White Haze

#626 - 22 September 2017

Right-wing groups like the Proud Boys say they have no tolerance for racism or white supremacist groups. Their leader Gavin McInnes disavowed the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. But the Proud Boys believe “the West is the best,” which, one of them points out, is not such a big jump from “whites are best.” And one of the Proud Boys organized the Charlottesville rally. (The group now claims he was a spy.) What should we make of groups like this?

Essay B

#625 - 8 September 2017

In 1967, the first two black students were enrolled at an all-white private boarding school in Virginia. The main reason they were there? To benefit the white kids. This week: stories about being enlisted to benefit another person’s educational experience. A version of this story appears in The New York Times Magazine.

Private Geography

#624 - 1 September 2017

Everyone walks around on their own private map of the world. The places we’re from and how they made us, whether we like it or not.

We Are in the Future

#623 - 18 August 2017

One of our producers, Neil Drumming, has recently become fascinated with Afrofuturism. It's more than sci-fi. It’s a way of looking at black culture that’s fantastic, creative, and oddly hopeful—which feels especially urgent during a time without a lot of optimism. Featuring the new song "The Deep" by clppng. Original artwork by Paul Davey. Click to enlarge.

Who You Gonna Call?

#622 - 4 August 2017

When everything goes wrong, one of the first things we think is, "Who do I call?" This week, stories of lucky people who have found the exact right person to ring up for help.

Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville

#621 - 21 July 2017

Two towns where people got really upset about undocumented immigrants, even though in both places, that did not seem to be the most important thing happening at all. One of the towns, a small town in Alaska, has no undocumented immigrants at all, but the possibility of them arriving put the whole town at each other’s throats.

To Be Real

#620 - 14 July 2017

Most of the time, we show the world a pretty superficial version of ourselves. "How about that weather?" But this week—people who try to go deeper, to get to something real, in some unexpected places: war, magic and porn.

The Magic Show

#619 - 30 June 2017

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 children's birthday parties. A powerful sense of embarrassment has prevented him from ever doing an episode on the subject, but when he learned that producer David Kestenbaum was also a kid conjurer, they decided to dive in together. Photo: David P. Abbott demonstrates his floating ball routine.

Mr. Lie Detector

#618 - 9 June 2017

A polygraph operator and his strange journey. And other stories.

Fermi’s Paradox

#617 - 19 May 2017

Three people grapple with the question, “Are we alone?”