It'll Make Sense When You're Older

#583 - 25 March 2016

At first, it’s super annoying, getting told it’ll make sense when you’re older. Then, when you’re a teenager, hard lessons are learned, despite your best efforts to be too cool to care. By the time you’re actually old, you know a bunch of stuff— and you’re desperate to hold onto it. You might even wonder HOW you know all the things you know. Hosted by Chana Joffe-Walt and featuring SNL’s Sasheer Zamata.

When the Beasts Come Marching In

#582 - 11 March 2016

We human beings think we run the world, that we’ve got things under control. And then an animal shows up, and things don’t go as planned. We have stories this week where seals, wolves and a moose drop in and show us who isn't boss.

Anatomy of Doubt

#581 - 26 February 2016

This week, a story about doubt: how it germinated, spread, and eventually took hold of an entire community, with terrible consequences. A collaboration with The Marshall Project and ProPublica.

That's One Way to Do It

#580 - 19 February 2016

Forget the easy way. This week, stories about people who come up with very innovative…and unusual...solutions to their problems. Including the story of a young voter who defies political categorization.

My Damn Mind

#579 - 12 February 2016

The brain! It's powerful! We have the story of how one man's delusions lead him to a situation that's just as strange as the worst thoughts his mind is cooking up. That story's a collaboration with the New York Times. Our second story is about a man using the power of his own mind to deal with a problem. Pictured: Alan Pean, with visible scar from a bullet wound. Photo by Chad Batka for The New York Times.

I Thought I Knew You

#578 - 29 January 2016

This week, stories of people who are feeling the ground shift underneath them when people they are close to change. Including conservative radio host Tony Beam in South Carolina who is completely baffled by the candidate his audience has decided to get behind this election season.

Something Only I Can See

#577 - 15 January 2016

When you’re the only one who can see something, sometimes it feels like you’re in on a special secret. The hard part is getting anyone to believe your secret is real. This week, people trying to show others what they see—including a woman with muscular dystrophy who believes she has the same condition as an Olympic athlete.

Say Yes To Christmas

#576 - 25 December 2015

No Christmas can ever be as good as the ones you had as a kid. But this week we go all in and bring the joy, the spontaneity, the sense that anything can happen back to Christmas. We've got a live Christmas performance from some of the best improvisors in the country including Mike Birbiglia, Chris Gethard, and SNL's Aidy Bryant and Sasheer Zamata. Also holiday meals – on fire.

Poetry of Propaganda

#575 - 18 December 2015

Sure, there's a crude message that propaganda is trying to get across. But like poetry, when you know how to read it, propaganda contains lots of more subtle messages that you might not see at first glance. This week: examples, big and small, from around the world.

Sinatra's 100th Birthday

#574 - 11 December 2015

For Frank Sinatra's 100th Birthday: stories, tributes, and attempts to understand the Chairman of the Board. An updated version of an episode originally broadcast back in 1997.