Datei Datum Inhalt Dauer #409 27.02 Held Hostage 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 stories of people held captive—by criminals, by paperwork, and in one man's case, his own body—and the ways they try to cope. (Wh. vom 04.06.2010) 58:38 #459 02.03 What Kind of Country All across the country right now, local and state governments are finding they can't pay their bills. Schools are losing teachers, street lights are going dark, garbage is piling up in public parks, and cops are suddenly an optional expense. 63:55 #425 12.03 Slow to React This week we have stories where people's reactions move very slowly, including the story of a wedding 17 years in the making, and what it's like when you have a terminal illness that's supposed to kill you in a year or two, and it decides to take its time. Note: The story in Act One isn’t suitable for children and we’d like to note a trigger warning to survivors of abuse. (Wh. vom 21.01.2012) 59:11 #460 16.03 Retraction We've discovered that one of our most popular episodes contained numerous fabrications. This week, we detail the errors in Mike Daisey's story about visiting Foxconn, which makes iPads and other products for Apple in China. Marketplace's China correspondent Rob Schmitz discovered the fabrications. 58:02 #360 26.03 Switched At Birth On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. (Wh. vom 25.07.2008) 59:25 #461 30.03 Take the Money and Run for Office For anyone who has ever heard the term "Washington insider" and felt outside — we are with you. So this week, we go inside the rooms where the deals get made, to the actual moment that the checks change hands — and we ask the people writing and receiving the checks what, exactly, is the money buying? 58:32 #332 09.04 The Ten Commandments Stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus. (Wh. vom 04.05.2007) 59:19 #462 16.04 Own Worst Enemy Stories of people who can’t seem to stop getting in their own way — sabotaging everything from their romantic relationships to their physical health. Featuring a new radio drama by Jonathan Mitchell. 62:03 #379 23.04 Return To The Scene Of The Crime A live episode of the radio program, including stories told on stage by Dan Savage and Mike Birbiglia. (Wh. vom 01.05.2009) 58:49 #463 30.04 Mortal Vs. Venial Religion makes it pretty clear what differentiates mortal sins from venial ones. Mortal are the really bad sins and venial the lesser ones. But in our everyday lives, it can be really difficult to determine just how bad we've been. This week we have stories of people trying to figure out that question. 58:12 #154 07.05 In Dog We Trust<7b> Stories of dogs and cats and other animals that live in our homes. Exactly how much are they caught up in everyday family dynamics? We answer this question and others. (Wh. vom 10.03.2000) 58:00 #436 14.05 The Psychopath Test Recently we heard about this test that could determine if someone was a psychopath. So, naturally, our staff decided to take it. This week we hear the results. Plus Jon Ronson asks the question: is this man a psychopath? (Wh. vom 27.05.2011) 59:18 #464 21.05 Invisible Made Visible This week, the radio debut of the episode we just did live on stage and beamed to movie theatres all over the country. David Sedaris, David Rakoff, Tig Notaro and Ryan Knighton performed stories. Mike Birbiglia made a short film, co-starring Terry Gross. 57:48 #465 28.05 What Happened At Dos Erres In 1982, the Guatemalan military massacred the villagers of Dos Erres, killing more than 200 people. Thirty years later, a Guatemalan living in the US got a phone call from a woman who told him that two boys had been abducted during the massacre -- and he was one of them. 60:16 #164 04.06 Crime Scene Every crime scene hides a story. In this week's show, we hear about crime scenes and the stories they tell. (Wh. vom 07.07.2000) 58:32 #466 11.06 Blackjack Stories about the casino game everyone thinks they can beat. In one, a woman gambles away her inheritance and then sues the casino, saying they're to blame. In another, Christians join forces to take down casinos — by becoming professional card-counting blackjack players. Plus: MIT Blackjack Team member Andy Bloch teaches us to count cards. 62:04 #467 22.06 Americans in China It used to be that the American expats in China were the big shots. They had the money, the status, the know-how. But that's changed. What's it like to be an American living in China now? And what do they understand about China that we don't? Fehlt #468 02.07 Switcheroo People pretending to be people they're not: sometimes it's harmless, sometimes it's harmful and sometimes it's hard to tell. From world-famous artists to mail-order brides to a practice that could change the face of American journalism. 64:55 #398 09.07 Long Shot Stories of people betting on something with very bad odds, mostly because they have no other choice.(Wh vom 08.01.2010) 56:56 #469 16.07 Hiding in Plain Sight Sometimes when something is happening right under your nose, it becomes even harder to notice than if it were happening in secret. Stories of people of using that to their advantage, including one man who takes down some of the most powerful criminals in the world. 58:06 #443 23.07 Amusement Park We head to some of the happiest places on Earth: Amusement Parks! Jonathan Goldstein revisits one he worked at as a teen, Ira takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the staff so loves their jobs they make music videos and other videos.(Wh.. vom 12.08.2011) 58:19 #470 30.07 Show Me The Way Stories about people in trouble, who look for help in mystifying places. A 15-year-old boy travels more than 1,000 miles, alone, to seek out his hero, whom he's never met. And from Wiretap, Jonathan Goldstein and David Rakoff tell the story of a man with a terrible medical problem, hoping for a cure from a famous doctor — who only communicates in rhyme. 59:34 #207 06.08 Special Ed Stories about people who were told that they're different. Some of them were comfortable with it. Some didn't understand it. And some understood, but didn't like it. (Wh. vom 08.03.2002) 59:22 #471 13.08 The Convert In 2006, a new convert showed up at a mosque in Orange County, California, eager to study the Koran and make new friends. But when he started acting odd and saying strange things, those friends got suspicious. To them, he was Farouk al-Aziz. But his real name was Craig Monteilh, and he was working undercover for the FBI. 58:02 #472 20.08 Our friend David Favorite stories by our longtime contributor and friend David Rakoff. Note that the podcast and streaming versions contain unbeeped words that could not play on radio. 58:58 #473 27.08 Loopholes Only the clever need apply. This week, stories of people acting on a technicality in the face of some of life's toughest regulators: financial regulators, parents and God. 60:02 #361 03.09 Fear of Sleep Mike Birbiglia got used to strange things happening to him when he slept—until something happened that almost killed him (Mike's story is now a feature film, Sleepwalk With Me). This and other reasons to fear sleep, including bedbugs, "The Shining," and mild-mannered husbands who turn into maniacs while asleep. (Wh. vom 08.08.2008) 59:10 #352 10.09 The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar In 1912 a four year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing in a swamp in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found in the hands of a wandering handyman in Mississippi (the picture at left was taken just days later). Reporter Tal McThenia co-authored a book about the Bobby Dunbar story called A Case For Solomon. (Wh. vom 14.03.2008) 58:36 #474 17.09 Back to School As kids and teachers head back to school, we wanted to turn away from questions about politics and unions and money and all the regular school stuff people argue about, and turn to something more optimistic — an emerging theory about what to teach kids, from Paul Tough's new book How Children Succeed. 59:19 #447 24.09 The Incredible Case of the P.I. Moms What do you get when you take a P.I. firm, then add in a bunch of sexy soccer moms, official sponsorship from Glock, a lying boss, and delusions of grandeur? This week's show. (Wh. vom 23.09.2011) 59:26 #475 01.10 Send a Message This week people reach out in all kinds of ways to try and get their point across. And the recipients of those messages try to decipher what they mean. Messages in code, over the phone, and from beyond the grave. 58:32 #476 08.10 What Doesn’t Kill You Stories of how people cope after brushes with death. Sometimes death comes as a disease. Sometimes it swims up and bites you. And sometimes it's a pen or pencil, sitting there, just waiting for you to ingest it. 60:07 #127 15.10 24 Hours at the Golden Apple The This American Life producers document one day in a Chicago diner called The Golden Apple, starting at 5 a.m. and going until 5 a.m. the next morning. We hear from the waitress who has worked the graveyard shift for over two decades, the regular customers who come every day, the couples working out their problems, various assorted drunks, and, of course, cops. (Wh. vom 17.11.2000) 59:16 #477 22.10 Getting Away With It 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 a greater good. Some really don’t care. And, unlike the mealy weaklings you usually hear on this program: None of these wrongdoers seem regretful about what they’ve done in the slightest. 59:55 #283 29.10 Remember Me Stories about people who are remembered very differently than they'd wished. The ghost of a kindly, distinguished philanthropist supposedly plays pranks on guests at a Ramada hotel in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. A dying mother makes a tape for her developmentally disabled daughter, hoping she'll watch it someday, knowing she might not. (Wh. vom 25.02.2005) 59:38 #478 02.11 Red State Blue State Everyone knows that politics is now so divided in our country that not only do the 2 sides disagree on the solutions to the country’s problems, they don’t even agree on what the problems are. It’s 2 versions of the world in collision. This week we hear from people who’ve seen this infect their personal lives. They’ve lost friends. They’ve become estranged from family members. A special pre-election episode of our show. 63:30 #449 12.11 Middle School This week, at the suggestion of a 14-year-old listener, we bring you stories from the awkward, confusing, hormonally charged world of middle school. Including a teacher who transforms peer pressure into a force for good, and reports from the frontlines of the middle school dance. (Wh. vom 27.10.2011) 59:10 #450 19.11 So Crazy It Just Might Work A few years ago a cancer researcher named Jonathan Brody gave a speech at his alma mater saying that people in his field really needed to think outside the box to find a cure. Afterward he was approached by his old orchestra teacher, who had something way out of the box—a theory that he could kill cancer cells with electromagnetic waves. And other stories. 59:51 #479 26.11 Little War on the Prairie Growing up in Mankato, Minnesota, John Biewen says, nobody ever talked about the most important historical event ever to happen there: in 1862, it was the site of the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Thirty-eight Dakota Indians were hanged after a war with white settlers. John went back to Minnesota to figure out what really happened 150 years ago, and why Minnesotans didn’t talk about it much after. 64:38 #480 03.12 Animal Sacrifice What animals sacrifice for us, and what we sacrifice for them. Including a story from Susan Orlean about dogs in World War II, and the This American Life staff confronts Ira about his dog, Piney. 59:44 #481 10.12 This Week This week we take on ... this week. Stories united by one thing: They all happened in the seven days prior to broadcast. We try our hand reporting the global stories in Egypt and Afghanistan; and take on super local stories, too, like a man who tries valiantly — valiantly! — to actually get out of bed when his alarm clock goes off. 59:06 #304 17.12 Heretics 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 worked for over his entire life. (Wh. vom 12.16.2005) 58:32 #482 21.12 Lights, Camera, Christmas! 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. Including tales of Luna the guinea pig (pictured), Bambi the reindeer, and Jeko the super-powerful (and somewhat-scary) Christmas elf. 57:55 #110 28.12 Mapping Five ways of mapping the world. One story about people who make maps the traditional way — by drawing things we can see. And other stories about people who map the world using smell, sound, touch, and taste. The world redrawn by the five senses. (Wh. vom 04.09.1998) 58:58