Podcasts about This American Life

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered everyone over 30 in the military to have their testosterone tested. That inspired us to rerun this classic episode where everyone at This American Life tested their testosterone and compared results. It did not lead to workplace harmony. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks with producer Alex Blumberg, who explains that he wanted to do this show because of his conflicted relationship with his own testosterone. He tells Ira that the reasons go back to a girl in his 8th-grade homeroom. We also hear from a man who stopped producing testosterone due to a medical treatment, and found his entire personality was altered. (10 minutes)Act One: What's it like to get injected with testosterone? When Griffin Hansbury transitioned, he got massive shots of it and was surprised at the effect it had on him. (17 minutes)Act Two: The men and women on staff at This American Life decide to get their testosterone levels tested to see who has the most and least, and whether personality traits actually match hormone levels. (13 minutes)Act Three: What happens when a man suddenly loses all of his testosterone? We return to Alex Blumberg's interview from the top of the show with a man who that happened to. He says life without testosterone is life without desire. By that he doesn't mean sexual desire. He means any desire. (6 minutes)Act Four: Novelist Miriam Toews interviews her 15-year-old son, someone at an age when boys experience a jolt of ten or twenty times the testosterone they had as children, about all the things she doesn't understand about what he's going through. (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

“I am not Nicholas Rossi!” gasps Arthur Knight through an oxygen mask in March 2022. Recently discharged from a Covid ward in Glasgow, he's in a wheelchair. The police say he's Nicholas Rossi, suspected of faking his death and wanted for rape in Utah. The story makes headlines globally.When journalist Jane MacSorley meets Arthur Knight and his wife Miranda, she thinks the police have made a mistake. She embarks on a yearlong investigation, making a unique discovery which changes everything. Listen to I Am Not Nicholas Season 1 on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free by joining Audible on the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

People on journeys they did not intend — or agree to. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: A woman on a nighttime bus ride wakes up to discover the bus driver is taking the passengers somewhere none of them want to go. (8  minutes)Act One: Sometimes, the bus ride you're stuck on, against your will, is the thoughts spinning around in your own mind. (13 minutes)Act Two: A dispatch from Cuba, where there are not a lot of buses running right now because the whole country is out of oil. (11 minutes)Act Three: Sometimes, an entire country can be taken on an unexpected journey against its will. That happened in England, where a crime occurred that was so confounding, so nonsensical, that people just could not wrap their heads around it. (15 minutes)Act Four: Someone trapped…not on a bus…but on a plane! When she was 16, Leticia flew from Sao Paolo, where she lived, to Germany. She was seated next to an older woman who did something so surprising during the flight that Leticia still tells people about it today. (9 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 491, my conversation with Carmen Maria Machado, author of the award-winning debut story collection Her Body and Other Parties. Air date: November 8, 2017. Carmen is also the author of the bestselling memoir In the Dream House and the graphic novel The Low, Low Woods. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction, the Brooklyn Public Library Literature Prize, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize. In 2018, the New York Times listed Her Body and Other Parties as a member of "The New Vanguard," one of "15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century."Her essays, fiction, poetry, and criticism have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Granta, Vogue, This American Life, Harper's Bazaar, Tin House, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, The Believer, Guernica, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, Best American Nonrequired Reading, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Millay Colony for the Arts. She is the former Abrams Artist-in-Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. *** ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Otherppl with Brad Listi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, etc. Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Write a Novel,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ the debut audio course from DeepDive. 50+ hours of never-before-heard insight, inspiration, and instruction from dozens of today's most celebrated contemporary authors. Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brad's email newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠proud affiliate partner of Bookshop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just in time for America's 250th birthday, follow Dan Taberski (Hysterical, 9/12, Missing Richard Simmons) as he sets off on his most complicated quest yet: to reclaim the manifesto and write his own. Dan attempts to rescue the manifesto as a form from the sweaty clutches of cynical politicians and mass shooters and return it to its rightful place: with the artists, the warriors, the visionaries, and the mildly crazy regular folks with something to say, the passion to say it, and the courage to do something about it. From Audible Originals and Please & Thanks Productions, this 6-part series explores the power of the manifesto and asks: Can we get inspired again… and can we do it without a bullet? Listen to Dan Taberski's Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts. Or binge all episodes of Manifesto ad-free right now on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Some people in this country think Antifa is a dangerous domestic terror organization. Some think that's a complete myth. This week, we go to the federal trial where, for the first time, the government sets out to prove that Antifa is real. Zoe Chace reports. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass tells the story of what happened at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. The government claims this was an attack by an Antifa cell. The defense says it was a protest gone awry. This argument goes to court in a first-of-its-kind trial. (7 minutes)Act One: Reporter Zoe Chace walks us through one of the worst days for the defense: all these guns. (5 minutes)Act Two: Zoe takes us through the testimony of the government's Antifa expert. The defense team is optimistic that things are going well for them. (8 minutes)Act Three: Zoe goes to jail to talk with one of the cooperating witnesses for the prosecution, a former church lady named Lynette Sharp. She has a lot to say about the events in her life that led her to accept a plea deal and testify against her friends. (24 minutes)Act Four: The verdicts come in. (12 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

In her new memoir, Adult Braces, Lindy West brings readers along on an uproarious cross-country road trip as she unpacks her last few tumultuous years, rediscovers herself, and reinvents her marriage. Through Shrill—the book and then the Hulu series—Lindy West became an inspiration. To this day, she is stopped on the street and hailed as a beacon of empowerment by women who felt badly for not conforming to a narrow set of societal norms—thin, straight, compliant. But behind the scenes, Lindy never felt like she was the self-actualized woman fans made her out to be. When she found herself in the throes of a deep depression, with her marriage and sense of self-worth hanging in the balance, she knew she needed to make a change. In Adult Braces, Lindy shares the story of her rock bottom and of the journey she took to claw her way out of it. With her trademark candor and sense of humor, she examines her post-Shrill emotional implosion, her shifting feelings about traditional marriage, and her search for her long-lost self. She also tracks the highs and lows of her journey, from eye-opening natural wonders and kitschy roadside attractions to lackluster tourist traps and campground epiphanies. The result is an engaging and laugh-out-loud narrative of becoming as Lindy transforms from a passenger into the active navigator of her own life. Lindy West is the author of three books: the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill as well as the essay collections The Witches Are Coming and Shit, Actually. Lindy is a former contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and her work has appeared in This American Life, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, and others. She is the co-host of the comedy podcast Text Me Back and the author of the e-mail newsletter Butt News. Lindy was a writer and executive producer on Shrill, the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir, and she co-wrote and produced the independent feature film Thin Skin. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington state. Buy the Book Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane Elliott Bay Book Company

(Orig pub date: 3/28/23) In 1912, four-year-old Bobby Dunbar went missing in the Louisiana swamps. After an eight-month search that electrified the country and destroyed Bobby's parents, the boy was found, filthy and hardly recogniz­able. A wandering piano tuner was arrested and charged with kidnapping— a crime then punishable by death. But when a destitute single mother came forward from North Carolina to claim the boy as her son, not the lost Bobby Dunbar, the case became a high-pitched battle over custody—and identity—that divided the South. My guest, Tal McThenia, first introduced listeners of NPR's This American Life to this case in 2008. A few years later he co-wrote, along with Margaret Dunbar Cutright (the granddaughter of Bobby Dunbar) the definitive book about this historical whodunnit, called "A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping That Haunted a Nation".   The author's website:  https://www.talmcthenia.com/ Listen to This American Life's "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar" here:  https://www.thisamericanlife.org/352/transcript The author's Audubon article:  https://www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2021/the-strange-true-story-john-williams-and-charles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this country's 250th birthday, we bring you stories about the most American people, places, objects, and social norms that make this country what it is. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks to Pablo Torre about Major League Baseball's new challenge system, and how it's been optimized for maximum drama. (10 minutes)Act One: Writer Jiayang Fan wrestles with a very common question she has never quite understood. (5 minutes)Act Two: People come from all over the country to walk down one of Michigan's tallest sand dunes, and then promptly turn around and trudge back up. Aviva DeKornfeld talks to Americans spending their limited vacation time on this punishing activity. (8 minutes)Act Three: Emanuele Berry talks to Ira about Season 13 of the reality TV show, Survivor, known to fans as the “race war” season. (8 minutes)Act Four: Years before his famous dictionary, Noah Webster wrote a book that took on a life of its own and served an unexpected purpose. (8 minutes)Act Five: Emmanuel Dzotsi investigates a musical phenomenon very particular to the United States: singers embellishing the end of the national anthem. (9 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

It's our year anniversary of The Pile Up! We wanted to spice it up so we decided to spoof This American Life. Enjoy! Recorded @iapdx Recorded & mixed by Emdognightmare & Queen of the Vans Editor: Emdognightmare Production & research Queen of the Vans & Emdognightmare Find us: Car Krush Stay updated w/ our newsletter Hugs, thank you & high fives to Greg Meleney for the killer tunez!

We try to tell the story of life in America through portraits of life on four different corners, in four different states across the nation. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks about the Four Corners tourist monument where Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico meet. (2 minutes)Act One: Sarah Vowell has a theory that you can tell the entire history of the United States by standing on one street corner—specifically at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive in Chicago—and describing all the events that happened within eyeshot of the corner. She covers three centuries of history, from Louis Joliet to Keanu Reeves. (21 minutes)Act Two: Scott Richer and Julie Riggs of Louisville, Kentucky, were supposed to have their first kiss at the corner where South Fourth Street meets the alley behind the West End Baptist Church. But it went wrong. (7 minutes)Act Three: Writer Mike Paterniti tells a story of dogs and a community of dogwalkers that formed on the grounds of an old cemetery at the corner of Vaughn and Clifford in Portland, Maine. (14 minutes)Act Four: Writer Achy Obejas reads a piece of short fiction from her book, We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   David Sedaris, Humorist, author of “The Land and Its People” David Sedaris, author of the new essay collection, “The Land and Its People,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Originally known for his commentaries on “This American Life” on NPR, David Sedaris has now written 14 books, all of which have become best-sellers, including the early “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” and later “Calypso,” “Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls,” and collections of his diaries. He has a home in North Carolina, and lives in England. In this wide-ranging interview he discusses a wide variety of topics, including his relationship with his family, how he puts together an essay, his views on small talk and finding connections, and how growing old has affected his writing. Recorded June 9, 2026 at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera. California. Photo by Richard Wolinsky.     Edmund White (1940-2025), “The Married Man,” 2000 Edmund White (1940-2025) discusses his novel “The Married Man” in a newly digitized interview conducted in the KPFA studios on June 10, 2000 with host Richard Wolinsky. Digitized, remastered and edited on June 20, 2026 and heard for the first time in over a quarter century. Edmund White wrote novels, memoirs, plays, essays, biographies, and various hybrids. He was the co-author of The Joy of Gay Sex, and worked extensively in the gay community during the AIDS crisis and later.By the time of his death, he'd published sixteen novels, one play, six works of non-fiction, three biographies, and six volumes of memoirs.     The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – June 25, 2026: David Sedaris, “The Land and Its People” appeared first on KPFA.

Christina Courtin is an outstanding Violinist, vocalist, and composer and a founding member of The Knights, the classical orchestra founded by Eric Jacobsen and his brother. She has collaborated with Ed Sheeran, Le Ann Womack, and Sara Bareilles, among many others. She has toured all over the world, and continues to have a thriving solo career. She has sung with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Laurie Anderson, Bela Fleck, and The Orlando Philharmonic.  She's a featured soloist in the films Chappaquiddick and Free State of Jones, and writes music for This American Life. And she's been a teaching fellow and performer at the infamous Sing-Sing prison. My featured song is “Spring Dance”, from the album of the same name by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link. —----------------------------------------------------------- The Follow Your Dream Podcast:Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries! Click here for Start Here Click here for All Episodes  Click here for Guest List  Click here for Guest Testimonials Click here for Pillars Click here for Robert's Project Grand Slam Click here to Subscribe  Click here to receive our Email Updates Click here to Rate and Review the podcast —---------------------------------------- CONNECT WITH CHRISTINA:www.christinacourtin.com —---------------------------------------- ROBERT'S NEWEST RELEASE:“THE BUZZ” - Ft. Darius de Haas (vocals) and Dave Eggar (Celo). Short, Sweet and Totally Different CLICK HERE FOR OFFICIAL VIDEO CLICK HERE FOR ALL LINKS —-------------------------------------- Audio production: Jimmy RavenscroftKymera FilmsConnect with the Follow Your Dream Podcast:Website - www.followyourdreampodcast.comFollow Robert's band, Project Grand Slam, and his music:Website - www.projectgrandslam.com    

We spend an hour in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, behind and desperate, with people trying any damn thing they can think of. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Five years after Ora first started experiencing mysterious and debilitating health problems, she decides to try a treatment that she knows very well might kill her. Host Ira Glass talks to her about the experience. (9 minutes)Act One: Two lawyers have just three months to stop their client's execution. In Texas, where this story takes place, these kinds of appeals to get people off death row fail 94% of the time. (38 minutes)Act Two: At the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, migrants figured out an ingenious way to communicate with the activists gathered outside of the detention center's walls. (13 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

David Sedaris, author of the new essay collection, “The Land and Its People,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Originally known for his commentaries on “This American Life” on NPR, David Sedaris has now written 14 books, all of which have become best-sellers, including the early “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” and later “Calypso,” “Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls,” and collections of his diaries. He has a home in North Carolina, and lives in England. In this wide-ranging interview he discusses a wide variety of topics, including his relationship with his family, how he puts together an essay, his views on small talk and finding connections, and how growing old has affected his writing. Recorded June 9, 2026 at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera. California. Photo by Richard Wolinsky. The post David Sedaris, New Collection of Essays “The Land and Its People,” 2026 appeared first on KPFA.

It's the late 1960s, and a California TV repairman named Bob sees an opportunity to help people cheat death with the new science of cryonics. But freezing dead people isn't easy. And apologizing for the mistakes you make along the way? Even harder. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks about the way most political apologies go, and chats with a man named Derek Jones about similar sorts of apologies among preteen girls and King David, in the Old Testament. (7 minutes)Act One: In the late 1960s, a California TV repairman named Bob Nelson joined a group of enthusiasts who believed they could cheat death with a new technology called cryonics. But freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds. Harder still was admitting to the family members of people Bob had frozen that he'd screwed up. Sam Shaw reports. (42 minutes)Act Two: There's a famous William Carlos Williams poem called "This is Just to Say." It's about, among other things, causing a loved one inconvenience and offering a non-apologizing apology. Producer Sean Cole explains that this is possibly the most spoofed poem around. We asked some of our regular contributors to get into the act. Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, Starlee Kine, Jonathan Goldstein, Shalom Auslander, and Heather O'Neill all came up with their own variations of Williams's classic lines. (7 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

First off all, Rebels, what a super-nice guest we have found in Taylor! I always admire when people take something they're passionate about and know how to bring it to the masses, and you can it in his voice. You can see how much his trek is truly a labor of love. As a matter of fact, we scheduled our interview earlier, so Taylor could record another episode of "Bike Talk". EVEN after riding all of that distance! So, be sure to check out "Bike Talk" and follow his journey on Instagram (@taylornichols.bikelife). We'll all be rooting for him...thanks for coming on the show, Taylor! Safe travels!Taylor's faves:Fresh Air, The Daily, This American Life, Bike Talk, David Brooks, Jonathan CapehartCatch "Sherpa Selects" on Saturdays. It's the episodes you tried to avoid the first time around!More thanks: Intro/outro:https://www.yourimagingguy.com/Music Credits/Voiceovers: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bruce Goldberg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ( aka Lord Mr. Bruce); other Voices: The Sherpa-lu Studio PlayersYouTube: @sherpalution5000 @sherpalution-Instagram; @sherpalution1- TikTokLink pages: https://linktr.ee/sherpalution or https://chirp.me/sherpalutionHere's our website: https://shows.acast.com/the-sherpas-podcast-picksEmail:jimthepodcastsherpa@gmail.comSupport:Review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.**AI disclaimer: Any use of artificial intelligence in the voiceovers that may be used in this show are strictly for entertainment purposes. They are not used to mislead or disparage the content in this podcast, any guests, or the podcast platform that you are listening on. But I, as your Sherpa, have faith in YOUR intelligence as a listener, and know that you were already aware of this. Thanks for listening!Become a Rebel of the Sherpalution! Please subscribe to the show (for free) through your favorite podcast listening medium, so you don't miss an episode. (What if you miss one, and then we have a test????) If I'm not on your favorite medium, let me know, and I'll bribe my way on it! (That's assuming I actually have money...) Also, please reach out to me through my social media channels or email address. I'd love to hear what you think.And PLEASE let me know if there's a podcast I should be checking out...even if it's one you host! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Regular people trapped inside Greek myths. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: When a mysterious, ripped-open package arrives on Pablo's doorstep, he takes it as a sign. (4 minutes)Act One: Pablo flies closer to the sun. (14 minutes)Act Two: In Greek mythology, there's Hades, where everyone goes when they die. You have to cross the river Styx to get there, and there's a gate with this three-headed dog. He's guarding the entrance and he's supposed to make sure only actual dead people enter. This story is about a real person in America who stood at those very gates. Which is not the easiest job it turns out, at least not right now. (24 minutes)Act Three: A mortal gets the assignment of a lifetime — to go interview an actual god who is living on earth, traveling under the name of Lionel Messi. (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Dr. John Schneider rode into town like a character out of a Western: an outsider on a Harley-Davidson, in trademark cowboy boots. He promised relief to patients suffering in Wyoming and Montana. He seemed like the hero they needed. But when surgeries go wrong and a strange letter exposes a bitter feud, medical professionals and government officials search for the truth about this cowboy doctor. They discover claims of broken bodies, bullying, fraud, and lawsuits.From Audible, the fifth season of the hit series Dr. Death returns with The Cowboy: the story of a surgeon who took advantage of a broken system and the fight to bring him to justice. Listen to Dr. Death: The Cowboy wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Dr. Death: The Cowboy ad-free right now. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dmitri Mugianis is a psychedelic practitioner, musician, and space creator. In this episode, we explore addiction, psychedelics, music, culture, modernity, space, healing, community, and religion, topped off with some coffee, cigars, and Harlem fried chicken. Connect and Learn MoreWebsites: dimitrimugianis.com  ·  cardea.netInstagram: @dimitrimugianisResourcesBooks: How to Change Your Mind, Virtue HoardersPeople: Allen Ginsberg, Alexandre Tannous, Andrew Huberman, Catherine Liu, Deacon Seraphim, Federico Fellini, Glenn Johnson, Herbert Hunkie, Joe Rogan, Ingmar Bergman, John Sinclair, Lou Reed, Martin Buber, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Pollan, Michel Foucault, Michel Negroponte, Peter Attia, Pier Pablo Pasolini, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Randy Polumbo, Richie Ogulnick, Robert F. Kennedy, Ross Ellenhorn, Sara Glatt, Walter CronkiteFilms: Frostbiter, I'm Dangerous with LoveMusicians: Fela Kuti, Leisure Class, MC5, Sun Ra, The Stooges , The Velvet UndergroundPodcasts: Huberman Lab, This American Life, The Peter Attia Drive, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Symbolic World

Send us Fan MailWe play a listener voicemail, catch up on our weekend sports stories, and argue about the moment ticket prices cross the line from memorable to ridiculous. Then we dig into Brockmire Season 1 Episode 5 and how the show turns viral outrage, podcast culture, and “authentic” fandom into a weird kind of salvation for a struggling team. • reacting to a listener voicemail and the “Smitty and Two Legs” joke • weekend recap with minor league baseball wins, rainouts, and theme nights • Negro Leagues celebration and why Josh Gibson still matters • sticker shock on Stanley Cup ticket prices and what we would pay for • building a home watch party with a projector instead of buying seats • Brockmire S1E5 highlights from the Heart To Heart parody to the viral clips • the ASMR rant and how fast internet trends age out • the podcast and NPR angle with This American Life style fans • the fracking company threat and how popularity shifts leverage Make sure you go to YouTube, watch this because we are also here recording this, and hit the subscribe button on YouTube. We are trying to get to a thousand followers on our YouTube channel. Support the showMake sure to follow the Dad Hat Chronicles: https://linktr.ee/TheDadHatChronicles

We want to believe our lives can be changed by the ideas contained in a book. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: When Alexa was seven, she started going through her grandfather's books. Her grandfather was a playwright and teacher, and through the books—and especially through his notes in the margins—she entered the world of 1930's American theater. And she found a book that changed her life: writer Moss Hart's autobiography Act One. (5 minutes)Act One: More of Alexa Junge and how Moss Hart's autobiography changed her life. She followed his path, learned specific lessons, and had a vision of him that was absolutely clear—until she met his widow. (10 minutes)Act Two: A book that changed a family's life—temporarily, and not for the better. David Sedaris on what happened when he found a dirty book in the woods and passed it along to his sisters. (9 minutes)Act Three: Reporter Jeremy Goldstein tells the story of a man who had many books change his life, even though he'd never read them. (14 minutes)Act Four: Writer Meghan Daum travels to De Smet, South Dakota—where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and set most of her Little House books. What surprises her is how much it matches what she'd imagined. The people there seem to be genuinely living by the values Laura wrote about. (15 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Humorist and essayist David Sedaris has spent decades turning everyday awkwardness or family disfunction and travel disasters to some of the sharpest comedy in American letters. From ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day' to his longtime contributions to ‘The New Yorker' and ‘This American Life.' Sedaris has mastered the art of sounding both brutally honest and hilariously off hand. His brand-new book and collection is ‘The Land and its People.' David Sedaris will be at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck on 5/27, the speaking event is sold out. However, the singing line tickets are available.

"Of Ghosts And Gods" The New Jersey-born, Harvard educated David Berkeley is one of modern music's true renaissance men. Now, people throw that term out a tad lazily but in the case of Berkeley, it truly fits. Aside from releasing close to ten perfect albums, including The Confluence, Some Kind Of Cure and Oh Quiet World, Berkeley is an author, a label owner, and he's been a river rafting guide, a band manager, a travel writer and a creative writing teacher. A writer of tremendous depth, focus and sensitivity, much like Paul Simon or Nick Drake, Berkeley has the uncanny ability to slow the world down and hold it still. Informed by actual geography as well as the geography of loss and emotional reconstruction, Berkeley's songbook is a wondrous collection of compositions that gaze out at the map of the human heart with effortless poeticism and grace. He's toured with Billy Bragg, Ben Lee and Gary Jules, appeared on This American Life and played South By Southwest and he's one of the most consistently critically-acclaimed musicians around. He's also one half of the aforementioned transatlantic folk duo Sons Of Town Hall. Along with singer/songwriter Ben Parker, Sons Of Town Hall are hard to describe, but I'm going to try. Under the guises of Parker's George Ulysses Brown and Berkeley's Josiah Chester Jones, Sons Of Town Hall are fictitious 19th Century Victorian-era vagabonds who sing about their travels by way of a kind of magical hand-built raft. Falling somewhere between Coleridge, Lord Byron by way of Simon and Garfunkel's Wednesday Morning, 3AM, Sons Of Town Hall's new album Of Ghosts and Gods is a stirring collection of songs about travel, friendship, following your heart and staying afloat while doing it. www.davidberkeley.com (http://www.davidberkeley.com) www.sonsoftownhall.com (http://www.sonsoftownhall.com) www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Stereo Embers The Podcast: IG + BLUESKY + THREADS: @emberspodcast

We join Jon as he negatives through the Boston Airport to talk about The Mekon's new album HORROR and HORRORble the Dub companion album!   Mekons, who will be celebrating their 50th year in 2027, will be touring in support of the upcoming re-release of their 2025 album HORROR on June 12 in conjunction with a an entire new album of Dub remixes, entitled HORRORble (mekons Vs. Tony Maimone In Dub Conference) by Pere Ubu's Tony Maimone via Fire Records as a 2xCD, white vinyl and digital configurations and can be ordered here. June -3-26th Cleveland OH The Mekons at The Music Box Supper Club Tickets here mekons-june3   About Jon:       Jon Langford born October 11, 1957, Newport, Monmouthshire is a Welsh-born musician and artist who is presently based in Chicago. He is the younger brother of science-fiction author and critic David Langford Langford was originally the drummer for the punk band The Mekons when it formed at the University of Leeds in 1977, but he later took up the guitar as other band members left. Since the mid-1980s he has been one of the leaders in incorporating folk and country music into punk rock. He has released a number of solo recordings as well as recordings with other bands outside of The Mekons, most notably the Waco Brothers, which he co-founded after moving to Chicago in the early 1990s. He is involved with the Chicago-based >independent record label >Bloodshot. Langford is also a prolific and respected visual artist best known for his striking portraits of country music icons including Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. His multimedia music/spoken-word/video performance, “The Executioner's Last Songs,” premiered at Alverno College in 2005, and has been performed in several other cities. He illustrated the comic strip Great Pop Things under the pseudonym Chuck Death. Since 2005 he has co-hosted a weekly radio program, “The Eclectic Company,” broadcast on WXRT 93.1 FM in Chicago. He has contributed to This American Life. Among Langford's musical side projects have been the Three Johns (with John Hyatt and John (Phillip) Brennan), who released several albums of drum-machine-fueled punk in the 1980s; the country-punk Waco Brothers (with Dean Schlabowske, Tracey Dear, Alan Doughty, Mark Durante, and Mekons drummer Steve Goulding), who have been recording since 1995; the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, a revolving assortment of Chicago musicians who have backed both Langford and other musicians such as Kelly Hogan; and Ship and Pilot. He became a father figure to the local music scene, encouraging many of his labelmates on Bloodshot Records and championing anyone he thought worthy of scrutiny, often lending his services as a musician or visual artist or inviting local musicians to guest on his releases. Langford's first official solo album, Skull Orchard, a look back at his hometown of Newport, Wales, was released in 1998. He followed it with All the Fame of Lofty Deeds, in 2004, Gold Brick in 2006, and Old Devils in 2010. Langford is an accomplished artist and is renowned for his multi-layered paintings of famous and forgotten figures from the dawn of country music. Nashville Radio, a collection of his artwork and writings, was published in 2006. In January and February 2009, Chicago's Walkabout Theater Company and Collaboraction premiered a stage adaptation of Langford's Goldbrick that featured a live band, two actors and video projections. In November and December 2009, The House Theatre of Chicago staged a production of “All the Fame of Lofty Deeds”, written by rock journalist Mark Guarino and based on Langford's art and 2004 solo album. Collaborations with other musicians Langford initiated a project, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, which performs the music of other country music groups. Several alternative country musicians have guested on these recordings. Langford has guested on numerous recordings, including with Dutch punk band the Ex, The Old 97s, Chip Taylor, as well as Austin, Texas legend Alejandro Escovedo, and has recorded joint albums with Sally Timms, Kevin Coyne, Richard Buckner, Kat Ex and Rosie Flores.

Is what's happening on OnlyFans real? Or is it only a fantasy?In this provocative investigation into OnlyFans—the adult platform where subscribers around the world spent more than $7 billion in 2024—journalist Leon Neyfakh teams up with comedian and OnlyFans creator Gracie Canaan for a one-of-a-kind exploration into the current state of human connection. Throughout, they discover that the site originally built for spicy adult content has quietly and surprisingly become something more complicated— an emotional marketplace where desire, performance, care, fantasy, and vulnerability seemingly blur together.As Neyfakh and Canaan navigate timely questions about autonomy, performance, and profit, a question emerges: is connection mediated by a screen still authentic? To find the answer, they meet creators building lucrative businesses, subscribers who believe they've found something real, professional “chatters” who are paid to simulate affection, and pioneers who have helped engineer intimacy at scale.Captivating and tender, OnlyFantasy is ultimately about the cost of loneliness, the seductive power of desire, and how the rules of human intimacy are being rewritten online.Listen to OnlyFantasy wherever you get your podcasts. Or binge all episodes of OnlyFantasy ad-free right now on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode 200: Valley Heat by Christian Duguay   This month marks the 200th episode of Dead Pilots Society, which feels like a real milestone for a show that requires considerably more coordination than a couple of people just turning on microphones and talking. Every pilot episode means finding a pilot, assembling a cast, and putting together a live reading, so reaching 200 episodes feels genuinely significant.   While this is the show's 200th episode, it's also the 118th dead pilot the podcast has brought to life so far. For the occasion, we wanted something special, and this month's pilot more than fits the bill: Valley Heat, written by Christian Duguay. Andrew has previously called Valley Heat (another Maximum Fun show) one of the greatest achievements in podcasting, and after connecting with Christian last year, learned that a pilot version of the podcast existed. After much persistence, Dead Pilots Society finally got the chance to stage it live at the Elysian Theater. Set in Burbank's Rancho Equestrian neighborhood, Valley Heat captures the bizarre rhythms of suburban life in a way that's both deeply specific and completely unhinged. For anyone discovering Valley Heat for the first time, this episode may be the perfect introduction.   The live reading also features many of the recognizable voices from the original podcast appearing onstage in person, making for a uniquely surreal experience. The cast includes: Christian Duguay (Plantman & Blondie, The Dress Up Gang), Kevin CamIa (Fallout), Mike O'Connell (DTF St Louis, Patriot), Merrill Davis (Comics Unleashed, Time Out Comics to Watch), Emily Maya Mills (Key and Peele, Orange is the new Black), Matt Braunger (stand up), Chris Garcia (WTF, This American Life, Scattered), Beth Stelling (Netflix, HBO Max comedy), DeMorge Brown (Destroy All Neighbors)   Video of the live table read is available exclusively to Maximum Fun members. Become a member for as little as $5 a month at maximumfun.org/join. And don't forget to check out Andrew's documentary Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story at  https://www.reddkrossfilm.com/ Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joindeadpilots

The history of podcasting has rarely been told. But in this episode, the brightest minds in podcasting reveal the inside story of this medium: from the invention of RSS feeds, through the Gold Rush era of corporate investments, to the bubble bursting, and the rise of celebrity podcasts. Along the way, Ira Glass explains the origins of This American Life and Serial, Marc Maron recounts Obama visiting his garage, Roman Mars lays out his vision for indie podcasts, and so much more. This story was adapted from the feature documentary ⁠⁠Age of Audio⁠⁠. Learn about this year's Listener Stories competition and submit your story at ⁠⁠20k.org/2026⁠⁠. For updates on Age of Audio, visit the ⁠⁠official website⁠⁠, or follow the film on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Tiktok⁠⁠. Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced by ⁠⁠⁠Defacto Sound⁠⁠⁠. Support the show and get ad-free episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠20k.org/plus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Subscribe on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see our video series. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mystery.20k.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Dallas on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Find out how you can get the iPhone 17 Pro at no cost with an eligible iPhone trade in at ⁠⁠att.com/iphone⁠⁠, or by visiting an AT&T store. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month Shopify trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/20k⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠quo.com/20k⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for 20% of your first 6 months of business phone software. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One family faces the Trump administration's ban on trans people serving in the military, and responds with a surprising secret weapon. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Geirid and Chrissy are extreme planners. But about a year ago, they were confronted with a situation that even they had no idea how to plan for. (4 minutes)Act One: Geirid and Chrissy make an “in case of emergency, break glass” spreadsheet and get some big news. (14 minutes)Act Two: Geirid and Chrissy have less than a month to make a life-changing decision. The government gives them two options, and they try to find a third. (21 minutes)Act Three: A short story from Rachel Khong: Two people have a very consequential choice to make, given to them by God. (15 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Thursday's meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded with a banquet. Seated at tables in the ballroom were more than a dozen CEOs, among them SpaceX's Elon Musk, Apple's Tim Cook and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. It was also attended by Trump's son Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization, and his wife, Fox News host Lara Trump. The Financial Times' Joe Miller tells us more.Then, during the summit, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have focused on trade, security, and stability.NPR China correspondent Jennifer Pak in Beijing shares the latest from the summit. And, Scott Tong reports from China on a podcast called StoryFM, modeled after This American Life. He speaks with Kou Aizhe, the show's creator, about being inspired by American podcasts and how he's able to get Chinese people to tell frank, honest stories that might be embarrassing or shameful, in a culture that is conformist where private things stay private.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

People who end up with far more power than they bargained for, and everything that comes with it. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira tells the story of two friends who had this incredible power to save someone. And with that great power came great responsibility. (4 minutes)Act One: Alex Kotlowitz reports on a woman with the power to change two people's lives — and at the height of her power, she doesn't even know she has it. (25 minutes)Act Two: Ira Glass talks with a mother and daughter who spent years watching their neighbor do things they found shocking and felt powerless to stop. Then, suddenly, they get the power to decisively change things permanently. And they have to decide if they will. (14 minutes)Act Three: When you're powerless, you spend a lot of time thinking about the people above you — what they want, why they do what they do, whether they'll ever come through. Shalom Auslander has a story about that relationship. (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

What does love need?   The Big Sick Year: 2017 Written by: Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani Directed by: Michael Showalter Stars: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan   Show notes: This film falls into the very interesting category of films that a) we are not sure are rom coms and b) we love. As it happens, another of Michael Showalter's films (The Idea of You, which is discussed in episode 43 of this podcast) also falls into this category. If you would like to skip the plot summary for this month's film you can spool forward around 12 minutes into the episode.   In this episode we mention the films: When Harry Met Sally* (1989) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098635/) The Idea of You* (2024) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9466114/) Sleepless in Seattle* (1993) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108160/) You Got Mail* (1998) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128853/) Your Place or Mine* (2023) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12823454/) Going The Distance* (2010) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1322312/) And the podcast: This American Life (1995 - ) (https://www.thisamericanlife.org/) *Films marked with an asterisk have previously been featured on the podcast.   Next month we are going to be talking about You, Me & Tuscany (2026) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36352591/)   If you would like to suggest films for future episodes, you can tweet Lisa: @LisaStowaway. We record these episodes over the internet. Sometimes the audio is not perfect. We apologise for that. Music in this episode is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (martinzalzaustwick.com). Artwork is by Lisa Findley.   Thank you for listening! 

Got a tricky situation at work and not sure what to do? In our recurring advice column, “Work Drama,” we try to find answers to your sticky work questions. This week, Reema is joined by Tobin Low of “This American Life” to answer your workplace questions – from coworkers falling asleep mid-meeting to crushing on your boss.If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And if you have any work drama going on, we want to hear about it! Leave a message at 347-RING-TIU or email uncomfortable@marketplace.org.Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok! And support “This Is Uncomfortable” with your donation today.

Got a tricky situation at work and not sure what to do? In our recurring advice column, “Work Drama,” we try to find answers to your sticky work questions. This week, Reema is joined by Tobin Low of “This American Life” to answer your workplace questions – from coworkers falling asleep mid-meeting to crushing on your boss.If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And if you have any work drama going on, we want to hear about it! Leave a message at 347-RING-TIU or email uncomfortable@marketplace.org.Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok! And support “This Is Uncomfortable” with your donation today.

LISTEN WITHOUT ADS FOR 25 CENTS A DAY at www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Episode Summary This week on the Wednesday Dose! Dave opens the Wednesday Dose of Dopey talking about Patreon backlash over Selby's heavy breathing during the Tuesday Patreon show, his hatred for the newest season of Euphoria, Lena Dunham's audiobook, Knicks obsession, and getting ready to emcee the Phoenix House gala honoring Hank Azaria. He then reads an email from a Scottish listener who got sober from alcohol after discovering Dopey through This American Life, but later spiraled into opioids, heroin, and benzos before finally trying to get clean again after hearing DJ's episode. Then Dave dives into a massive pile of brutal Spotify and Patreon comments reacting to the Amanda de Cadenet episode, with listeners calling her “insufferable,” “guarded,” “pretentious,” and “the worst guest ever,” while others defend her and praise Dave for surviving the awkward interview. The episode shifts into a long and funny conversation with comedian Zach Noe Towers. Zach talks about growing up gay in Missouri, discovering weed through theater kids, using alcohol and drugs to quiet fear and insecurity, moving to Los Angeles, rich gay party culture, ecstasy at Indiana University, Coachella mushroom disasters, being trapped in the trunk of a drug dealer's car, and eventually getting sober after years of chaotic partying and emotional bottoming out. Dave and Zach also talk comedy, AA, twink culture, Midwestern niceness, gay identity, stand-up anxiety, and planning the Dopeywood Comedy Store show. PLUS MORE! on the brand new Wednesday Dose of Dopey!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACManja Marz InterviewThe European Go Federation Article about the study & contact information if you would like to contributeThe Go Magic interview with ManjaOne of my favorite shows, This American Life with an episode about a blind man using echo location to "see"; the occipital lobe activated!Show your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.comEpisode SponsorsBadukPop - Learn the rules of the ancient Chinese board game Go - also known as Baduk (바둑) or Weiqi (圍棋) - with a fun, interactive tutorial. Sharpen your Go skills with daily random Go problems (Tsumego) at your choice of difficulty level. Play games online or with a variety of AI opponents, each with its own unique playing style and strength.SmartGo One - Your complete app for the game of Go. Learn to play, practice against the computer, study master games, solve problems, and read Go books. Free to download.

Since the war began in Iran, we've heard very little from people inside the country — and there's a reason for that. The entire country has been under an internet blackout. We worked with reporters Roxana Saberi and Fatemeh Jamalpour to get voice memos out of the country. Even though it was dangerous and difficult, people wanted to be heard. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Shirin's parents suddenly disappear into the blackout. (5 minutes)Act One: It's a war and a blackout. People want to talk about both. (17 minutes)Act Two: What happened before America and Israel went to war with Iran. (9 minutes)Act Three: Iranians have many opinions about the war, and about each other. (12 minutes)Act Four: What happened inside Iran the night President Trump threatened that "a whole civilization could die." And a clue about where the internet blackout is headed. (19 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Stories of cheating, cheaters, and the cheated. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks with Jessica Pressler about a phenomenon she noticed in the wedding notices in The New York Times. Couples were cheerfully telling—as part of their "meet cute" stories—how their relationships began with one of them cheating on a spouse or long-time partner. (4 minutes)Act One: From England, Ruby Wright has a story of an affair where—even years after it ended—it wasn't much discussed. (14 minutes)Act Two: Ira reviews some infidelity stats from his mother's book on the subject, Not Just Friends. And author James Braly tells a story of temptation live onstage at The Moth. (15 minutes)Act Three: Dani Shapiro on the confusing mess things can be during an affair. The story is from her memoir, Slow Motion. (16 minutes)Act Four: Etgar Keret describes the moment in the immediate aftermath of an affair. Actor Matt Malloy reads. (4 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

At a time when the U.S. government is trying to make American history tidier, we try to learn from the mess. Including the untold, messy story of Paul and Essie Robeson. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Guest Host Emanuele Berry talks to Nichole Hill about the Black movie characters Nichole was curious about as a child. (7 minutes)Act One: A giant of the Harlem Renaissance, Paul Robeson was the most famous American of his day. Until he wasn't. Nichole Hill tells the messy, complicated story of Paul and his wife, Essie Robeson. (38 minutes)Act Two: In 1865, a formerly enslaved man named Jourdan Anderson received a letter from his former enslaver, asking Jourdan to return to the plantation and work. Actor Laurence Fishburne reads Jourdan's response. Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

What happens when a new guy comes on the scene and changes the way everyone relates to each other? Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks with Sarah Koenig about the first and only time a movie star came to her family's house when she was a kid. It didn't go well, for the celebrity or for her. The star was Robert Redford. He arrived and immediately stole all the attention her parents usually lavished on her, their youngest. Worse, they were nervous and strange around him, not themselves at all. Young Sarah was not pleased. Robert Redford paid the price. (6 minutes)Act One: Davy Rothbart's mother is funny, rational, and by most measures, pretty normal. Except that she spends every day in the company of an ancient Buddhist monk named Aaron, who no one else can see. Davy talks to his brothers, father, and eventually his mom, and asks the question they've somehow never managed to discuss: do any of them actually believe he's real? (26 minutes)Act Two: Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. had always lived in the shadow of his father's name. But just before his primary, an aide delivered strange news: a second Jesse Jackson had appeared on the same ballot — a retired truck driver with no political experience. Ira reports on whether it was a coincidence or mischief orchestrated by the Congressman's rivals. (9 minutes)Act Three: Jonathan Goldstein and Heather O'Neill tell the true story of a man trying to wedge himself into an idyllic family of two. For the first few years, Heather's daughter Arizona was not very fond of Jonathan. He ranked nineteenth on her list of favorite people, behind the neighbor's dog and the plumber. (15 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

In 1903, South Carolina's most powerful journalist is gunned down in broad daylight, and the shooter is the lieutenant governor. Narciso Gonzalez, editor of The State newspaper in Columbia, spent years attacking the Tillman machine: “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman, the architect of South Carolina's post-Reconstruction political order, and Ben's volatile nephew James Tillman, a rising politician with a reputation for drinking, gambling, and vendettas. On January 19, 1903, that feud turns into a street-corner assassination outside the State House. From Red Shirts intimidation and the Hamburg massacre, to Ben Tillman's state-run liquor “dispensary” system and the riots it sparked, to a murder trial engineered to let the shooter walk, we trace the bloodline politics and raw violence behind the killing with writer Jack Hitt (This American Life, Uncivil). It's a story about press power, political revenge, and how a state's myths, and its laws, get written when the loudest voice in the room can be silenced with a gun. Subscribe to our newsletter:⁠https://jedlipinski.substack.com/⁠ Connect with Jed Lipinski: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gonesouthpodcast/⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/gonesouthpodcast/⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jed-lipinski/ Listen to Jack Hitt on This American Life https://www.thisamericanlife.org/archive?contributor=8770Read some of Jack Hitt's best magazine stories on Longform.orghttps://longform.org/archive/writers/jack-hitt To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

M. Gessen returns to our show with a true-crime story that takes place entirely within their own family. This story comes to us from the producers at Serial Productions—who invented the true-crime podcast more than a decade ago—and from The New York Times. Act One: M Gessen tells Ira Glass about the surprising events that prompted them to begin reporting on their own family for their new podcast, The Idiot. They play the first episode of the series. (14 minutes)Act Two: Ira Glass and M Gessen continue to talk through the story of M's cousin, Allen Gessen. They play more clips from the podcast, and we finally hear about the big, shocking thing that snapped their family apart. (20 minutes)Act Three: M Gessen tells Ira Glass about Allen's trial, and we hear a recording of his conversation with the undercover agent. (21 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

In the early days of the radio show, Ira did a series of interviews with his parents that completely changed his relationship with them. This week, he returns to those interviews. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks about why four conversations reveal how his relationship with his parents changed. (4 minutes)Interview One: Ira's mom, Shirley, is invited to lead a discussion about how to get along with your adult children. Her adult children question her expertise. (9 minutes)Interview Two: Ira asks his parents for advice on how he should build the radio show. His parents don't hold back. (9 minutes)Interview Three: Ira talks with his dad, Barry, about Barry's own brief and doomed career in radio. (21 minutes)Interview Four: An interview with Ira's mom that, to this day, makes Ira's skin crawl. (13 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Two lawyers who work for ICE step forward and lift the curtain on what is really happening inside our immigration system right now. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Two lawyers dive into the details of what they've witnessed behind the scenes in different parts of the immigration system. (2 minutes)Act One: Former ICE attorney Ryan Schwank explains the chaos and dysfunction he observed at an ICE training academy, which led him to whistleblow to Congress two weeks ago. (12 minutes)Act Two: A federal judge orders the government to immediately release a bunch of people from detention. Days pass, and the government doesn't comply. So the judge calls a hearing to figure out what's going on. The lawyer's response is not what he or anybody expected. (25 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Stories of high drama from America's workplaces — surprising, emotional places full of the greed, jealousy, and ambition of real politics. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: We hear three stories of how conflicts are resolved in offices. Two of those stories come from sociologist Calvin Morrill, who studied the executive suites at a number of large companies in his book The Executive Way: Conflict Management in Corporations. The last story comes from host Ira Glass, who talks about how he ended up punching his own boss in the stomach in front of all his co-workers. (12 minutes)Act One: Starlee Kine with the story of a company in turmoil. A young employee gets in a jam and discovers that in times of trouble, when all else has failed, companies in her industry turn to one woman in a suburban home in Long Island, who solves their corporate problems while the TV plays in the background. (12 minutes)Act Two: David Rakoff discusses the world of birthdays and other holidays, as they're celebrated on the job... and what happens when you call yourself an editorial assistant but the editor you're assisting calls you a secretary. He read this story before a live audience at Town Hall in New York City, during a This American Life live show. (15 minutes)Act Three: Julie Snyder explains the office politics of street vendors on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street in New York City. With her is sociologist Mitch Duneier, who spent years working with the vendors and writing about them for his book Sidewalk. (14 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

People deciding to do things that most of us do NOT choose to do.  Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: A new documentary called The Boys and the Bees captures a moment where a six-year-old has a very unlikely wish. And his dad decides to grant it. Host Ira Glass talks with filmmaker Arielle Knight about what happens next. (9 minutes)Act One: John Tothill tells the story of Edward Dando, a 19th-century British glutton who would eat hundreds of oysters at a time and then run out on the check. And makes the case that we should all be more like him. (15 minutes)Act Two: Producer Tobin Low listens in as Evan Roberts calls up an ex for the first time in years.  And tries to make the case that they should have been friends all along. (16 minutes)Act Three: Producer Zoe Chace brings us a dispatch from a courtroom in Texas this week, where on the very first day of a landmark federal trial about Antifa, the judge makes an unusual decision that no one sees coming. (15 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

An episode from our show's early days: Stories about what happens when strangers are kind — and when they're not. Prologue: Brett Leveridge was standing on the subway platform when a man walked by, stopping in front of each passenger to deliver a quiet verdict: "You're in. You're out. You can stay. You—gotta go." Most people ignored him. But Brett found himself hoping for the thumbs up. (5 minutes)Act One: New York City locksmith Joel Kostman tells the story of an act of kindness he committed, hoping for a small reward. (13 minutes)Act Two: In 1940, Jack Geiger, at the age of fourteen, left his middle-class Jewish home and knocked on the door of a black actor named Canada Lee. He asked Lee if he could move in with him. Lee said yes. In Lee's Harlem apartment, Geiger spent a year among many of the great figures of the Harlem Renaissance: Langston Hughes, Billy Strayhorn, Richard Wright, Adam Clayton Powell. (11 minutes)Act Three: How two next-door neighbors start treating each other badly, and how their feud becomes an all-consuming obsession. Paul Tough reports. (14 minutes)Act Four: For five weeks, a singer named Nick Drakides stood on a stoop in the East Village, singing Sinatra songs late at night to the delight of his neighbors. The cops didn't bust him; the crowds behaved. It was his gift to New York. Blake Eskin tells the story. (12 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

911 calls unlike any we've heard before, and other stories about immigration agents sweeping through America. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: A collection of 911 calls where you can hear immigration enforcement moving through different cities and leaving chaos in their wake. (9 minutes)Act One: More 911 calls, including people on the line with dispatchers as ICE is chasing them, trying to puzzle out their next moves. (22 minutes)Act Two: Home Depots keep getting raided over and over again in Los Angeles. And day laborers are still showing up in store parking lots to find work every day.  So what's that like? Months and months of that cat and mouse? Anayansi Diaz-Cortes went to find out. (11 minutes)Act Three: Memo Torres tries to build an archive of every person taken by federal agents in Southern California. (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

When a joke could get you killed, should you say it anyway? A group of Syrian comedians test the limits of their newfound freedom, a year after the fall of the brutal Assad regime. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Under the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, comedian Sharief Homsi knew which jokes were too dangerous to say on stage. Now that Syria is under the control of a new government, Sharief and the other comedians of “Styria” set out on a national tour to see how far their comedy can go in this new Syria. (6 minutes)Act One: The comedians test out risky material and get big laughs on early tour dates. It's going smoothly until they find out that their show scheduled in the conservative city of Hama is in danger of being cancelled. (13 minutes)Act Two: The comedians go to battle with local officials. (18 minutes)Act Three: The comedians try everything they can think of to keep their shows from being cancelled. (20 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

People discovering information about their own lives that they did not know, and suddenly everything looks very different. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: When Pete turned 18, his dad took him on a drive to reveal a family secret he was finally old enough to know. (11 minutes)Act One: Sometimes, a lore drop comes when you least expect it.  That happened to Jake Cornell and his grandmother. Producer Aviva DeKornfeld talked to Jake about it. (14 minutes)Act Two: Ben Austen had a kind of new lore drop happen to him recently. But it was not the clarifying kind of lore drop, where everything suddenly makes sense — it was kind of the opposite. (29 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.