This American Life (Unofficial)

The coronavirus has now fully arrived in the United States. This week, stories of people trying to rise to that challenge, in some pretty extreme situations.

This week, as the staff creates the episode from their apartments and houses, with our host in quarantine, in this moment when everyone’s reaching out to the people they love, we put together a collection of family stories, with some timely stuff at the top.

Things do not seem fine at all, but it’s hard to say why.

People squirming in a world where everything is rated and reviewed.

People looking everywhere to find a place—any place—where, for once, they don't have to be the odd man out.

We return to our story about Abdi Nor from 2015, with some big news about his life today. When we first broadcast the story, Abdi was a Somali refugee living in Kenya desperately trying – against long odds – to get to the United States. Then he got the luckiest break of his life: he won a lottery that puts him on a short list for a U.S. visa. But before he could cash in his golden ticket, the police started raiding his neighborhood, targeting refugees.

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

Other universes that are just like our own, but with one small difference.

For the holidays, stories of families finally addressing the thorny thing they’ve never really talked about.

There's a lot that can be gained from unearthing the past -- learning about oneself, learning about others. But, it doesn't always go how you'd expect.

Reports from the frontlines of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" asylum policy. We hear from asylum seekers waiting across the border in Mexico, in a makeshift refugee camp, and from the officers who sent them there to wait in the first place. This episode won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting, the first ever given for audio journalism.

Stories about being little. Secret writings in tiny letters. The power of a very small number. And a medication that's supposed to cure shortness.

For over 100 days now, protestors in Hong Kong have taken to the streets every weekend. What it’s like to live through that.

The staff goes to one of the biggest parties in New York City, the Labor Day Carnival and the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn.

Stories of people who decide the only way forward — for real change — is to burn everything to the ground.

Two people, sitting down over a beer, hashing out their differences and understanding where the other guy is coming from. Hard to imagine these days, right? It's so rare right now that someone is curious enough to actually see the other person's point of view. This week on the show, beer summits. Including going behind the scenes of the most famous one ever.

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 in two weeks. Jaime Lowe tried the therapy—and recorded it.

What happens when our most ingenious creations actually make it out into the world.

Words mean things, but some words are especially meaningful — whether in a survival manual, a song lyric, or a slur.

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 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. We hang out with them, in this weird early period of the election when they're easy to walk right up to.

Stories of those unexpected moments when we see who we really are.

Adults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right?

What it's like to be momentarily big on the small screen.

Stories of people standing up for themselves, shaking off their fear, bracing themselves, and doing what they’ve been scared to do.

People figuring out how to move through a world in which something important has disappeared.

Stories of very small injustices and also one very big one.

People connecting the dots that maybe should not be connected.

Stories from the upside-down world where conspiracy theorists dwell.

The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee may have to fight to protect Mueller's investigation and make his report public. Now that they’re in the majority, they have new tools they can use. Our producer Zoe Chace spent weeks behind the scenes with them as they tried out their new powers for the first time. This and other stories of people scrambling to get their footing on some challenging terrain.

People tossing words out into the world impulsively to ignite and burn over decades.

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 DIY radio outfit. (Okay, one’s a podcast.)

Satan! In his many surprising manifestations, all around us.

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

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 answers, a quiet spot to be alone. It's actually kind of magical. This week, we have stories of people who roam the stacks and find unexpected things that just happen to be exactly what they required.

Documents you don't normally think of, showing you things you didn't expect.

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

Stories of women in unsettling situations. When they try to explain what’s wrong, they’re told that they don’t understand—that there’s nothing unsettling about it.

People who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else.

There’s no rulebook on how to handle a school shooting. And no real way to prepare for one. This week, people take what they’ve learned from these tragedies and try to use that knowledge to save others.

Making big decisions about other people's lives can feel pretty awful. Zoe Chace followed Senator Jeff Flake as he decided to force the Senate to delay its vote on Judge Kavanaugh. Among her discoveries: Those protestors in the elevator? They aren’t the reason he did what he did.

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 trying to tell them otherwise. They keep trying to tell them that something much worse might have happened.

Yes, youve heard about the family separations. Youve heard about the travel ban. But there are dozens of ways the Trump administration is cracking down on immigration across many agencies, sometimes in ways so small and technical it doesnt make headlines. This week, the quiet bureaucratic war that’s even targeting legal immigrants.

What happens when unadventurous people end up in adventurous situations. Like an astronaut who goes to places no one has gone before, even though he’s not really into outer space.

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

Every crime scene hides a story. In this week's show, we hear about crime scenes and the stories they tell.

Dispatches from a government agency in its tumultuous teenage years.

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.

An innocent man forgives the cop who framed him. An Argentinian talk show that usually treats women as objects suddenly gets really interested in feminism. This week, stories about changes that seem too tidy to be true.

Democrats are desperate to retake part of Congress. Their best shot is the House. This fall, they’ll be slugging it out with Republicans—but in the meantime, they’re slugging it out with each other. The progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic party are going head-to-head in Democratic primaries all over the country right now, wrestling over what the party should be and stand for. This week, we have the story of a candidate in one primary like that.