name
Air Date: 1996-12-20
Description: Stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, including David Sedaris's story "Santaland Diaries", which was first broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition several years ago in a much shorter version. The diaries are about David's two Christmas seasons working as an elf in Macy's department store on New York's Herald Square. When it was first broadcast, it generated more requests for tapes than any story in Morning Edition's history except the death of Red Barber. Also, David Rakoff on playing Freud in the windows of Barney's department store. And other stories.
  • Act I: Toys R Us
  • Act II: Davis Sedaris; Full Time Elf
  • Act III: Christmas Freud

Reruns broadcast in 1996

[edit]
  • 1996-02-14 – Episode 4: Vacations
  • 1996-03-07 – Episode 7: Quitting
  • 1996-04-05 – Episode 9: Julia Sweeney
  • 1996-05-17 – Episode 10: Double Lives
  • 1996-06-28 – Episode 21: Factions
  • 1996-07-05 – Episode 9: Julia Sweeney
  • 1996-08-02 – Episode 20: From a Distance
  • 1996-09-13 – Episode 22: Adult Children
  • 1996-10-04 – Episode 4: Vacations
  • 1996-10-18 – Episode 15: Dawn
  • 1996-12-27 – Episode 20: From a Distance
[edit]



In 1997, there were 40 new This American Life episodes.

Kitty Felde shows a side of the Yugoslav War Crimes Trials that hasn't been discussed anywhere: a portrait of Americans at the International Tribunal. And other stories. 1997-01-03.
    • Act I. International Justice.
    • Act II. Juvenile Justice.
    • Act III. Everyday Justice; Apology Hot Line.
  • Episode 49 – "Animals"
Stories about the animalness of animals, the irreducible ways in which they are not human. 1997-01-10; This is a repeat of episode 12 which originally aired 1996-01-31.
    • Prologue
    • Act I. Staging the Food Chain in a New York Apartment.
    • Act II. Animal Court, written by David Sedaris.
    • Act III. The Moment Humans Stop Being Animals.
  • Episode 50 – "Shoulda Been Dead"
Kevin Kelly was in Jerusalem. For reasons too complicated to go into here, he ended up sleeping on the spot where Jesus was supposedly crucified. After Kevin awoke, the thought came into his head: Live as if you'll die in six months. So he did. He got rid of all his possessions. He visited his parents and brothers and sisters for the last time. That, and other stories of starting life over, including a visit to a courtroom in Los Angeles where people go to change their names. 1997-01-17
    • Prologue. Sandra, a gang girl, almost died at the age of fourteen.
    • Act I The Day After Kevin Slept on the Spot Where Jesus was Crucified.
    • Act II The Day Lawrence Left the AIDS Clinic for the Big Road Trip.
    • Act III The Day Claudia Asked Her Brother Some Questions.
    • Act IV The Day Sheryl Got the News.
    • Act V. The Day Matthew saw Bridgette. On the Edge of the World.
  • Episode 51 – "Animals Die, People Ponder"
Stories of people who handle dead animals. Don't worry — it's not as gross as it sounds. In fact, not disgusting at all. A story by George Saunders about an animal control man who falls in unrequited love. A woman who studies illuminated manuscripts, whose pages look like paper but are in fact animals. And other stories. 1997-01-24
    • Act I. I'm Fernand, I'm Glad to be Your Stake Tonight.
    • Act II. The 400lb CEO; a story by John Saunders.
    • Act III. Dead Animal Man.
    • Act IV. Redemption.
  • Episode 52 – "Edge of Sanity"
Stories about the border between mental health and mental illness. 1997-01-31
    • Prologue; Mental Health and Romance.
    • Act I. Girl Interrupted; based on Susanna Kaysen's story.
    • Act II. Guided by Voices.
    • Act III. Plague of Tics; David Sedaris.
    • Act IV. You Don't Have to be Crazy to Work Here, But it Would Help. What is like to hold the keys to the asylum, but your grip on them is not too steady.
  • Episode 53 – "Valentine's Day '97"
For Valentine's Day, stories about our parents falling in love. And troubles with their love. From Hilton Als, Scott Carrier, Julie Showalter, a magazine column called Men My Mother Dated and others. The idea for this show was inspired by Delmore Schwartz's classic 1937 work of American fiction about his parents' courtship: In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories. 1997-02-07
    • Prologue: Ira Glass reads from "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities."
    • Act I. Men My Mother Dated. Brett Leveridge reads from: "Men My Mother Dated and Other Mostly True Tales."
    • Act II. Mom, Dad and Bats. Bia Lowe
    • Act III. It's Not the Heat. Song: "I Got a Crush on You" Jenny Magnus.
    • Act IV. Hilton Als reads from his book: "The Women"
    • Act V. Scott Carrier: "Running After Antelope"; questions to a daughter.
  • Episode 54 – "Sinatra"
Stories, tributes, and attempts to understand the Chairman of the Board. 1997-02-21
    • Prologue. Ira Glass's observations on performances of the time and about the performer. Writer Rennie Sparks.
    • Act I: "The Death of Frank Sinatra"; Michael Ventura reads.
    • Act II: A modest request to all of American television from one Sinatra fan on her knees: "One Sinatra Fan... Versus All of Network TV"
    • Act III: History lesson for young people: "History Lesson."
    • Act IV: "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold."
    • Act V: A restaurant full of cabbies gets choked-up over Frank: "How Sinatra Affects Us."
  • Episode 55 – "Three Women and the Sex Industry"
A few months ago, radio producer Sandy Tolan was supposed to do a documentary about strippers with an aspiring writer — and stripper — named Susan. A few days before they were to begin working together, Susan disappeared, presumed dead. 1997-02-28
    • Prologue: Sarah, A college student in San Francisco ventures in phone sex business and also finds a job she loves dancing naked at the club.
    • Act 1: "Susan". Someone whose life comes apart working in the go-go clubs; Susan Walsh. Sandy Tolan interviews for a documentary.
    • Act II. "Striptease" A guy who prefers pornography than having sex with his girlfriend changes. Therapist Lauren Slater.
  • Episode 56 – "Name Change"
Stories of people changing their name — some to create a new identity, some to con people. Name changes are particularly American stories: they're the dream of starting over with a clean slate. They're Ellis Island and 12-step programs, the move westward and self help, Marilyn Monroe and Malcolm X and the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, all rolled up in one. 1997-03-07
Stories about the delivery business and the people in it. UPS men, bike messengers, FedEx dispatchers. Includes a new radio play by David Sedaris, in which we give him one sound effects record and this assignment: His radio play can only use sound effects from this record, and it must use all the sound effects on the disc. 1997-03-14
Stories of small town life: the claustrophia and freedom people feel in small towns, the yearning people feel in small towns. And three teenagers in one of the harshest urban environments explain how the public housing projects are like a small town. 1997-04-04
Stories about people who are not afraid of fire, though perhaps they should be. 1997-04-11
Usually we talk about death as a tragedy, a mystery, a hard-to-comprehend fact of life. But in addition to all that, for all sorts of people it's also ... a job. Stories of undertakers, homicide detectives, slaughterhouse workers, enunculators, autopsy pathologists, exterminators, and others. Does their contact with death teach them something we should learn? 1997-04-18
Stories of when things go wrong. Really wrong. When you leave the normal realm of human error, fumble, mishap, and mistake and enter the territory of really huge breakdowns. Fiascos. Things go so awry that normal social order collapses. This week's show is a philosophical inquiry in the nature of fiascos — perhaps the first ever. 1997-04-25
Stories of people trying to get rich quick or otherwise make something for nothing. As everyone knows, there's no such thing as something for nothing. You always pay a price. 1997-05-02
People whose lives are organized around one thing. 1997-05-09
Stories for the start of summer. We want summer to be this wonderful break, but so often it fails to deliver. We hear Ron Carlson's short story about a summer job delivering tanks of oxygen to the infirm, Scott Carrier takes a river vacation, and more. 1997-05-23
Notes and stories about the Canadians among us. Are they in fact any different from red-blooded Americans? They claim they're not. Skeptical Americans put their position to the test. 1997-05-30
Are people having experiences on the Internet they wouldn't have anywhere else? Several weeks ago, This American Life invited listeners to help answer that question. 1997-06-06
Could it be more obvious? Stories in which someone's dream is someone else's nightmare. All of us get into these situations with strangers, with the people we love most, with our own parents, with our children. 1997-06-27
A show for July 4th weekend. We begin with perhaps the most moving, poetic inaugural speech in American history, and look at its legacy today. In his second inaugural address, Lincoln wondered aloud why God saw fit to send the slaughter of the Civil War to the United States. His conclusion: that slavery was a kind of original sin for the United States, for both North and South, and all Americans had to do penance for it. 1997-07-04
How many of our parents move to some place — some dream house — with some vision of a new life in the new place, and move the family with them, hoping it works out for the kids. Three stories on this theme. 1997-07-18
When you read other people's mail, you can't help but try to fill in between the lines. You try to decipher the stories of the people who wrote the letters. We hear four stories of people who read other people's mail, and what happens to them once they get caught up in these other lives. 1997-07-25
Stories of people trying to do exactly what the doctors say they can't — or shouldn't. 1997-08-01
An idiosyncratic first-person travelogue about race relations and tourism from radio producer Rich Robinson and television producer Josh Seftel. Their radio story is about a trip they took to the new South Africa. Rich Robinson is black. Josh Seftel is white. The interracial pair travel through the still mostly-segregated society and have very different opinions about what they see, especially when it comes to some distant relatives of Josh's in South Africa. 1997-08-08
The darker side of the art world: petty jealousies, competitiveness, failure. And also what's so great about art. 1997-08-15
What happens when people with one common interest gather in monstrous, fluorescent -lit halls for the weekend? Sometimes they drive each other crazy, sometimes they fall in love. 1997-08-30
Stories of the kindness of strangers and where it leads. Also, the unkindness of strangers and where that can lead. All of today's stories take place in the city most people think of as the least kind city in America: New York. 1997-09-12
The mob as portrayed in movies, and as it is in real life. And its hold over us. 1997-09-19
Can the secular world and the religious world understand each other? We ask that question while visiting Colorado Springs, Colorado, where Pastor Ted Haggard at the New Life Church has put in place a project to pray in front of the home of every person in the city, systematically, block by block and house by house. He's also helped organize a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year "prayer shield" over the city; all-night prayer vigils; and more. 1997-09-26
How bad is bad enough to count? To go to hell? 1997-10-03
People stuck in the wrong decade — or simply carrying a lot of the props from another decade. 1997-10-10
Stories of people engaged in a battle with nature — a battle they don't stand much chance of winning. Most of the show is Scott Carrier's story of trying for twelve years to chase down and catch an antelope by foot. 1997-10-17
Americans who love their guns...and the Americans who love them. 1997-10-24
Stories of people who are haunted, not by ghosts or phantoms, but by other people. 1997-10-31
Stories of outsiders who want to be insiders, and vice versa. 1997-11-14
A parable of politics and race in America. The story of Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, told two decades after his death. Washington died on November 25, 1987. 1997-11-21
Humans have turned chicken and turkey into what we want them to be. Which means that chickens and turkeys are a mirror of ourselves. 1997-12-05
Three stories of how to get money from strangers. In every story, the money is made by people who make the strangers feel good about themselves and about their nation. 1997-12-12
Stories from David Sedaris's book of Christmas stories, Holidays on Ice, read onstage by David, Julia Sweeney and actor Matt Malloy. 1997-12-19
[edit]



In 1998, there were 31 new This American Life episodes.

Numbers lie. Numbers cover over complicated feelings and ambiguous situations. In this week's show, stories of people trying to use numbers to describe things that should not be quantified. 1998-01-02
Stories about people who are destined to fight: brothers and sisters. 1998-01-09
Stories of who we are on the phone, of things we learn on the phone, and of things that happen on the phone that don't happen anywhere else. 1998-01-16
Stories of people trying to escape the box of their own lives, and create new lives. 1998-01-30
Stories about those moments when someone tries to tell you a little bit more about themselves than you'd really rather know. 1998-02-07
Stories about couples that all take place decades after that moment their eyes first meet. 1998-02-14
What happens during a "how-to," and what our how-to's say about us. Most how-to's promise that you'll not only learn skills, you'll be transformed. 1998-02-27
How should we react to people who are in non-monogamous relationships? What should we think of these struggles with monogamy? 1998-03-07
People who left their private lives and were seized by some huge historical moment. 1998-03-13
An assault on the idea of wackiness. And then, an appreciation of wackiness, and an analysis of wackiness in American culture. Thirteen ways to describe wackiness. 1998-03-20
Stories about what it means to be a person who throws the first punch ... and how hard it is to give up. 1998-03-27
Variations on what it means to be a girl and what it means to be a woman. 1998-04-10
For the 100th episode of This American Life, a radio show about the pleasures of radio. About what makes radio so great ... and what makes it so terrible. 1998-04-24
During this hour, a special edition of our show: stories about Niagara Falls, half of them from documentary producer Alix Spiegel, who went to the Falls and interviewed people living there; and half from playwright David Kodeski, who grew up in the town of Niagara Falls. 1998-05-01
With all the American movies and songs and books about the joy of the open road, it's hard for an American to take just a normal road trip without huge expectations. 1998-05-15
An NPR reporter leaves her three-year-old son and heads to Omaha — for cancer treatment — a last chance to save her life. After years of covering stories about medicine, Rebecca Perl enters the hospital as a patient. She moves from the world of healthy people into the world of sick ones. What she sees and what she learns. 1998-05-29
What's frustrating about music lessons, what's miraculous about them, and what they actually teach us. This show was recorded in front of a live audience at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, with help from KQED-FM, during the '98 Public Radio Conference in San Francisco. 1998-06-05
Two stories of people who try to cross the color line — and why it's still so hard. We hear the story of a failed interracial marriage and the story of a teenager from a poor inner city neighborhood (Cedric Jennings, pictured) who ends up at an Ivy League University — and how he barely survives there. 1998-06-12
For this Father's Day, stories in which fathers and their kids sit down and try to have an honest moment together. And stories about fathers who aren't close with their kids. 1998-06-19
For the July 4th holiday weekend, writer Sarah Vowell and her twin sister re-trace the "Trail of Tears" — the route their Cherokee ancestors took when expelled from their own land by President Andrew Jackson. 1998-07-03
Two stories of children lying to themselves and others. A woman who'd been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis talks about the lies she told herself as a child. And Dan Gediman tells the story of how he was cast in the public TV show Zoom, which aired from 1972 to 1979, at the age of ten. Then he was cut from the cast before the show ever went on the air. So for years, he lied about it. He let friends believe he was on Zoom. 1998-08-07
Stories of summer camp. People who love camp say that non-camp people simply don't understand what's so amazing about camp. In this program, we attempt to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between camp people and non-camp people. 1998-08-28
Five ways of mapping the world. One story about people who make maps the traditional way — by drawing things we can see. And other stories about people who map the world using smell, sound, touch, and taste. The world redrawn by the five senses. 1998-09-04
Two brothers set out with a friend to cross America on horseback. They take a tape recorder with them to make a kind of audio journal of their trip. What they find, who they meet, and what they learn in this experiment in 19th-century travel. Plus other stories. 1998-09-11
Germs, and how they make us leave the world of rational thinking. 1998-10-02
What happens when you suddenly strike it rich. And the power money has over our lives, for good and bad. 1998-10-16
Stories of people's last words before death. Their one last shot at figuring things out, summing things up. One last moment of asserting the fact of our existence, at the moment of our annihilation. 1998-10-23
Stories of the first day on the job, the first day in a relationship, the first day in school. On the first day, any first day, we're expected to live by the rules and customs of the culture we're entering, but we don't know those rules and customs just yet. 1998-11-13
For Thanksgiving, the time of year when poultry consumption is highest, it's our annual program about turkeys, chickens, and fowl of all types. 1998-11-27
The family table is stage on which many family dramas are played out. We hear three stories...of three families...at three meals. 1998-12-11
Stories about seeing and being seen. Taped before a live audience in Town Hall in New York City in December 1998, this was a co-production with WNYC New York, featuring live music by the pop band They Might Be Giants and the This American Life Orchestra. 1998-12-18
[edit]



In 1999, there were 30 new This American Life episodes.

[edit]
  • [2] This American Life's radio archive for 1999



In 2000, there were 26 This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 149 – "Bedside Diplomacy"
  • Episode 150 – "Kids as Adults"
  • Episode 151 – "Primary"
  • Episode 152 – "Crush"
  • Episode 153 – "Dolls"
  • Episode 154 – "In Dog We Trust"
  • Episode 155 – "Hoaxing Yourself"
  • Episode 156 – "What Remains"
  • Episode 157 – "Secret Life of Daytime"
  • Episode 158 – "Mob Mentality"
  • Episode 159 – "Mother's Day"
  • Episode 160 – "Character Assassination"
  • Episode 161 – "Million Bubbles"
  • Episode 162 – "Moving"
  • Episode 163 – "Can You Fight City Hall... If You Are City Hall?"
  • Episode 164 – "Crime Scene"
  • Episode 165 – "Americans in Paris"
  • Episode 166 – "Nobody's Family is Going to Change"
    • Act 1: So a Jew, a Christian, and a Recording Crew Walk into This Bar
    • Act 2: Matching Outfits Not Included
    • Act 3: The Artist Formerly Known as Dr. Sarkin
  • Episode 167 – "Memo to the People of the Future"
  • Episode 168 – "The Fix Is In"
  • Episode 169 – "Pursuit of Happiness"
  • Episode 170 – "Immigration"
  • Episode 171 – "Election"
  • Episode 172 – "24 Hours at the Golden Apple"
    • The TAL production staff interviewed patrons at the Golden Apple Diner in Chicago during one 24-hour period. This episode consists of vignettes of these interviews connected by Ira Glass's narration. If you are in Chicago, Ira recommends the diner's feta cheese omelette.
  • Episode 173 – "Three Kinds of Deception"
    • Act 1: Self-Deception
    • Act 2: Deceiving Others
    • Act 3: Accidental Deception – David Sedaris performs a version of his story "Picka Pocketoni," from his collection Me Talk Pretty One Day
  • Episode 174 – "Birthdays, Anniversaries and Milestones"
[edit]



In 2001, there were 28 This American Life episodes.

[edit]



In 2002, there were 25 This American Life episodes.

[edit]



In 2003, there were 28 This American Life episodes.

[edit]



In 2004, there were 24 This American Life episodes.

[edit]



In 2005, there were 26 This American Life episodes.

[edit]



In 2006, there were 17 This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 306 – "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time"
    • Act 1: Luck of the Irish – Ira Glass
    • Act 2: Taxation Without Inebriation
    • Act 3: Bad Morning America – Davy Rothbart
    • Act 4: Function of the Heart
  • Episode 307 – "In the Shadow of the City"
    • Act 1: Brooklyn Archipelago – Brett Martin
    • Act 2: The Thin Gray Line – Cheryl Wagner
    • Act 3: Yes, In My Backyard – Jorge Just
  • Episode 308 – "Star-Crossed Love"
    • Act 1: Prisoner of Love – Shant Kenderian
    • Act 2: The Diary of Mrs. Sam Horrigan – Catalina Puente
    • Act 3: So a Squirrel and a Chipmunk Walk Into a Bar – David Sedaris
  • Episode 309 – "Cat and Mouse"
    • Act 1: El Gato Y El Ratoncito – James Spring
    • Act 2: Hello Kitty – David Sedaris
    • Act 3: Looking for Loveseats in all the Wrong Places – David Segal
    • Act 4: Spray My Name, Spray My Name – Brian Thomas Gallagher
  • Episode 310 – "Habeas Schmaebeas"
    • Act 1: There's No U.S. in Habeas – Jack Hitt
    • Act 2: September 11, 1660 – Jon Ronson
    • Act 3: We Interrogate the Detainees – Jack Hitt
  • Episode 311 – "A Better Mousetrap"
  • Episode 312 – "How We Talked Back Then"
    • Show description: A return to two live shows from the TAL archive including show 36, "Letters" and show 66, "Tales from the Net".
    • Act 1: Letters
    • Act 2: Internet
  • Episode 313 – "Parental Guidance Suggested"
    • Act 1: Two Possibilities, Both Bad – Ira Glass
    • Act 2: The Grandma Letters – Will Seymour, Mortified
    • Act 3: My Angel's in the Centerfolds – Thea Chaloner
  • Episode 314 – "It's Never Over"
    • Act 1: Who Takes the Class Out of Class Reunion – Jon Ronson
    • Act 2: Life Without Leanne – Larry Doyle
    • Act 3: Deal of a Lifetime – Sarah Koenig (rebroadcast from episode 162)
    • Act 4: One Word: Timing – Tami Sagher
  • Episode 315 – "The Parrot and the Potbellied Pig"
  • Episode 316 – "The Cat Came Back"
  • Episode 317 – "Unconditional Love"
  • Episode 318 – "With Great Power"
  • Episode 319 – "And the Call Was Coming From the Basement"
    • Show description: Scary stories that are all true.
    • Prologue: Ira Glass and Albert Donnay read a ghost story from a 1921 medical journal.
    • Act 1: The Hills Have Eyes – Alix Blumberg
    • Music interlude: 45 Grave, Evil
    • Act 2: The Hitcher – Ira Glass
    • Act 3: And the Call Was Coming from ... the Listeners!
    • Act 4: Graveyard Shift – David Sedaris
    • Music interlude: Gnarls Barkley, The Boogie Monster
  • Episode 320 – "What's In a Number – 2006 Edition"
    • Show description: Discussion about a new study by The Lancet about the number of Iraqis who have died since the US invasion.
    • Prologue: Ira Glass talks with ordinary Iraqis about life after the invasion.
    • Act 1: Truth, Damn Truth and Statistics – Alex Blumberg
    • Act 2: Not Just a Number
    • Act 3: The War This Time – Ira Glass
    • Music interlude: The Roots, Somebody's Gotta Do It
  • Episode 321 – "Sink or Swim"
    • Prologue: a story about a German interpreter for Ford whose skills fail him
    • Act 1: Mr. Central High
    • Act 2: I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One at the Holiday Inn
    • Act 3: If This Ark Is A-Rockin', Don't Come A-Knockin' – Jonathan Goldstein interprets the story of Noah's Ark
  • Episode 322 – "Shouting Across the Divide"
    • Show description: Stories of Muslim and non-Muslim relations.
    • Prologue: A depiction of Muhammad on display in the main courtroom of the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • Act 1: Which One of These Is Not Like the Others?—Why is it so hard for Muslims and non-Muslims to get along in the fourth grade?
    • Act 2: America the Ad Campaign – Shalom Auslander
[edit]



In 2007, there were 24 This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 323 – "The Super"
    • Show description: Stories of the mysterious hold supers have on their buildings, or their buildings have on them.
    • Prologue: Ira speaks with a super who has exclusive access to a courtyard, but does not use it
    • Act #1: The Super Always Rings Twice
    • Music interlude: "Theme from Superman: The Movie"
    • Act #2: Super Duper
    • Music interlude: The White Stripes, "Blue Orchid"
    • Act #3: Please Re-Lease Me
    • Music interlude: Elvis Presley, "Working on a Building"
  • Episode 324 – "My Brilliant Plan"
  • Episode 325 – "Houses of Ill Repute"
  • Episode 326 – "Quiz Show"
  • Episode 327 – "By Proxy"
    • Act #1: I'm the Decider – Davy Rothbart
      • David Rothbar makes a decision that is not his to make.
    • Act #2: Kill the Messengers – Ira Glass
      • What it is like to be the proxy for American soldiers in Iraq.
    • Act #3: Redemption by Proxy – Eve Ambrams
      • A girl steps in for her dead best friend.
  • Episode 328 – "What I Learned from Television"
    • Show description: Collection of commentaries from live shows about television. All interludes performed by a band touring with This American Life, Mates of State.
    • Prologue: Ira Glass describes the effect of television on our culture.
    • Act #1: 29 – David Rakoff
      • David Rakoff takes the task of watching and describing the first 29 hours of television he has watched in years. (Takes its name from the average amount of time spent watching television each week by the typical person)
    • Act #2: Turkeys in Pilgrim Clothing – Sarah Vowell
      • Sarah Vowell talks about the ubiquitous "Thanksgiving Episode", and how writers always manage to dilute the truth.
    • Act #3: Radio on the TV – Ira Glass
      • Ira Glass reflects on TV, and in particular on a line from an episode of The O.C. which holds special meaning to This American Life.
    • Act #4: My Other Dog's a German Shepherd – Dan Savage
      • Columnist Dan Savage commentates on the portrayal of sexuality on television and what effect this can have.
  • Episode 329 – "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
    • Show description: Stories of sudden fame, quick riches, and the downside of the dream job.
    • Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks with some real-live NASA astronauts: Cady Coleman, Chris Cassidy, and Marsha Ivins. On average, NASA schedules just a couple of space missions a year. But it employs 95 astronauts. This means that only a tiny percentage of an astronaut's career is actually spent in space, and some never get there. Ira talks with these three astronauts about how they spend the vast majority of their time: on the ground, in an office, doing paperwork.
    • Act #1: I'm Not a TV Star, but I Play One on TV.
      • This American Life contributor John Hodgman was unexpectedly chosen to be in a series of high-profile Apple Computer commercials (he plays a PC). He tells the story of what happens when celebrity hunts you down and finds you...on your living room couch, pushing 40, and a couple sizes larger than you want to be. John was recorded live during our "What I Learned from Television" tour, before a sold-out audience at Royce Hall in Los Angeles.
    • Act #2: Show Me the Annuity.
      • This American Life producer Alex Blumberg talks with Ed Ugel, who had a very unusual dream job: he bought jackpots from lottery winners. When you win the lottery, your prize is often paid out in yearly installments. And Ed would offer winners a lump sum in exchange for their yearly checks. He's talked with thousands of lottery winners, and the vast majority, he says, wish they would never won. Ed is writing a book about his years in the "lump sum industry" called Money for Nothing: One Man's Journey through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions. It comes out in September 2007.
    • Act #3: The Homesick Explorer.
      • Sarah Vowell tells the story of mapmaker Charles Preuss. Preuss charted the Western Territories with John Charles Fremont and Kit Carson. Though Pruess' maps were wildly popular, he hated pretty much every minute of the expedition. Dermot Mulroney reads from Preuss's diary.
    • Act #3: Just One Thing Missing.
      • Reporter Douglas McGray interviews a college student in California with good grades, an excellent work ethic, but no possible way to get a legal job. She's lived in the U.S. since she was little, but her parents are undocumented; and she is, too. Most of her friends and teachers do not even know. Douglas McGray is a fellow at the New America Foundation.
  • Episode 330 – "My Reputation"
    • Show description: Stories of people trying to recover from damage to their reputations—sometimes caused by others, sometimes self-inflicted.
    • Prologue: Robyn Forest thought she had gotten her big break when a magazine assigned her to write about a famous Japanese pop singer. Instead, Robyn ended up on Japanese television denying that she and the singer were having an affair. Host Ira Glass talks with Robyn about how she accidentally ruined her own reputation. (11 minutes)
    • Act #1: Not Everybody Loves Raymond.
      • This American Life producer Sarah Koenig tells a story of the rise and fall of a politician's reputation. Raymond Buckley, a Democratic operative from New Hampshire, was instrumental in his party's success in last fall's midterm elections. He set his sights on becoming the chair of the state Democratic Party. But three months before the election for party chair, one of Buckley's political rivals accused him of one of the worst things that anyone can be accused of. It threatened to destroy not only his career, but his life. Unlike most politicians at the center of a scandal, Buckley was willing to talk about what he went through and how it changed him. (35 minutes)
    • Act #2: The Hole Truth.
      • It is one thing to wonder what other people really think of you. It is quite another to go out and ask them. Writer Gabriel Delahaye asked his closest friends—on tape—what they really think of him, and the answers surprised him. The story of one man's brave quest to face up to his reputation. (11 minutes)
  • Episode 331 – "Habeas Schmabeas 2007"
  • Episode 332 – "The Ten Commandments"
  • Episode 333 – "The Center for Lessons Learned"
  • Episode 334 – "Duty Calls"
  • Episode 335 – "Big Wide World"
    • Show description: Stories of people experiencing the world from new perspectives.
    • Prologue: Ira Glass sees beer for the first time in real life at a friend's house. He is in seventh grade and is forced to reconsider his view of drinking. Ira's friend from Ukraine, Valentina Filimonova, relates her dismay at the vast array of tampon choices offered at her local supermarket.
    • Act #1: Teen Wolf...Blitzer – Gideon Yago
      • Haider Hamsa is a professional teenager for the Iraqi Ministry of Information. He met with foreign media and dignitaries to represent Iraq. Just prior to the American invasion of Iraq, Haider leaves Bagdad with his family to hide in a farmhouse. After the invasion, Haider returns to Bagdad against the advice of his father. Haider later continues to go against his father's advice and experiences the occupation as a translator.
    • Music interlude: Ala Honak, Sajada Al Ubaid
    • Act #2: A Sense of Place. – Tony HIll
      • Tony Hill takes his friend, Sally Goode, to an unknown location. Sally, who was born blind, describes her observations of the location as she tries to figure out where she is.
    • Music interlude: Your Littlest World, The Rogers Sisters
  • Episode 336 – "Who Can You Save?"
    • Show description: Stories of people trying to do the right thing, with various degrees of success.
    • Prologue: Tim Jaccard relates experiences of his time as a police medic. He tells of many abandoned babies – those he could save and those he could not.
    • Act #1: Kill One, Save Five – RadioLab
      • Would you kill one man to save five by pulling a lever? Would you kill one man to save five by pushing the one off a bridge? The vast difference between these answers leads to an interesting discussion.
    • Act #2: Rescue You, Rescue Me. – Ira Glass
      • Randy Frescoln volunteers to go to Iraq for reconstruction after his previous experience in Afghanistan and related experience in infrastructure in the United States. In the Sunni Triangle he meets great resistance to his presence from the populus. Kiki Munshi discusses the difficulties working on a "provincial reconstruction team" (PRT) volunteer. Strephanie Miley, head of Randy's PRT, concludes the efforts are worthwhile.
    • Music interlude: Skavavars, Benni Hemm Hemm
    • Act #3: The Murderer. – Brady Udall
      • Brady Udall tells the story of helping a stranger. In exchange for the help, the stranger promises a favor – any favor at any time. When Brady looks up the stranger years later, he finds him rather changed.
    • Music interlude: You Can't Save Everybody, Fats Kapin, Kieran Kane, and Kevin Welch
  • Episode 337 – "Man vs. History"
    • Show description: Stories of people taking their lives into their own hands.
    • Prologue: Dal LaManga, inventor of the Tweezerman tweezers, prepares to visit Iraq.
    • Act #1: Man of LaMagna. – Sarah Koenig
      • Dal LaManga visits Iraq and meets with Mohammed Al-Dynee. This meeting earns him respect that leads to further meetings with Iraqis. After limited success, he returns to the United States to run for president.
    • Music interlude: Overture from 'The Man of La Mancha', Original Broadway Cast Recording
    • Act #2: Wenceslas Square. – Arthur Phillips
      • Arthur Phillips reads his story, Wenceslas Square.
    • Music interlude: Be by My Side, Barbara Acklin
  • Episode 338 – "The Spokesman"
    • Show description: Stories of public spokespeople in their personal and professional lives.
    • Prologue: David Iserson relates his days as a high school nerd changing high schools and aspiring to be an actor.
    • Act #1: What Part of 'Bomb' Don't You Understand? – Jon Ronson
      • Rachel North was on the London underground during the bombing. She survived and related her experience on a blog. She relates the unexpected backlash against her blog by conspiracy theorists.
    • Music interlude: Tell It Like It Is, Dirty Dozen Brass Band
    • Act #2: Mr. Successful. – Doug McGray
      • Anthony Pico discusses his experiences in foster care. His gift for public speaking helps him escape an otherwise discouraging situation. Despite his advantages over many other foster children, he still struggles with school and has an uncertain future.
    • Music interlude: Bad Mouth, Fugazi
    • Act #3: Impeachment Day. – Ira Glass
      • Joe Lockhart, press secretary for Bill Clinton, tells funny stories from his time in office.
    • Music interlude: Summertime, George Gershwin, with Bill Clinton on Tenor Saxophone
  • Episode 339 – "Break-Up"
  • Episode 340 – "The Devil in Me"
    • Show description: Stories of people trying to exorcise their inner demons.
    • Prologue: Ira Glass talks about traits he is not proud of but cannot seem to change.
    • Act #1: And So We Meet Again. – Lisa Pollak
      • The story of Sam Slaven, an Iraq War veteran plagued with hatred for Muslims.
    • Act #2: Vox Diaboli. – Nancy Updike
      • The inner voice that tells us to do the wrong thing.
    • Music interlude: Germs, Lexicon Devil
    • Act #3: The Devil Wears Birkenstocks. – Dave Dickerson
      • The story of when Dave Dickerson took on a demon in his college classroom.
    • Music interlude: David Karsten Daniels, Jesus and the Devil
  • Episode 341 – "How To Talk To Kids"
    • Show description: Stories of adults taking very different approaches to communicating with children.
    • Prologue: Ira Glass asks fifth graders to explain what adults do wrong when talking to children.
    • Act #1: So, Kids: A Priest, a Rabbi, and a Hooker Walk into a Bar... – Jane Feltes
      • Professional comedians Sean O'Connor and Nick Maritato are used to saying things that kids are not supposed to hear but get booked on a tour of kids' summer camps.
    • Music interlude: The Replacements, Kids Don't Follow
    • Act #2: Age of Consent. – Ira Glass, Julie Snyder
      • The teen-aged editors of Sex, Etc., talk about the mistakes parents make when talking to their kids about sex. Then, the story of an anonymous mother who learned that her daughter was having sex.
    • Music interlude: Patrizia & Jimmy, Trust Your Child
    • Act #3: Use Your Words.
      • Dan Savage, host of the podcast Savage Love, makes the case for yelling at children, and reflects on how his views on how to talk to kids have changed over the years.
  • Episode 342 – "How to Rest in Peace"
    • Show description: Stories about people trying to figure out how to live normally after the death of a loved one.
    • Prologue: Rachel Howard talks about coming to peace with not knowing who killed her father.
    • Act #1 Dry Eyes and Videotape – Jason Minter
      • Jason makes a documentary revisiting every aspect of his mother's murder.
    • Music interlude: It's All Right to Cry, Moufette
    • Act #2 The Good Son
      • A son helps his mother commit suicide.
    • Music interlude: Before You Leave – Mary Gauthier
  • Episode 343 – "Poultry Slam 07"
  • Episode 344 – "The Competition"
  • Episode 345 – "Ties That Bind"
  • Episode 346 – "Home Alone"
[edit]



In 2008, there were 25 This American Life episodes.

Link and Title Original Airing Date Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4 Act 5
Episode 347 – "Matchmakers" 1/18/2008 A Good Year For Grand Gestures Part Of Me, Why Not Take Part Of Me Babies Buying Babies
Episode 348 – "Tough Room" 2/8/2008 Make 'Em Laff Bar Car Prophesy Mission: Impossible Tough News Room
Episode 349 – "Valentine's Day 2008" 2/15/2008 Before And After The Over-Protective Kind Istanbul
Episode 350 – "Human Resources" 2/29/2008 The Rubber Room The Plan Almost Human Resources
Episode 351 – "Return to Childhood 2008" 3/7/2008 Ich Bin Ein Mophead Punk In A Gray Flannel Suit Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, David Ben Gurion, and Me! When We Were Angels
Episode 352 – "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar" 3/14/2008 Part One Part Two
Episode 353 – "The Audacity of Government" 3/28/2008 The Prez Vs. The Commish This American Wife 44
Episode 354 – "Mistakes Were Made" 4/18/2008 You're As Cold As Ice You're Willing To Sacrifice Our Love
Episode 355 – "The Giant Pool of Money" 5/9/2008 Part One Part Two
Episode 356 – "The Prosecutor" 5/30/2008 Conviction Retaliation
Episode 357 – "The Truth Will Out" 6/13/2008 Lieland The Spy Who Bugged Me Rosa In The Study With The Atm Card
Episode 358 – "Social Engineering" 6/27/2008 Choosers, Not Beggars Take My Bike...Please Educated Guess
Episode 359 – "Life After Death" 7/18/2008 Guity As Not Charged Soldier Of Misfortune
Episode 360 – "Switched at Birth" 7/25/2008 Part One Part Two
Episode 361 – "Fear of Sleep" 8/8/2008 Stranger In The Night Sleep's Tiniest Enemies The Bitter Fruits Of Wakefulness Hollywood-induced Nightmare A Small Taste Of The Big Sleep
Episode 362 – "Got You Pegged" 8/22/2008 The Fat Blue Line Stereotypes Uber Alles Yes, No Or Baby Paradise Lost
Episode 363 – "Enforcers" 9/12/2008 Hanging In Chad Now You SEC Me, Now You Don't
Episode 364 – "Going Big" 9/26/2008 Harlem Renaissance Lonely Hearts Club Band...Of One Prisoner Of The Heart
Episode 365 – "Another Frightening Show About the Economy" 10/3/2008 The Day The Market Died Out Of The Hedges And Into The Woods Swap Cops What's Next
Episode 366 – "A Better Mousetrap 2008" 10/10/2008 Mother Of Invention Financial Mousetrap Everything Must Go The Not-for-profit Motive
Episode 367 – "Ground Game" 10/24/2008 Scranton State College Union Halls State College, Part Two Scranton, Part Two
Episode 368 – "Who Do You Think You Are?" 11/7/2008 Hard Times What A Difference An Election Day Makes Putting The Cart Before The Porsche
Episode 369 – "Poultry Slam 2008" 11/28/2008 You Gotta Ask Yourself One Question: Do You Feel Clucky? Well...do Ya, Punk? Winged Migration A Pastor And His Flock Twistery Mystery Chicken Coop For The Soul
Episode 370 – "Ruining It for the Rest of Us" 12/19/2008 Shots In The Dark Tragedy Minus Comedy Equals Time Disturbing The Peace Train
Episode 371 – "Scenes from a Mall" 12/26/2008 Love Line Not Dead Yet Santa Fight Club Job: Security
[edit]



In 2009, there were 25 This American Life episodes.

Show description: Stories of people betraying, or perceived as betraying, their own people.
Show description: Stories produced by the Planet Money team, about how the financial regulation and rating agencies, intended to prevent financial disaster, oversaw and permitted the risky activities that created the 2007–2008 financial crisis.
Show description: Stories that explain or dispute the origins of institutions, creative work, the law, and people.
[edit]



In 2010, there were 26 new This American Life episodes.

[edit]



In 2011, there were 31 new This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 423 – "The Invention of Money"
  • Episode 424 – "Kid Politics"
  • Episode 425 – "Slow to React"
  • Episode 426 – "Tough Room 2011"
  • Episode 427 – "Original Recipe"
    • Act 1: Message in a Bottle – Ira Glass
    • Act 2: Ask Not What Your Handwriting Authenticator Can Do For You; Ask What You Can Do For Your Handwriting Authenticator – Jake Halpern
  • Episode 428 – "Oh You Shouldn't Have"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
    • Act 3: Act Three
    • Act 4: Act Four
  • Episode 429 – "Will They Know Me Back Home?"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 430 – "Very Tough Love"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 431 – "See No Evil"
    • Act 1: Blood Brothers
    • Act 2: Denying the Invisible
    • Act 3: I Worked at The Kennedy Center and All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt
  • Episode 432 – "Know When to Fold 'Em"
    • Act 1: Is This War or Is This Hearts?
    • Act 2: Kings Do Not Fold.
    • Act 3: Gin Rummy.
    • Act 4: Solitaire and Everything's Wild
  • Episode 433 – "Fine Print 2011"
    • Act 1: One Pill, Two Pill, Red Pill, Blue Pill
    • Act 2: Occupancy May Be Revoked Without Notice – David Rakoff
    • Act 3: Side Effects May Include... – Nancy Updike
    • Act 4: May Be Hazardous to Children
  • Episode 434 – "This Week"
    • Act 1: Sunday Night, State College PA
    • Act 2: Monday, Cairo, Egypt
    • Act 3: Monday, Tucson, AZ
    • Act 4: Saturday to Wednesday: CA, NY, WI, ME
    • Act 5: Wednesday, Tuscaloosa, AL
    • Act 6: Thursday, Greensvile, SC
    • Act 7: Saturday and Sunday, Gainesville and Coral Springs, FL
  • Episode 435 – "How To Create a Job"
    • Act 1: Can the Government Move My Cheese?
    • Act 2: This Story May Be Recorded For Training and Quality Assurance
    • Act 3: Job Fairies
    • Act 4: Be Cool, Stay in School
  • Episode 436 – "The Psychopath Test"
    • Act 1: Underachievement Test
    • Act 2: King of the Forest – Jon Ronson
    • Act 3: The Results Are In
  • Episode 437 – "Old Boys Network"
    • Act 1: Messing With the Bull
    • Act 2: Donkey See, Donkey Do
  • Episode 438 – "Father's Day 2011"
    • Act 1: Astro Boy Meet Robot Dad
    • Act 2: I Just Called to Say Something That's Hard to Say, That I Should Really Say More Often...
    • Act 3: Mister Baby Monitor
    • Act 4: Bring Your Child To Work Detail
  • Episode 439 – "A House Divided"
    • Act 1: War of Northern Aggression
    • Act 2: Split a Gut
    • Act 3: Don't Make Me Separate You
  • Episode 440 – "Game Changer"
    • Act 1: You've Got Shale
    • Act 2: Ground War
  • Episode 441 – "When Patents Attack!"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 442 – "Thugs"
    • Act 1: Thug Me? No, Thug You
    • Act 2: Lifers
  • Episode 443 – "Amusement Park"
    • Act 1: Gameboy Grows Up
    • Act 2: Great Adventures
    • Act 3: What I Didn't Do On My Summer Vacation—with Jonathan Goldstein
  • Episode 444 – "Gossip"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 445 – "Ten Years In"
    • Act 1: Kabul Kabul Kabul Kabul Chameleon
    • Act 2: In the Garden of the Unknown Unknowns
    • Act 3: Put on a Happy Face
    • Act 4: What's Arabic for Fjord?
    • Act 5: Bad Teacher
    • Act 6: Clutter
  • Episode 446 – "Living Without (2011)"
    • Act 1: Do You Hear What I Hear?
    • Act 2: Yerrrrr Out!
    • Act 3: The Call of the Great Indoors
    • Act 4: Tin Man
  • Episode 447 – "The Incredible Case of the P.I. Moms"
    • Act 1: A Pretty Dame Walks In
    • Act 2: His Partner Drops a Dime
  • Episode 448 – "Adventure!"
    • Act 1: Chinese Checkmate
    • Act 2: Oh, the Places We'll Go
  • Episode 449 – "Middle School"
    • Act 1: Life in the Hormonal Lane
    • Act 2: Stutter Step
    • Act 3: Mimis in the Middle
    • Act 4: Anchor Babies
    • Act 5: Blue Kid on the Block
    • Act 6: Grande with Sugar
  • Episode 450 – "So Crazy It Just Might Work"
    • Act 1: Mr. Holland's Opus
    • Act 2: Benny Takes A Jet
  • Episode 451 – "Back to Penn State"
    • Act 1: Say It Ain't So, Joe
    • Act 2: Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 2009
  • Episode 452 – "Poultry Slam 2011"
    • Act 1: Witness for the Barbecue-tion
    • Act 2: Murder Most Fowl
    • Act 3: Latin Liver
  • Episode 453 – "Nemeses"
    • Act 1: Solidarity for Never
    • Act 2: A Tale of Two Jerseys
[edit]



In 2012, there were 29 new This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 454 – "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory"
    • This American Life retracted this episode two months after it was originally broadcast, after learning that Mike Daisey exaggerated or fabricated various claims about his experiences in China. The investigation behind the retraction is the subject of episode 460, "Retraction."
    • Act 1: Mr. Daisey Goes to China – Mike Daisey
    • Act 2: Act One – Ira Glass
  • Episode 455 – "Continental Breakup"
    • Act 1: Currency of Dreams
    • Act 2: Eurotopia
    • Act 3: Ooh, I Shouldn't Have Done That!
    • Act 4: Do-Over
    • Act 5: What's a Greek Accountant Got to Do with Me?
  • Episode 456 – "Reap What You Sow"
    • Act 1: Alien Experiment
    • Act 2: Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens – Danny Lobell
  • Episode 457 – "What I Did for Love"
    • Act 1: Best Laid Plans
    • Act 2: 21 Chump Street
    • Act 3: Cold Stone Dreamery – Ben Loory
    • Act 4: Fantastic Mr. Fox – Jeanne Darst
  • Episode 458 – "Play the Part"
    • Act 1: The Audacity of Louis Ortiz – Ryan Murdock
    • Act 2: Wife Lessons
  • Episode 459 – "What Kind of Country"
    • Act 1: The Sound of Sirens
    • Act 2: Dream Come True
    • Act 3: Do You Want a Wake Up Call?
  • Episode 460 – "Retraction"
    • The entire episode is spent retracting and examining Episode 454, including further investigation of claims made by Daisey by Glass, Rob Schmitz, the Shanghai correspondent for Marketplace, and New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg.
    • Act 1: Cathy's Account
    • Act 2: Mike's Account
    • Act 3: News That's Fit to Print
  • Episode 461 – "Take the Money and Run for Office"
    • Act 1: The Hamster Wheel
    • Act 2: Pac Men
    • Act 3: The O.G.S.
  • Episode 462 – "Own Worst Enemy"
    • Act 1: Aces Are Wild
    • Act 2: The Conversation
    • Act 3: Just as I Am
  • Episode 463 – "Mortal Vs. Venial"
    • Act 1: The Postcard Always Rings Twice
    • Act 2: The Disenchanted Forest – Jonathan Goldstein
    • Act 3: The Geeks Come Out at Night
  • Episode 464 – "Invisible Made Visible"
    • A rebroadcast of portions of the live show broadcast into movie theaters on May 3, 2012.
    • Act 1: Does a Bear Hit in the Woods?
    • Act 2: Groundhog Dayne – With Special Guest Taylor Dayne
    • Act 3: Stiff as a Board, Light as a Feather – David Rakoff
    • Act 4: Turn Around Bright Eyes – David Sedaris
  • Episode 465 – "What Happened At Dos Erres"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 466 – "Blackjack"
    • Act 1: Render Unto Caesar's Palace What Is Due to Caesar's Palace
    • Act 2: Harrah's Today, Gone Tomorrow
  • Episode 467 – "Americans in China"
    • Act 1: Why Do You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?
    • Act 2: Beautiful Downtown Wasteland
  • Episode 468 – "Switcheroo"
    • Act 1: Healthy Start
    • Act 2: Forgive Us Our Press Passes
    • Act 3: Runaway Groom
  • Episode 469 – "Hiding in Plain Sight"
    • Act 1: There's Something About Mary
    • Act 2: Objects May Be Closer Than They Appear
    • Act 3: Seven Year Snitch
  • Episode 470 – "Show Me The Way"
    • Act 1: Just South of the Unicorns
    • Act 2: Oh the Places You Will Not Go!
  • Episode 471 – "The Convert"
    • Act 1: Gym Rat
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 472 – "Our Friend David"
    • A special episode devoted to the late David Rakoff. The episode consists of stories and interviews over the course of years with the radio show.
      • 65. Who's Canadian?
      • 116. Poultry Slam 1998
      • 241. 20 Acts in 60 Minutes
      • 156. What Remains
      • 208. Office Politics
      • Interview with Terry Gross
      • "Rent" Monologue
      • 12. Animals
      • 470. Show Me the Way  – with Jonathan Goldstein
      • 389. Frenemies
      • Excerpts from "Love Dishonor, Marry, Die; Cherish, Perish...A Novel by David Rakoff"
  • Episode 473 – "Loopholes"
    • Act 1: Death Takes a Policy
  • Episode 474 – "Back to School"
    • Act 1: No, These Things Will Not Be on the Final Exam
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 475 – "Send a Message"
    • Act 1: The Motherhood of the Traveling Pants
    • Act 2: Message in a Bottle
    • Act 3: Soul Sister
    • Act 4: Worst Mixtape Ever
  • Episode 476 – "What Doesn't Kill You"
    • Act 1: Too Soon?
    • Act 2: Just Keep Breathing
    • Act 3: A Real Nail Biter
    • Act 4: The Year After
  • Episode 477 – "Getting Away With It"
    • Act 1: Take Your Kid to Work Day
    • Act 2: Get Away with It After the Beep
    • Act 3: Crime and Tutus
    • Act 4: Pre K-O
  • Episode 478 – "Red State Blue State"
    • Act 1: I Know You Are, but What Am I?
    • Act 2: Nothing in Moderation
  • Episode 479 – "Little War on the Prairie"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 480 – "Animal Sacrifice"
    • Act 1: Semper Fido
    • Act 2: Run Rabbit. No, Really, Run!
    • Act 3: Human Sacrifice
  • Episode 481 – "This Week"
    • Act 1: Kabul, Afghanistan
    • Act 2: Tucson, Arizona
    • Act 3: Washington, D.C.
    • Act 4: New Orleans, LA
    • Act 5: Cairo, Egypt
    • Act 6: Boston, Logan Airport; Chicago, IL; Springfield, OR
  • Episode 482 – "Lights, Camera, Christmas!"
    • Act 1: Christmas in 3-D
    • Act 2: Deer in the Footlights
    • Act 3: Piddler on the Roof
[edit]



In 2013, there were 32 new This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 483 – "Self-Improvement Kick"
    • Act 1: Is That a Compass, a Map, a Toothbrush, and a Bottle of Purell in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?
    • Act 2: Some Like It Dot
  • Episode 484 – " Doppelgangers"
    • Act 1: Dead Ringer
    • Act 2: In Country, in City
  • Episode 485 – "Surrogates"
    • Act 1: Petticoats in a Twist
    • Act 2: Maul in the Family
  • Episode 486 – "Valentine's Day"
    • Act 1: Best Laid Plans
    • Act 2: 21 Chump Street
    • Act 3: Cold Stone Dreamery
    • Act 4: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
  • Episode 487 – "Harper High School, Part One"
    • Act 1: Rules to Live By
    • Act 2: A Tiny Office on the Second Floor
    • Act 3: Game Day
  • Episode 488 – "Harper High School, Part Two"
    • Act 1: The Eyewitness
    • Act 2: Your Name Written on Me
    • Act 3: Get Your Own Gun
    • Act 4: Devonte, Part Two
    • Act 5: Reverse Turnaround Backflip
  • Episode 489 – "No Coincidence, No Story!"
    • Act 1: Grandmas
    • Act 2: In God We Trust
    • Act 3: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
    • Act 4: Act Four
    • Act 5: What Are the Chances?
  • Episode 490 – "Trends with Benefits"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 491 – "Tribes"
    • Act 1: I Know I Am But What Are You?
    • Act 2: A Tribe Called Rest
    • Act 3: I Am Curious Yellow
  • Episode 492 – "Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 493 – "Picture Show"
    • Act 1: Photo Op
    • Act 2: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand... Dollars
  • Episode 494 – "Hit the Road"
    • Act 1: The Slowest Distance Between Two Points
    • Act 2: Car Pool
    • Act 3: Let's See How Fast This Baby Will Go
  • Episode 495 – "Hot in My Backyard"
    • Act 1: The CO2 in CO
    • Act 2: The Right Man for the Job
    • Act 3: Find an Enemy
  • Episode 496 – "When Patents Attack... Part Two!"
    • Act 1: 2011
    • Act 2: 2013
  • Episode 497 – "This Week"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
    • Act 3: Act Three
    • Act 4: Act Four
    • Act 5: Act Five
    • Act 6: Act Six
    • Act 7: Act Seven
  • Episode 498 – "The One Thing You're Not Supposed To Do"
    • Act 1: Breaking the Ice
    • Act 2: The Gun Thing You're Not Supposed to Do
    • Act 3: Out of the Woods
  • Episode 499 – "Taking Names"
    • Act 1: Reluctant Sailor
    • Act 2: Emails from a Dead Man
  • Episode 500 – "500!"
    • A special retrospective episode featuring the producers' favorite segments from the previous 499 episodes.
    • Act 1:
      • #107, "Trail of Tears"
      • #220, "Testosterone"
      • #296, "After the Flood"
      • #232, "The Real Story"
      • #266, "I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to Help"
      • #334, "Duty Calls"
      • #314, "It's Never Over"
    • Act 2:
      • #27, "The Cruelty of Children"
      • #188, "Kid Logic"
      • #94, "How To"
      • #241, "20 Acts in 60 Minutes"
  • Episode 501 – "The View From In Here"
    • Act 1: Weeds of Discontent
    • Act 2: The Real Housewife of Ciudad Juarez
    • Act 3: Movin On Up
  • Episode 502 – "This Call May Be Recorded... To Save Your Life"
    • Act 1: Act One
    • Act 2: Act Two
  • Episode 503 – "I Was Just Trying To Help"
    • Act 1: Money for Nothing and Your Cows for Free
    • Act 2: Nipped in the Bud
  • Episode 504 – "How I Got Into College"
    • Act 1: The Old College Try
    • Act 2: My Ames Is True
  • Episode 505 – "Use Only As Directed"
    • Act 1: Act 1
    • Act 2: Act 2
  • Episode 506 – "Secret Identity"
    • Act 1: You Can't Handle The Truth
    • Act 2: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright
    • Act 3: The Blonde Avenger
  • Episode 507 – "Confessions"
    • Act 1: Kim Possible
    • Act 2: You Don't Say
  • Episode 508 – "Superpowers 2013"
    • Act 1: Invisible Man Vs. Hawkman
    • Act 2: Wonder Woman
    • Act 3: The Green Team Of Boy Millionaires, Beppo The Amazing Supermonkey From Planet Krypton, And The Man From Sram
    • Act 4: Villain And Able
  • Episode 509 – "It Says So Right Here"
    • Act 1: Doe-ppelgangers
    • Act 2: What Are You Doing For The Test Of Your Life?
    • Act 3: There's A Signed Line Between Love And Hate
  • Episode 510 – "Fiasco! 2013"
    • Act 1: Opening Night
    • Act 2: What We Wanted To Do
    • Act 3: Squirrel Cop
    • Act 4: Fiascos As A Force For Good In The World
  • Episode 511 – "The Seven Things You're Not Supposed To Talk About"
    • Act 1: Period
    • Act 2: Diet
    • Act 3: Health
    • Act 4: Sleep
    • Act 5: Dream
    • Act 6: Route Talk
  • Episode 512 – "House Rules"
    • Act 1: Rental Gymnastics
    • Act 2: The Missionary
  • Episode 513 – "129 Cars"
    • Act 1: Act 1
    • Act 2: Act 2
    • Act 3: Act 3
    • Act 4: Act 4
    • Act 5: Act 5
    • Act 6: Act 6
    • Act 7: Act 7
    • Act 8: Act 8
    • Act 9: Act 9
    • Act 10: Act 10
  • Episode 514 – "Thought That Counts"
    • Act 1: Replacement Claus
    • Act 2: It's Your Junk In A Box
    • Act 3: Christmas Or Bust

References

[edit]
[edit]



In 2014, there were 29 new This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 515 – "Good Guys"
    • Act 1: Takes One to Know One
    • Act 2: Heels on the Bus
    • Act 3: No Man Left Behind
    • Act 4: Deep Dark Open Secret
  • Episode 516 – "Stuck in the Middle"
    • Act 1: Do You Hear What I Hear?
    • Act 2: Sunrise, Sun-Get
    • Act 3: They Love a Man in a Uniform
  • Episode 517 – "Day at the Beach"
    • Act 1: Mexican Beach Doctor
    • Act 2: Long Talk on a Short Pier
    • Act 3: The Beachcomber
    • Act 4: Now We Are Five
  • Episode 518 – "Except for That One Thing"
    • Act 1: Not Okay Cupid
    • Act 2: Hungry Hungry People
    • Act 3: Start Me Up
    • Act 4: Run on Sentence
    • Act 5: Happy Accident
  • Episode 519 – "Dead Men Tell No Tales"
    • Act 1: Act 1
    • Act 2: Act 2
    • Act 3: Act 3
  • Episode 520 – "No Place Like Home"
    • Act 1: Flight Simulation
    • Act 2: Phone Home
    • Act 3: The Hostess With the Toastess
  • Episode 521 – "Bad Baby"
    • Act 1: The Road To Badness
    • Act 2: The Devil Went Down To Jersey
    • Act 3: This is Gonna Hurt Me a Lot More than It's Gonna Hurt You
    • Act 4: We Are Fine Parents
  • Episode 522 – "Tarred and Feathered"
    • Act 1: The Hounds Of Blairsville
    • Act 2: Help Wanted
  • Episode 523 – "Death and Taxes"
    • Act 1: Death
    • Act 2: Taxes
  • Episode 524 – "I Was So High"
    • Act 1: High On The Corporate Ladder
    • Act 2: You Were So High
    • Act 3: Bottom Of The Eighth
    • Act 4: Straight Man
    • Act 5: DEA Agent Takes A Hit
  • Episode 525 – "Call For Help"
    • Act 1: When May Day Falls In April
    • Act 2: Government Assistance
    • Act 3: Horse Of A Different Color
  • Episode 526 – "Is That What I Look Like?"
    • Act 1: Blunt Force
    • Act 2: One Life To Live
    • Act 3: The Blunder Years
  • Episode 527 – "180 Degrees"
    • Act 1: Seeing The Forrest Through The Little Trees
    • Act 2: Unsafety Exit
    • Act 3: I'm The One Who Knocks
  • Episode 528 – "The Radio Drama Episode"
    • Act 1: 21 Chump Street: The Musical
    • Act 2: Of Mice And Men
    • Act 3: How Do You Slow This Thing Down (Podcast Only)
    • Act 4: Bus! Stop!
  • Episode 529 – "Human Spectacle"
    • Act 1: I Am The Eggplant
    • Act 2: I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me
    • Act 3: I Am Iraq, I Am An Island
  • Episode 530 – "Mind Your Own Business"
    • Act 1: Jill House Rules
    • Act 2: Cop Versus Cop
  • Episode 531 – "Got Your Back"
    • Act 1: Absolutely Stabulous
    • Act 2: By the Waters of Haggle-On
    • Act 3: One Woman Show
  • Episode 532 – "Magic Words"
    • Act 1: I Believe I Can Fly
    • Act 2: Rainy Days and Mondys
    • Act 3: Pescatarian
  • Episode 533 – "It's Not the Product, It's the Person"
    • Act 1: I Got 99 Problems and a Pitch Is One
    • Act 2: The Business of Show
    • Act 3: The Other Real World
  • Episode 534 – "A Not-So-Simple Majority"
    • Act 1: A Not So Simple Majority, Part 1
    • Act 2: A Not So Simple Majority, Part 2
  • Episode 535 – "Origin Story 2014"
    • Act 1: Mad Man
    • Act 2: Silent Partner
    • Act 3: Wait Wait... Don't Film Me
    • Act 4: Bill Clinton's 7-Year-Old Brother
  • Episode 536 – "The Secret Recordings of Carmen Segarra"
    • Act 1: Act 1
    • Act 2: Act 2
  • Episode 537 – "The Alibi"
  • Episode 538 – "Is This Working?"
    • Act 1: Time Out
    • Act 2: The Guinea Pig Becomes the Scientist
    • Act 3: The Talking Cure
  • Episode 539 – "The Leap"
  • Episode 540 – "A Front"
  • Episode 541 – "Regrets, I've Had a Few"
  • Episode 542 – "Wait, Do You Have the Map?"
  • Episode 543 – "Wake Up Now"
[edit]



In 2015, there were 33 new This American Life episodes.

  • Episode 544 – "Batman"
    • air date: 2015-01-09
    • Act 1: Batman Begins.
    • Act 2: The Dark Knight Rises.
  • Episode 545 – "If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS"
    • air date: 2015-01-23
    • Act 1: Ask Not for Whom The Bell Trolls; It Trolls for Thee.
    • Act 2: Freedom Fries.
    • Act 3: Words of Prey.
    • Act 4: Mailer Demon.
  • Episode 546 – "Burroughs 101"
    • air date: 2015-01-30
    • Act 1: Burroughs, Part One.
    • Act 2: Burroughs, Part Two.
  • Episode 547 – "Cops See It Differently, Part One"
    • air date: 2015-02-06
    • Act 1:
    • Act 2:
  • Episode 548 – "Cops See It Differently, Part Two"
    • air date: 2015-02-13
    • Act 1: Inconvenience Store.
    • Act 2: Comey Don't Play That.
  • Episode 549 – "Amateur Hour"
    • air date: 2015-02-27
    • Act 1: Theater of War.
    • Act 2: And Baby Makes 0011.
    • Act 3: Commander In Brief.
  • Episode 550 – "Three Miles"
    • air date: 2015-03-13
    • Act 1:
    • Act 2:
  • Episode 551 – "Good Guys 2015"
    • air date: 2015-03-20
    • Act 1: Takes One To Know One.
    • Act 2: Heels On The Bus.
    • Act 3: No Man Left Behind.
    • Act 4: The Test.
  • Episode 552 – "Need To Know Basis"
    • air date: 2015-03-27
    • Act 1: Full Disclosure.
    • Act 2: Total Eclipse of the Son.
    • Act 3: The Favorite.
  • Episode 553 – "Stuck In The Middle (2015)"
    • air date: 2015-04-03
    • Act 1: Do You Hear What I Hear?
    • Act 2: Sunrise, Sun-Get.
    • Act 3: Contrails of My Tears.
  • Episode 554 – "Not It!"
    • air date: 2015-04-10
    • Act 1: Como Se Dice "Not It"?
    • Act 2: Last But Not Least.
    • Act 3: The Big Crapple.
  • Episode 555 – "The Incredible Rarity of Changing Your Mind"
    • air date: 2015-04-24
    • Act 1: Do Ask, Do Tell.
    • Act 2: Crime Pays.
    • Act 3: Glacial Change
  • Episode 556 – "Same Bed, Different Dreams"
    • air date: 2015-05-01
    • Act 1: Dream Weevil.
    • Act 2: Smell You Later.
    • Act 3: The Haunter Becomes the Haunted.
    • Act 4: Overnight Flight.
    • Updated as Episode 718 – "Same Bed, Different Dreams".
  • Episode 557 – "Birds & Bees"
    • air date: 2015-05-15
    • Act 1: Some Like it Not (On the Neck).
    • Act 2: If You See Racism Say Racism.
    • Act 3: About that Farm Upstate.
  • Episode 558 – "Game Face"
    • air date: 2015-05-29
    • Act 1: 200 Dog Night, featuring Blair Braverman.[1][2]
    • Act 2: Funny Face.
    • Act 3: Who Put the Face in Game Face?
    • Act 4: Frankly Miss Scarlet.
  • Episode 559 – "Captain's Log"
    • air date: 2015-06-26
    • Act 1: Cookies and Monsters.
    • Act 2: Romancing the Phone.
    • Act 3: A Quiet Street in Richmond.
    • Act 4: A Brief History of Us.
  • Episode 560 – "Abdi And The Golden Ticket"
    • air date: 2015-07-03
    • Act 1:
    • Act 2:
  • Episode 561 – "NUMMI 2015"
    • air date: 2015-07-17
    • Act 1:
    • Act 2:
  • Episode 562 – "The Problem We All Live With"
    • air date: 2015-07-31
    • Act 1: The Problem We All Live With PART ONE.
    • Act 2: The Problem We All Live With PART TWO.
  • Episode 563 – "The Problem We All Live With - Part Two"
    • air date: 2015-08-07
    • Act 1: My Secret Public Plan.
    • Act 2: What’s It All About, Arne?
  • Episode 564 – "Too Soon?"
    • air date: 2015-08-14
    • Act 1: But Wait, There's More!
    • Act 2: Pink Slip.
  • Episode 565 – "Lower 9 + 10"
    • air date: 2015-08-28
    • Act 1: First Stop.
    • Act 2: Second Stop.
    • Act 3: Third Stop.
    • Act 4: Fourth Stop.
    • Act 5: Fifth Stop.
    • Act 6: Sixth Stop.
  • Episode 566 – "The Land of Make Believe"
    • air date: 2015-09-11
    • Act 1: Overboard.
    • Act 2: The Lyin' Kings.
  • Episode 567 – "What's Going On In There?"
    • air date: 2015-09-18
    • Act 1: I Can Explain.
    • Act 2: RSV-Pa.
  • Episode 568 – "Human Spectacle 2015"
    • air date: 2015-10-02
    • Act 1: I Am The Eggplant.
    • Act 2: I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me.
    • Act 3: The Big Break.
  • Episode 569 – "Put A Bow On It"
    • air date: 2015-10-09
    • Act 1: The Room Where It Happens.
    • Act 2: The Wedding Crasher.
    • Act 3: Drivers Wanted. Really Really Wanted.
  • Episode 570 – "The Night In Question"
    • air date: 2015-10-16
    • Act 1: The Night.
    • Act 2: The Morning.
  • Episode 571 – "The Heart Wants What It Wants"
    • air date: 2015-10-30
    • Act 1: Jesse’s Girl.
    • Act 2: My Love Is Blue.
    • Act 3: Unbreak My Heart.
  • Episode 572 – "Transformers"
    • air date: 2015-11-06
    • Act 1: Optimus, Way Past Her Prime.
    • Act 2: Streetwise.
    • Act 3: Richard Pierce.
    • Act 4: Trailbreaker.
  • Episode 573 – "Status Update"
    • air date: 2015-11-29
    • Act 1: Finding the Self in Selfie.
    • Act 2: Mon Ami Ta-Nehisi.
    • Act 3: There Owes the Neighborhood.
    • Act 4: 76-Year-Old Quarterback Throws Hail Mary Pass.
  • Episode 574 – "Sinatra's 100th Birthday"
    • air date: 2015-12-11
    • Act 1: Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.
    • Act 2: One Sinatra Fan ... Versus All Of Network TV.
    • Act 3: History Lesson.
    • Act 4: The Death of Frank Sinatra.
    • Act 5: Chairman of the Block.
  • Episode 575 – "Poetry of Propaganda"
    • air date: 2015-12-18
    • Act 1: Guerrilla Marketing
    • Act 2: Not Our Town
    • Act 3: The Spy Who Didn't Know She Was A Spy.
    • Act 4: Party On!
  • Episode 576 – "Say Yes To Christmas"
    • air date: 2015-12-25
    • Act 1: Christmas On A High Wire.
    • Act 2: Oily Potter and The Gobble of Fire.
    • Act 3: The First Noel.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Berry, Erica (July 18, 2016). "The Rumpus Interview with Blair Braverman". The Rumpus. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  2. ^ Driver, Alice (6 July 2016). "Mush, mush, mush! How husky racing saved an author and inspired a memoir". The Guardian. London, England. Archived from the original on 10 July 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
[edit]



In 2016, there were 30 new This American Life episodes.[1]

  • Episode 577 – "Something Only I Can See"
    • air date: 2016-01-15
  • Episode 578 – "I Thought I Knew You"
    • air date: 2016-01-29
  • Episode 579 – "My Damn Mind"
    • air date: 2016-02-12
  • Episode 580 – "That's One Way to Do It"
    • air date: 2016-02-19
  • Episode 581 – "Anatomy of Doubt"
    • air date: 2016-02-26
  • Episode 582 – "When the Beasts Come Marching In"
    • air date: 2016-03-11
  • Episode 583 – "It'll Make Sense When You're Older"
    • air date: 2016-03-25
  • Episode 584 – "For Your Reconsideration"
    • air date: 2016-04-08
  • Episode 585 – "In Defense of Ignorance"
    • air date: 2016-04-22
  • Episode 586 – "Who Do We Think We Are?"
    • air date: 2016-05-06
  • Episode 587 – "The Perils of Intimacy"
    • air date: 2016-05-27
  • Episode 588 – "Mind Games 2016"
    • air date: 2016-06-03
  • Episode 589 – "Tell Me I'm Fat"
    • air date: 2016-06-17
  • Episode 590 – "Choosing Wrong"
    • air date: 2016-06-24
  • Episode 591 – "Get Your Money's Worth"
    • air date: 2016-07-15
  • Episode 592 – "Are We There Yet?"
    • air date: 2016-07-29
  • Episode 593 – "Don't Have to Live Like a Refugee"
    • air date: 2016-08-05
  • Episode 594 – "My Summer Self"
    • air date: 2016-08-12
  • Episode 595 – "Deep End of the Pool"
    • air date: 2016-08-26
  • Episode 596 – "Becoming a Badger"
    • air date: 2016-09-09
  • Episode 597 – "One Last Thing Before I Go"
    • air date: 2016-09-23
  • Episode 598 – "My Undesirable Talent"
    • air date: 2016-10-07
  • Episode 599 – "Seriously?"
    • air date: 2016-10-21
  • Episode 600 – "Will I Know Anyone at This Party?"
    • air date: 2016-10-28
  • Episode 601 – "Master of Her Domain... Name"
    • air date: 2016-11-04
  • Episode 602 – "The Sun Comes Up"
    • air date: 2016-11-11
  • Episode 603 – "Once More, With Feeling"
    • air date: 2016-12-02
  • Episode 604 – "20 Years Later"
    • air date: 2016-12-09
  • Episode 605 – "Kid Logic 2016"
    • air date: 2016-12-16
  • Episode 606 – "Just What I Wanted"
    • air date: 2016-12-23

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Radio Archive by Date | This American Life". www.thisamericanlife.org. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
[edit]

Warning: Default sort key "2016 This American Life episodes" overrides earlier default sort key "This American Life episodes (2007)".



Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

This article about a radio show or program in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

In 2017, there were 28 new This American Life episodes.[1]

  • Episode 607 – "Didn’t We Solve This One?"
    • air date: 2017-01-06
  • Episode 608 – "The Revolution Starts At Noon"
    • air date: 2017-01-20
  • Episode 609 – "It’s Working Out Very Nicely"
    • air date: 2017-02-03
  • Episode 610 – "Grand Gesture"
    • air date: 2017-02-17
  • Episode 611 – "Vague and Confused"
    • air date: 2017-03-03
  • Episode 612 – "Ask a Grown-Up"
    • air date: 2017-03-17
  • Episode 613 – "OK, I’ll Do It"
    • air date: 2017-03-31
  • Episode 614 – "The Other Mr. President"
    • air date: 2017-04-14
  • Episode 615 – "The Beginning of Now"
    • air date: 2017-04-28
  • Episode 616 – "I Am Not A Pirate"
    • air date: 2017-05-05
  • Episode 617 – "Fermi’s Paradox"
    • air date: 2017-05-19
  • Episode 618 – "Mr. Lie Detector"
    • air date: 2017-06-09
  • Episode 619 – "The Magic Show"
    • air date: 2017-06-30
  • Episode 620 – "To Be Real"
    • air date: 2017-07-14
  • Episode 621 – "Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville"
    • air date: 2017-07-21
  • Episode 622 – "Who You Gonna Call?"
    • air date: 2017-08-04
  • Episode 623 – "We Are in the Future"
    • air date: 2017-08-18
  • Episode 624 – "Private Geography"
    • air date: 2017-09-01
  • Episode 625 – "Essay B"
    • air date: 2017-09-08
  • Episode 626 – "White Haze"
    • air date: 2017-09-22
  • Episode 627 – "Suitable for Children"
    • air date: 2017-10.06
  • Episode 628 – "In the Shadow of the City 2017"
    • air date: 2017-10-13
  • Episode 629 – "Expect Delays"
    • air date: 2017-10-20
  • Episode 630 – "Things I Mean to Know"
    • air date: 2017-10-27
  • Episode 631 – "So a Monkey and a Horse Walk Into a Bar"
    • air date: 2017-11-10
  • Episode 632 – "Our Town"
    • air date: 2017-12-08
  • Episode 633 – "Our Town - Part Two"
    • air date: 2017-12-15
  • Episode 634 – "Human Error in Volatile Situations"
    • air date: 2017–12-22

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Radio Archive by Date | This American Life". www.thisamericanlife.org. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
[edit]



In 2018, there were 30 new This American Life episodes.[1]

Air Date: 2018-01-12
Air Date: 2018-01-19
Air Date: 2018-02-02
Air Date: 2018-02-09
Air Date: 2018-02-23
Air Date: 2018-03-02
Air Date: 2018-03-02
Air Date: 2018-04-06
Air Date: 2018-04-13
Air Date: 2018-04-27
Air Date: 2018-05-04
Air Date: 2018-05-18
Air Date: 2018-05-25
Air Date: 2018-06-08
  • Episode 649 – "It's My Party and I'll Try If I Want To"
Air Date: 2018-06-22
Air Date: 2018-06-22
Air Date: 2018-07-13
Air Date: 2018-07-20
Air Date: 2018-08-03
Air Date: 2018-08-10
Air Date: 2018-08-24
Air Date: 2018-09-14
Air Date: 2018-09-21
Air Date: 2018-10-05
Air Date: 2018-10-12
Air Date: 2018-11-02
Air Date: 2018-11-09
Air Date: 2018-11-16
Air Date: 2018-12-07
Air Date: 2018-12-28

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Radio Archive by Date | This American Life". www.thisamericanlife.org. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
[edit]



In 2019, there were 26 new This American Life episodes.[1]

Air Date: 2019-01-04
Air Date: 2019-01-18
Air Date: 2019-02-01
Air Date: 2019-02-15
Air Date: 2019-03-01
Air Date: 2019-03-15
Air Date: 2019-03-29
Air Date: 2019-04-05
Air Date: 2019-04-19
Air Date: 2019-05-10
Air Date: 2019-05-17
Air Date: 2019-05-31
Air Date: 2019-06-14
Air Date: 2019-07-05
Air Date: 2019-07-12
Air Date: 2019-07-26
Air Date: 2019-08-16
Air Date: 2019-08-23
Air Date: 2019-09-20
Air Date: 2019-09-27
Air Date: 2019-10-11
  • Extra: "Drums, Oil, and Early Morning Devil Horns"
Air Date: 2019-10-11
Air Date: 2019-10-18
Air Date: 2019-11-08
Air Date: 2019-11-15
Air Date: 2019-12-06
Air Date: 2019-12-27

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Radio Archive by Date | This American Life". www.thisamericanlife.org. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
[edit]



In 2020, there were thirty-eight new This American Life episodes.[1]

Air Date: 2020-01-10
Air Date: 2020-01-31
Air Date: 2020-02-07
Air Date: 2020-02-14
Air Date: 2020-02-28
Air Date: 2020-03-13
Air Date: 2020-03-20
Air Date: 2020-03-27
Air Date: 2020-04-03
Air Date: 2020-04-10
Air Date: 2020-04-17
Air Date: 2020-04-24
Air Date: 2020-05-08
Air Date: 2020-05-15
Air Date: 2020-05-22
Air Date: 2020-05-29
Air Date: 2020-06-05
Air Date: 2020-06-12
Air Date: 2020-06-26
Air Date: 2020-07-10
Air Date: 2020-07-17
Air Date: 2020-07-31
Air Date: 2020-08-07
Air Date: 2020-08-14
  • Episode 715 – "Long-Awaited Asteroid Finally Hits Earth"
Air Date: 2020-08-28
Air Date: 2020-09-04
Air Date: 2020-09-11
Air Date: 2020-09-25, an update of episode Episode 556 – "Same Bed, Different Dreams"
Air Date: 2020-10-02
Air Date: 2020-10-16
Air Date: 2020-10-23
Air Date: 2020-10-30
Air Date: 2020-11-06
Air Date: 2020-11-13
Air Date: 2020-11-27
Air Date: 2020-12-11
Air Date: 2020-12-18
Air Date: 2020-12-25

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Radio Archive by Date". This American Life.org. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
[edit]



List of 2021 This American Life episodes

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