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PODCAST

This American Life

This American Life

Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.

society & culture

All Episodes

01:00:05

876: Bigger Than Me

This American Life ·

2025/12/07

When history comes knocking, you have to figure out what to do.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Brittany’s job is to answer anonymous calls and texts from people in the military. This year, she’s gotten more than usual–most of them are wondering about what to do with orders they’ve been given. Or orders they’re afraid they’ll get someday in the future. (9 minutes)Act One: Jad Abumrad tells the story of the "ideological genealogy” of Fela

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01:02:53

875: I Hate Mysteries

This American Life ·

2025/11/23

What’s in the box? What’s in the $%&ing box?!? Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: A class of second graders is handed a sealed box with a mystery object inside. They are supposed to guess what it is, but the lesson goes off the rails. (8 minutes)Act One: A man is hired along with a crew to dig a mysterious hole on the slopes of Mt. Shasta. The hole goes sixty feet down. But what are they looking for? (24 minutes)Act 2: A sparkly mystery

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01:06:02

874: Under One Roof

This American Life ·

2025/11/16

What’s great about living in a family is that everyone sees everything differently. Also, that’s what’s awful about living in a family. We go behind closed doors with two families. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: When Heather Gay started taking steps away from Mormonism, she thought it was her secret. That her daughters had no idea. Until she talked to them about their mismatched memories. (17 minutes)Act One: In every house, behind every

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01:02:29

873: Got You Pegged

This American Life ·

2025/11/09

Shalom Auslander goes on vacation with his family, suspects the beloved, chatty old man in the room next door is an imposter, and sets out to prove it. This and other stories about the pitfalls of making snap judgments about others.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Amy Roberts thought it was obvious that she was an adult, not a kid, and she assumed the friendly man working at the children's museum knew it too. Unfortunately, the man had Amy

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00:58:46

872: Winners

This American Life ·

2025/11/02

America loves winners—now more than ever. But how do you get to a win in 2025 America? We get up close and follow someone trying to build a big win for herself and thousands of others like her.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks to producer Diane Wu about an informal survey she’s done with the staff of This American Life about a phrase Ira says a lot that includes the word “winners.” (8 minutes)Act One: Two people see one of President

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01:02:46

871: The Thing About Things

This American Life ·

2025/10/26

Three stories about the strange power inanimate objects can hold over us.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Nunzio gets caught in a kind of servile relationship…with a scooter. (8 minutes)Act One: Ted was six when he first picked up a rock from the Petrified Forest National Park. Nearly 50 years later, he really wishes he hadn’t. Aviva DeKornfeld talked to him. (15 minutes)Act Two: Heavyweight host Jonathan Goldstein leaps in to help a family,

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00:05:18

An Update from Ira

This American Life ·

2025/10/16

Ira Glass shares some news about This American Life To sign up as a Life Partner, visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners

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01:01:46

870: My Other Self

This American Life ·

2025/10/12

What happens when people create alternate versions of themselves and release them into the wild?Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks about a recent experience being interviewed and the realization that he was being asked about another version of himself. (4 minutes)Act One: Reporter Evan Ratliff creates an AI version of himself and then sets it loose on the world. This story was adapted from Evan's podcast, Shell Game. (43

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01:03:07

869: Harold

This American Life ·

2025/10/05

When Zohran Mamdani won the primary race for New York mayor, the Democratic establishment's lukewarm response echoed the treatment of another charismatic, unconventional candidate decades earlier. This week, we bring you the story of Harold Washington, the greatest politician you've probably never heard of, and the backlash that ensued when he became Chicago's first Black mayor.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: As New York City’s Democratic

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01:00:39

286: Mind Games

This American Life ·

2025/09/28

Stories of people who try simple mind games on others, and then find themselves way in over their heads.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass interviews Lori Gottlieb about the time she sent a letter to a writer in a magazine, a letter packed with white lies. (5 minutes)Act One: Lori Gottlieb's story continues. One complication led to another, and before long, the writer seemed to be lying to her. Or maybe he wasn't. It was hard to

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01:00:33

868: The Hand That Rocks The Gavel

This American Life ·

2025/09/21

A group of immigration judges, who almost never speak to the press, describes the dismantling of our immigration court system from the inside. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Zoe Chace gives an eyewitness account of what has been happening at 26 Federal Plaza, an immigration courthouse in New York City. (5 minutes)Act One: The judges walk us through how different their jobs have become in just the past few months, because of sweeping policy

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00:57:33

867: College Disorientation

This American Life ·

2025/09/14

Things are different on college campuses this year. We see inside the drama, with students and staff.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: We go to orientation at Arizona State University and meet international students who are trying to make friends. (6 minutes)Act One: The president of the Black Student Union at the University of Utah fights to keep the B in BSU. (30 minutes)Act Two: A definition of antisemitism, canceled classes, and angry

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01:07:30

866: Watch Out for That Tree

This American Life ·

2025/09/07

Small human plans that run into much larger obstacles.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Angela's dad, an accountant, made a spreadsheet to prepare for their family trip to a national park. But there are things you never think to put in a spreadsheet. (7 minutes)Act One: A young couple, excited to start a new chapter in their lives, is suddenly put on a very different trajectory. (30 minutes)Act Two: A sixteen-year-old plans out a prank, and a

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01:00:31

233: Starting From Scratch

This American Life ·

2025/08/31

People starting over—sometimes because they want to, other times because they have to. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks to Jorge Just, who thought he'd started over successfully. He'd moved to New York, found an apartment that everyone told him was a great deal, things were looking good. Then a reality television show visited his building. (8 minutes)Act One: Molly FitzSimons tells the story of her father starting over

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01:14:50

865: The Other Territory

This American Life ·

2025/08/24

Since October 7th, while the world has focused its attention on Gaza, the Israeli government has tightened the screws on the three million Palestinians in the West Bank in all sorts of dramatic ways. We travel to the West Bank to see these changes in person.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira commutes with Hamed, who has to navigate a constantly changing series of checkpoints and roadblocks to get to work every day. (13 minutes)Act One:

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00:59:25

864: Chicago Hope

This American Life ·

2025/07/20

The story of the most commonly performed surgery, and what goes wrong with it – terribly wrong – 100,000 times a year in the United States. We’re excited to bring you the first episode of The Retrievals, Season 2, the new show from longtime This American Life producer and editor Susan Burton. It’s from Serial Productions and The New York Times.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira Glass introduces the first episode of an inventive new podcast

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00:26:44

Bonus: Nancy's Deep Cuts

This American Life ·

2025/07/18

Ira Glass talks with longtime producer Nancy Updike about the most personal stories they have put on the radio. This is a sample of the bonus episodes we regularly release to our This American Life Partners.To gain access to all the bonus episodes AND help us keep making This American Life, join at thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners.

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00:58:48

577: Something Only I Can See

This American Life ·

2025/07/13

When you’re the only one who can see something, sometimes it feels like you’re in on a special secret. The hard part is getting anyone to believe your secret is real. This week, people trying to show others what they see—including a woman with muscular dystrophy who believes she has the same condition as an Olympic athlete. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira asks Jeff Emtman to do the impossible—describe the indescribable color he sees in

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01:00:07

594: My Summer Self

This American Life ·

2025/07/06

Summer is a time when change seems more possible than ever. But is that really how it happens? Can people actually reinvent themselves in the warmer months? This week, we present stories — and some comedy — about people and their summer selves.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass reflects on his feelings about going to the beach. (3 minutes)Act One: Producer Dana Chivvis explores the case of a 66-year-old working lifeguard who is

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00:57:52

863: Championship Window

This American Life ·

2025/06/29

People on a mission to achieve their goals before their window of opportunity closes.Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Guest host Emmanuel Dzotsi goes to a packed sports bar in Brooklyn for his favorite soccer team’s biggest game in years. (6 minutes)Act One: Connie Wang tells the story of a championship window she didn't realize she was in — until it was too late. (14 minutes)Act Two: Our Operations Manager, Seth Lind, isn’t a crier. But he

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104 results

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