This American Life (Unofficial)

In a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?

People rethinking some of the most important relationships in their lives — with their sister, their political party, and the nominee for president.

Boen Wang has a theory that a lot of the misery in his life can be traced to a single moment that happened years before he was born. So he makes a pilgrimage to see if he’s right.

In Rafah, Yousef is out of options and faces his toughest move yet.

Donald Trump has talked about taking retribution on his enemies since the early days of his 2024 presidential campaign. After his conviction last week in New York, his talk intensified. We try to understand what his retribution might look like by speaking with people who have the most to lose in a second Trump administration: people who believe Trump will be coming for them.

People tethered to one particular other person, whether they want to be or not.

How they organize the chaos of the world, for good and for bad.

The trial for the men accused of orchestrating the September 11 terrorist attacks still hasn’t started yet. Family members of those who died that day are still hoping for some kind of accountability, more than 22 years later. This week, the story of how one victim’s sister is navigating this historic and twisted trial.

For years, Majid believed that if he could testify in court about what happened to him when he was held in a CIA black site, a judge and jury would give him a break. Finally, he got a chance to see if he was right.

People taking it upon themselves to solve the tiny, overlooked crimes of the world.

The things we break and the ones we can't fix.

People waking up to the fact that the world has suddenly changed.

A series of phone calls to a man in Gaza named Yousef Hammash, between early December and now. He talks about what he and his family are experiencing, sometimes as they are experiencing it.

Your mother and I have something we want to talk with you about.

An investigation of when and why people ask loaded questions that are a proxy for something else.

What it means to have words—and to lose them.

People finding themselves in situations that are worse than they thought and deciding to really go with it.

A major political party in a major swing state bets on a new leader: a total political outsider. How does that work out for them?

A series of conversations with a man in Gaza over the course of one week.

In the last year and a half, New York City has scrambled to try and provide shelter and services to over 150,000 migrants. We take a look at how that’s going.

When you realize that help is not on the way, what do you do next?

During the highest turkey consumption period of the year, we bring you a This American Life tradition: stories of turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, fowl of all kinds—real and imagined—and their mysterious hold over us.

Things our dads taught us, whether they intended to or not.

What happens when you realize the people in charge don’t have the answers.

You've been seeing yourself, getting to know what you look like, your whole life. So why does it often take an outsider to see things about you that are obvious, and set you straight?

People who have a good, long time to think about what they’re doing, look hard at what’s ahead of them, and decide to keep moving forward anyway.

Spots we’re avoiding in our private maps of the world.

Friends and ex-friends finally talk about the one thing between them they've been avoiding.

One call to a very unusual hotline and everything that followed.

Legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey had a popular show called “The Rest of the Story.” Today on our show, we do just that. We hear from people who, whether they want to or not, find themselves face-to-face with the rest of their stories.

Nadia's family is split between Russia and Ukraine, which is pretty common. And when Russia invaded Ukraine, it didn’t just start fighting on the battlefield. It sparked family conflict, too. An intimate story of the war from writer Masha Gessen.

People on the verge of a big change, not wanting to let go. And the people who give them the final push.

Governor Ron DeSantis is running for president on the argument that he'll do for America what he's done for Florida. So what's it like in Florida?

At a Yale fertility clinic, dozens of women began their I.V.F. cycles full of expectation and hope. Then a surgical procedure caused them excruciating pain. In the hours that followed, some of the women called the clinic to report their pain — but most of the staff members who fielded the patients’ reports did not know the real reason for the pain, which was that a nurse at the clinic was stealing fentanyl and replacing it with saline. What happened at that clinic? What are the stories we tell about women's pain and what happens when we minimize or dismiss it? The Retrievals, a new five-part series from Serial Productions, is hosted and reported by longtime This American Life producer and editor Susan Burton. We're excited to bring you the first episode today.

Humans encounter non-human intelligences of various kinds and try to make sense of them.

Ira's own father, Barry Glass, co-hosts this special Father's Day show.

The one animal we can’t seem to live without, even when we really, really want to.

Five years after the #MeToo explosion, what’s happened in the lives of the women who stepped forward and went public with their stories? We tell the story of a teenager who spoke out against one of the most powerful people in her state, and what happened next.

Looping thoughts about people you barely know, or don't know at all.

A week after Jerry Springer’s death, we go back to a story we first broadcast years ago, about a side of Springer most people don’t know and can’t imagine: his years as an idealistic politician in the mold of Bobby Kennedy. Plus other stories of people who try to leave some moment in their life behind, which can be hard.

It's funny the things that go through your head during a disaster.

Summoning up stuff that’s usually hidden down deep.

It’s been nine months since Roe v. Wade was overturned. We talk to people who wanted abortions right when the laws were changing in their states. They had to wait for appointments, for money to travel or abortion pills. And during that waiting, a lot of interesting things happened. We see how much life has changed, nine months later.

People ​so close to each other, ​in ​extremely intimate situations​,​ who are also a million miles apart.

The ghosts that visit us, the ghosts that never do, and the ghosts that walk among us.

People staring down that hardest of questions: Is now the time? To leave?

When it comes to finding love, there seems to be two schools of thought on the best way to go about it. One says, wait for that lightning-strike magic. The other says, make a calculation and choose the best option available. Who has it right?

Sometimes you raise your hand. Other times you’re just the only one left.

People being dodged, delayed, and evaded—and what they do to put an end to it.

Writer Etgar Keret tries to come up with the stories that capture his late mother, Orna Keret—but it’s hard, he says, because she’s like Maria in West Side Story and she’s also like Thanos from the Avengers. He ends up with a series of very short stories — most just a few paragraphs long — that give glimpses of different sides of her.