This Week on This American Life: Superpowers

May 07, 2021

Starting From Scratch on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories of people starting over, sometimes because they want to, other times because they have to. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning at 9:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / Streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / On-demand with the FREE KRCB App @…

April 30, 2021

Mind Games on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

People who try simple mind games on others and find themselves in way over their heads. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning at 9:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / Streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / On-demand with the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes App…

April 23, 2021

The Herd on this week’s This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

What happens when your own community suddenly turns on you? This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning at 9:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / Streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / On-demand with the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes App Store & Google Play! Find our…

April 16, 2021

Gardens of Branching Paths on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Other universes that are just like our own, but with one small difference... This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning at 9:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / Streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / On-demand with the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes App Store & Google…

April 09, 2021

Bloody Feelings on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories about the power of blood, and how the strong feelings it evokes push us to act in sometimes unexpected ways.This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning at 9:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / Streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / On-demand with the…

April 02, 2021

Amateur Hour on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

People put in positions they’re completely unqualified to handle, but who try to make it work anyway. Including one story of a tough group of soldiers who attempt to save lives through the power of show tunes. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday…

Mar 26, 2021

Here’s Looking at You, Kid on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Adults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right? This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every…

Mar 19, 2021

The Campus Tour Has Been Cancelled on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

How the coronavirus pandemic is causing tectonic shifts in the college admission process. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm;…

Mar 12, 2021

Everyone's a Critic on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

People squirming in a world where everything is rated and reviewed. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every…

Mar 05, 2021

Warriors in the Garden on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Last spring, reporter Saidu Tejan Thomas, Jr. began following three members of a Black activist group called Warriors in the Garden. They’d come…

Feb 26, 2021

Chip in My Brain on This Week’s This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

A boy who can’t dribble gets a coach, a new best friend, and something to believe in. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm;…

Feb 19, 2021

Secrets on the Next This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Secrets. Why we tell them, and what happens after we do. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning…

Feb 12, 2021

What Lies Beneath on This American Life - Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories of people accidentally summoning thoughts, feelings, and unexpected substances. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm;…

Feb 05, 2021

Beware the Jabberwock on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories from the upside-down world where conspiracy theorists dwell. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every…

Jan 29, 2021

No Coincidence, No Story! Join Us for This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

We asked listeners to send us their best coincidence stories, and we got more than 1,300 submissions! There were so many good ones we decided to make…

Jan 22, 2021

The Empty Chair on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week… The space left behind when something is gone. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning…

Jan 15, 2021

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

People looking everywhere to find a place—any place—where, for once, they don't have to be the odd man out. This American Life is heard every Friday…

Jan 08, 2021

Making the Cut on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

In life, in death, and in the bedroom, there's always someone whose job it is to decide if you measure up. This American Life is heard every Friday…

Jan 01, 2021

The Show of Delights on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

In these dark, combative times, we attempt the most radical counterprogramming we could imagine: a show made up entirely of stories about delight.…

Dec 25, 2020

Lights, Camera, Christmas! This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This holiday season, we bring you a show filled with stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families. This…

Dec 18, 2020

Boulder v. Hill on the Next This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories of people trying to chip away at huge problems — a massive wildland fire, a raging pandemic — where no matter how hard they work, the problem…

Dec 11, 2020

“Twenty-Five” on the Next This American Life – Friday at 7pm

To celebrate our 25th year on the air, we spend an hour with people who also turned 25 this year. Talking with them about their dreams, fears, and…

Dec 04, 2020

The Magic Show on This American Life – Friday at 7pm

Just a few years before he got the internship at NPR that started him in radio, our host Ira Glass had another career. He performed magic at…

Dec 04, 2020

Join Us for a Special Hour of Fundraising with This American Life – Saturday at 9am

Hear an excerpt from a story from 1998, during the early days of the show. It’s about a teenager who’s doing drugs and selling drugs and realizes his…

Nov 27, 2020

Turkey in a Face Mask on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

The way we eat has been changing— we go out less, we order in more, we cook more. So for this week, right after Thanksgiving, we bring you stories of…

Nov 20, 2020

Ten Sessions on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

What if someone told you about a type of therapy that could help you work through unhealed trauma in just ten sessions? Some people knock through it…

Nov 13, 2020

I Changed My Mind on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week, stories of people who have unexpected changes of heart on This American Life. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm;…

Nov 06, 2020

On the Next This American Life: Now What? – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories in the wake of this week’s historic election. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday morning at…

Oct 30, 2020

The Unreality of Now on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

One week before the election, we have stories about people trying to live in the unreality that defines this moment. Election officials combat a…

Oct 23, 2020

The Walls Close In on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories of people who unexpectedly find themselves stuck in small spaces—an elevator, an attic, an orchestra pit—and try to make sense of their new…

Oct 16, 2020

“The Moment After This Moment" on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories about people who are worried (or not worried enough!) about what's hurtling unstoppably towards them. This American Life is heard every…

Oct 09, 2020

The Long Fuse on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

People tossing words out into the world impulsively, to ignite and burn over decades. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm;…

Oct 02, 2020

Jury of My Peers on the Next This American Life – Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 9am

Both inside and outside the justice system, there sometimes stares at us the question: Are your peers really the best people to decide your fate?…

Sep 25, 2020

Same Bed, Different Dreams on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories of people who are tied together, but imagine radically different futures. In one case, a movie star and her ex-husband plot against Kim…

Sep 11, 2020

Playing for an Audience of One on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

At a time when going to the movies is mostly out of the question, we bring the movies to you. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00…

Sep 04, 2020

Trail of Tears on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

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…

Aug 27, 2020

This Week on This American Life: Back to School – Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 9am

We hear from students, educators, and parents across the country navigating the chaos of starting a new school year in the middle of a pandemic. This…

Aug 20, 2020

Something Only I Can See on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

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…

Aug 14, 2020

This Week on This American Life, Day at the Beach – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Beaches are open in some places, but if you're worried about whether it's safe to go, we'll bring the beach to you this week. First, the story of one…

Aug 07, 2020

This Week on This American Life: Made to Be Broken – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

From the moment we wake up in the morning there are a trillion rules — big and little — governing our lives. But sometimes, we encounter one we just…

Jul 30, 2020

Join Us for a Special Fundraising Hour of This American Life – Friday at 7pm

Cole, the son of one of Ira’s staffers, rides the school bus for the first time. You’ll hear his unbridled glee! Ira plays a story that exemplifies…

Jul 24, 2020

This Week on This American Life, A Visit to the Amusement Park – Friday at 7pm

This week, we celebrate pre-coronavirus summertime fun: at amusement parks! Ira Glass takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City,…

Jul 17, 2020

How to Be Alone on the Next This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Sandy moves out of the city, wanting a life away from other people. The guide for their new life is their Uncle Bob.…

Jul 10, 2020

This Week on This American Life: Umbrellas Up – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

As China's new national security law tightens its control over Hong Kong this week, we return to our episode about last fall's anti-government…

Jul 03, 2020

This Week on This American Life it’s All About Cars – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

We spend a month at a Jeep dealership on Long Island as they try to make their monthly sales goal: 129 cars. If they make it, they'll get a huge…

Jun 26, 2020

This Week on This American Life: The Reprieve – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

The number of Covid-19 patients is dropping and Michigan has started opening up. But it’s still been intensely difficult for the staff in the ICU at…

Jun 19, 2020

Firefighters Fighting Reform on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: In the wake of George Floyd, people everywhere are demanding that police departments change not just their rules,…

Jun 05, 2020

We Are in the Future on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

In this moment of sorrow, protest, and rage in the wake of George Floyd’s death, we offer this as a break from the dreadful present: our show about…

May 29, 2020

A Mess to Be Reckoned With on This American Life – Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Lissa Yellow Bird searches for missing people. She's great at it. But then, her niece goes missing. For the first…

May 22, 2020

Time Out Stories on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Remember the days when you could go to a bar or barbershop and watch sports…. with other people? Sports stories from…

May 15, 2020

This week on This American Life: The Out Crowd – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Reports from the frontlines of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" asylum policy. We hear from asylum seekers waiting across the border in…

May 08, 2020

This Week, Stories of People Feeling Stuck on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturdayu at 9am

This week on This American Life, during a time when everyone feels like they’re living in a holding pattern, stories of people stuck in some unusual…

May 01, 2020

Prom Night Tornado on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town, destroying about a third of it. When…

Apr 17, 2020

Stories of People Looking into the Void for Answers on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: In China, Uyghur families are being cut off from the outside world, put into reeducation centers, forced labor, and…

Apr 10, 2020

Filling in the Gaps on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories about people shading in the whole picture, when before there was only a sketch. This week on This American Life: In this moment when social…

Apr 03, 2020

This Week on This American Life: Fiasco! – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week, stories of when things go wrong. Really wrong. When you leave the normal realm of human error, fumble, mishap, and mistake and enter the…

Mar 27, 2020

Stories From the Pandemic on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: A husband and wife are quarantined in their tiny 500-square-foot apartment, both very sick with coronavirus. Also…

Mar 20, 2020

This Week on This American Life, Alone Together – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on "This American Life"… the staff creates the episode from their apartments and houses, with host Ira Glass in quarantine. In this moment…

Mar 13, 2020

Low Hum of Menace on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Things do not seem fine at all, but it’s hard to say why. This week on This American Life: Kristen, a single mom, decides to secretly record her home…

Mar 06, 2020

Birds & Bees on the Next This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Some information is so big and so complicated that it seems impossible to talk to kids about. This week, stories about the vague and not-so-vague…

Feb 14, 2020

When Home Does Not Exactly Feel Like Home on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Growing up in Russia as the only black person in her town, Yelena always dreamed about who she might date if she…

Feb 07, 2020

Abdi, Five Years Later on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

We return to our story about Abdi Nor from 2015, with some news about his life today. When we first broadcast the story, Abdi was a Somali refugee…

Jan 31, 2020

This Week, Stories About Delight on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: In these dark, combative times, an attempt at radical counterprogramming. It’s a show made up entirely of delight.…

Jan 24, 2020

This American Life Presents the Stories of Five Women – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

A different kind of #MeToo story, about several women who worked for the same man. They tell us not only about their troubling encounters with him,…

Jan 17, 2020

A Hefty Heist of Feathers on Thie American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Imagine finding a new hobby and realizing that to do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters, you…

Jan 10, 2020

Gardens of Forking Paths on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

No this is not a reference to "The Good Place." Stories of people contemplating other universes much like our own, with one small but important…

Jan 03, 2020

Wartime Radio on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Intimate and personal dispatches from two very different battlefields: A small town in the Syrian war. And the U.S. opioid epidemic. Each came from a…

Dec 26, 2019

Too Close to Home on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday @ 9am

This week on This American Life: When we go home to our families, sometimes we buy them devices. It’s a good distraction. We can watch them arguing…

Dec 19, 2019

Say Yes to Christmas on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

No Christmas can ever be as good as the ones you had as a kid. But this week we go all in and bring the joy, the spontaneity, the sense that anything…

Dec 12, 2019

Organizing a Rent Strike in New York City Can Be Very Dangerous. This Week on This American Life: The Super – Friday at 7pm

This week on This American Life: In 1980's New York City, rent is rising: it seems out of control, and residents struggle to keep up. So Jack Hitt…

Dec 05, 2019

Dead People Have Nowhere to Go in Greece – This American Life Airs Friday at 7pm

This week on This American Life, the country of Greece has this problem. Their cemeteries are too crowded. What that means is that three or four…

Nov 29, 2019

This Week, Fowl Stories of All Kinds on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

During the period of the year with the highest turkey consumption, we bring you a This American Life tradition: Stories of turkeys, chickens, geese,…

Nov 22, 2019

This week on This American Life: Reunited (And It Feels So Good) – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Hear the story of a couple who were unhappy for 27 years. He had a temper, she never really loved him. And then they split up. Divorced. And then,…

Nov 15, 2019

What It’s Like for Asylum-Seekers Waiting on the Other Side of the Border on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: The nine-year-old boy who’s like the king of the tent city that sits right across the Mexican border in Matamoros…

Nov 07, 2019

This Week on This American Life: Small Things Considered – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Dylan had always been small for his age. So his parents got him human growth hormone. His dad knows how it looks. ……

Nov 01, 2019

This Week on This American Life: Things That Are Lost – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories of people who are lost, histories that are lost, and things that are lost. This show was recorded onstage in front of audiences on a…

Oct 18, 2019

Masks On, Umbrellas Up: Two Weeks in Hong Kong on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Catherine’s packing her knapsack to take to a protest in Hong Kong. She brings water, first aid kit, and… makeup, so…

Oct 11, 2019

This Week on This American Life, We Come from Small Places – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

We go inside one of the biggest parties in New York City. People come from all over the world. There are masks, feathers, rivalries that go back…

Oct 04, 2019

This Week on This American Life: Anatomy of Doubt – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

A story about doubt: how it germinated, spread, and eventually took hold of an entire community, with terrible consequences. A collaboration with The…

Sep 27, 2019

This Week on This American Live: Burn It Down – Friday at 7pm & Saturday @ 9am

Stories of people who decide the only way forward, for real change, is to burn everything to the ground. We go to Amsterdam where the boss of the…

Sep 20, 2019

Going Behind the Scenes Of One of the Most Famous Beer Summits Ever on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

OK, picture this: A local Democrat’s club that’s also a bar, filled with Democrats, watching a Trump rally on TV … when all of a sudden, they spot…

Sep 13, 2019

Smuggling Marijuana with Your Parents… This week on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories of people breaking the rules fully, completely and with no bad consequences. Some justify this by saying they’re doing it for others, or for…

Sep 06, 2019

When Plan A Becomes Plan B, Which Becomes Our Life – This American Life, Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: Starlee and Robin were getting to be friends. You know how it is. People are busy, so little time to talk, explain…

Aug 30, 2019

This Week on This American Life: Rest Stop – Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 9am

Nine radio producers. Two days. One rest stop on the New York State Thruway. In this show, we'll bring you stories of people who are just passing…

Aug 23, 2019

Can You Work Through Trauma in Just Two Weeks? This American Life - Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life: When people go into therapy, everybody knows it can take years, right? You talk and you talk, and you talk. But…

Aug 16, 2019

What Happens When Our Most Ingenious Creations Actually Make it Out Into the World – This American Life, Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This week on This American Life. The doctor who created Frankenstein thought he had things under control. So did the guy in the movie “Jurassic Park”…

Aug 09, 2019

This Week on This American Life, Held Hostage – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

A kidnapping victim in Colombia spends his nights listening to a radio station that plays messages from the families of the kidnapped. That and other…

Aug 02, 2019

Some Things in Life Are Better Left Unknown on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Exactly how incompetent you are. What your ex’s best friend really thinks of you. The approximate time that you will die. Some things in life are…

Jul 26, 2019

The Weight Of Words, This Week on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Words mean things, but some words are especially meaningful — whether in a survival manual, a song lyric, or a slur. This American Life is heard…

Jul 19, 2019

Americans In Paris This Week on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Many Americans have dreamy and romantic ideas about Paris, notions which probably trace back to the 1920s vision of Paris created by the expatriate…

Jul 12, 2019

The Rescuers This Week on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

People go on missions to save young girls from danger. But sometimes they get so caught up in the mission that it overshadows the girl herself. This…

Jul 05, 2019

Cheaper by the Two Dozen, This Week on This American Life - Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

This country is crawling in presidential candidates right now and they're bumping into each other in Des Moines and yelling over each other in Miami.…

Jun 28, 2019

Mistakes Were Made, This Week on This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

It's the late 1960s, and in the new technology of cryonics, a California TV repairman named Bob sees an opportunity to help people cheat death. But…

Jun 20, 2019

Random Acts of History on This Week’s This American Life – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

Stories about people who accidentally bump into unsettling facts of history in settings meant to teach them history. What they end up learning is…

Jun 13, 2019

This American Life Presents: Seeing Yourself in the Wild – Friday at 7pm & Saturday at 9am

People coming face to face with unfiltered versions of themselves and what that tells them about who they are. Growing up, there was always one thing…

Jun 06, 2019

This Week on This American Life… LaDonna – Friday at 7 pm

Credit: Matt ChaseThis week on This American Life: LaDonna works security at an airport, a job she really loved, except for her supervisors. They did…

May 30, 2019

Better Than You Know Yourself, This Week on This American Life - Friday at 7 pm

This week on This American Life: In high school, Gary Gulman didn’t want to be a football player. Then he got this phone call from two coaches who…

May 22, 2019

This Week on This American Life: House on Loon Lake – Friday at 7 pm

Our entire show this week is one long story, sort of a real-life Hardy Boys mystery.

May 01, 2019

This Week on This American Life, 24 Hours at the Golden Apple – Friday at 7 pm

The This American Life producers document one day in a Chicago diner called The Golden Apple, starting at 5 a.m.

Apr 24, 2019

This Week on This American Life, Following The Ten Commandments... Or, Not – Friday at 7 pm

Stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus.

Apr 10, 2019

This Week on This American Life, Tell Me I’m Fat – Friday at 7 pm

The way people talk about being fat is shifting. With one-third of Americans classified as overweight, and another third as obese, and almost none of…

Apr 03, 2019

This Week on This American Life… No Fair! Friday at 7 pm

Stories of very small injustices and also one very big one. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday…

Mar 27, 2019

This Week on This American Life, Anything Can Be Anything – Friday at 7 pm

The enduring appeal of connecting dots that probably should not be connected. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating…

Mar 20, 2019

To Be, or Not To Be a Pirate? This Week on This American Life – Friday at 7 pm

A man in 1717 has a midlife crisis, and decides he's going to leave his family and go be a pirate.

Mar 13, 2019

This Week on This American Life, Beware the Jabberwock – Friday at 7 pm

Stories from the upside-down world where conspiracy theorists dwell. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every…

Mar 06, 2019

This Week on This American Life, Unconditional Love – Friday at 7 pm

Can love be taught? A family uses a controversial therapy to train their son to love them.

Feb 27, 2019

This Week on This American Life: Players, Get Your Weapons! Friday at 7 pm

The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee may have to fight to protect Mueller's investigation and make his report public.

Feb 20, 2019

Petty Tyranny on This American Life – Friday at 7 pm

In Schenectady, New York, a school maintenance man named Steve Raucci works his way up the ranks for 30 years, until finally, he's in charge of the…

Feb 13, 2019

This Week on This American Life: The Long Fuse – Friday at 7 pm

This week, people tossing words out into the world impulsively. And how they ignite and burn.

Feb 06, 2019

This American Life has Stories of Love Making Us Do Crazy Things – Friday at 7 pm

This week on This American Life: Kurt and his girlfriend had been together for 13 years.

Jan 30, 2019

This Week on This American Life, an Incredible Look Inside Syria - Friday at 7 pm

There's a community radio station in a small town in Syria. But in the current war, this town is run by extremist Islamists who decide that it is…

Jan 17, 2019

The Theme That Shall Not Be Named for Show #666 – This American Life, Tonight at 7 pm

Satan! In his many surprising manifestations, all around us. This American Life is heard every Friday night at 7:00 pm; repeating every Saturday…

Jan 10, 2019

This Week on This American Life: Before Things Went to Hell - Friday at 7 pm

We revisit those moments of calm before the storm when things could have gone very differently, but instead, they went to hell.

Jan 03, 2019

This Week on This American Life: The Walls – Friday at 7 pm / Saturday at 9 am

Stories from border walls around the world, where one place ends and another begins.

Dec 27, 2018

The Room of Requirement on This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

Libraries aren't just for books. They're often spaces that transform into what you need them to be: a classroom, a cyber café, a place to find…

Dec 20, 2018

Christmas and Commerce Plus a David Sedaris Classic on This American Life - Tonight at 7 pm

Stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, originally broadcast in 1996 when our show was only one year old.

Dec 13, 2018

“81 Words” on the Next This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

This week, the story of how the American Psychiatric Association decided in 1973 that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness.

Dec 06, 2018

Documents You Don't Normally Think of, Showing You Things You Didn't Expect – Tonight at 7 pm

This week on This American Life: There's a lawsuit over whether Harvard admissions discriminates against Asian students.

Nov 29, 2018

This Week on This American Life, “Little War on the Prairie” – Friday at 7 pm

Growing up in Mankato, Minnesota, John Biewen says, nobody ever talked about the most important historical event ever to happen there: in 1862, it…

Nov 22, 2018

Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde on This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

Dr. Benjamin Gilmer gets a job at a rural clinic. He finds out he’s replaced someone — also named Dr.

Nov 15, 2018

"Where There Is a Will" on This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

Stories of people who believe there is always a way and also those who don’t.

Nov 08, 2018

This Week on This American Life, "But That's What Happened." - Friday at 7 pm

Women are often told they have the wrong idea about their own experience.

Nov 01, 2018

Later Today on This American Life, "Hoaxing Yourself" – Tonight at 7 pm

Stories of people who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else does.

Sep 27, 2018

No Coincidence, No Story! This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

We asked listeners to send us their best coincidence stories, and we got more than 1,300 submissions! There were so many good ones we decided to make…

Sep 20, 2018

This Week On This American Life: The Runaways – Friday at 7 pm

A bunch of teenagers go missing from a town in Long Island. For months, the police treat them as runaways, ignoring the kids' parents, who keep…

Sep 13, 2018

Let Me Count the Ways on This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

Yes, youʼve heard about the family separations. Youʼve heard about the travel ban.

Sep 06, 2018

Coming Up on This American Life: Save the Day – Tonight at 7 pm

Stories about one person single-handedly taking charge of a situation gone wrong—including one man's mission to rescue two kids who were kidnapped by…

Aug 29, 2018

How I Got Into College, This Week on This American Life - Tonight at 7 pm

Students all over are starting college this month, and some of them still have a nagging question: what, exactly, got me in? An admissions officer…

Aug 23, 2018

Stories of Journeys Into the Not-So-Great Unknown on This American Life - Friday at 7 pm

An athlete prepares to leave home for a place he's never seen. An astronaut goes where no one has gone.

Aug 09, 2018

The Feather Heist on the Next This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

A flute player breaks into a British museum and makes off with a million dollars worth of dead birds.

Aug 02, 2018

Returning to the Scene of a Crime on This American Life – Friday at 7 pm

This week on This American Life: Sometimes criminals return to the scene of their misdeeds to try to make things right, to try to undo the past.

Jul 26, 2018

The Magic Show – This American Life Tonight at 7 pm

Just a few years before he got the internship at NPR that started him in radio, our host Ira Glass had another career.

Jul 12, 2018

If You Build It, Will They Come? This American Life Finds Out - Tonight at 7 pm

A young preacher opens a new church. A new restaurant reopens old wounds. This week, stories of people trying to build something that will last.

Jul 05, 2018

This American Life Grapples with the question, “Are we alone?” – Saturday at 9 am

If there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, why haven’t we heard from the extraterrestrials yet? Producer David Kestenbaum explains The…

Jun 28, 2018

This week on This American Life, Being a Crooked Cop in a Small Town – Tonight at 7 pm

Andrew Collins was a crooked cop. Over 60 cases of his were overturned when the truth came out.

Jun 21, 2018

It's My Party and I'll Try If I Want To on This American Life – Tonight at 7 pm

Democrats are pretty united in how they feel about President Trump. But they’re wrestling with each other over what their party is, and what it…

Jun 14, 2018

Abdi and the Golden Ticket on This American Life – Tonight a 7 pm

A story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American.

Jun 07, 2018

Unteachable Moments on This American Life - Tonight at 7 pm

Stories about people trying to learn something when no one is clear what the lesson is supposed to be.

May 31, 2018

"Puppy Love, The Business Model" on This American Life - Tonight at 7 pm

Molly FitzSimons tells the story of her father starting over. After 25 years in the same zip code, as an executive in the same company, he moved to…

May 17, 2018

“FORENSICS FOR BEGINNERS” - this week on This American Life

Cryptic messages on a cell phone. A teeter totter at a construction site.

May 10, 2018

"Break-Up" - this week on THIS AMERICAN LIFE - Friday 5/11 @ 7 pm

Writer Starlee Kine on what makes the perfect break-up song and whether really sad music can actually make you feel better.

May 03, 2018

"My Effing First Amendment" - This American Life - Friday May 4th @ 7 pm

This week on This American Life: Conservative students don't feel like their ideas are welcome on campus.

Apr 26, 2018

This week on THIS AMERICAN LIFE: "How I Learned That"

A bunch of high school students are taken to see a movie that’s supposed to teach them about history.

Apr 19, 2018

"Heretics" - This week on THIS AMERICAN LIFE

The story of Reverend Carlton Pearson, a renowned evangelical pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who cast aside the idea of hell, and with it everything he'd…

Apr 11, 2018

"Damned If You Do…" - this week on This American Life - Friday April 13th @ 7pm

It’s one thing to weigh pros and cons. But what about when all you have is con and con? This week, people choose between two bad options, when no…

This Week on This American Life: Superpowers – Tonight at 7 pm

This American Life