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. 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

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. 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

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. 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

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. 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

Regular people trapped inside Greek myths. 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

One family faces the Trump administration’s ban on trans people serving in the military, and responds with a surprising secret weapon. 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

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. 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

Ira always hated commencement speeches. Then he felt like he had to give this one.

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. 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)

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

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. Prologue: Ira talks about why four conversations reveal how his relationship with his parents changed. (4 minutes) Act 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) Act Two: Ira asks his parents for advice on how he should build the radio

People discovering information about their own lives that they did not know and suddenly everything looks very different.

Ira Glass shares some news about This American Life

Ira Glass talks with Nancy Updike about the most personal stories they have put on the radio.

Ira Glass has news to share about some things happening here at This American Life.