What Kind of Country

#459 - 2 March 2012

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.

Play the Part

#458 - 17 February 2012

Stories of people who decide to flip their personalities and do the exact opposite of what they normally do. Pictured: Louis Ortiz, Obama impersonator. He is the subject of the documentary film The Audacity of Louis Ortiz.

What I Did For Love

#457 - 10 February 2012

Love makes us do crazy things. But not this crazy. This week for Valentine's Day we have stories of people going to extremes as they fall in love, chase love down, and try to make sense of it—including a teenager who falls for an undercover cop, and epic tales of snooping.

Reap What You Sow

#456 - 27 January 2012

Alabama's new immigration law aims to make life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they will "self-deport." And in a way it's working. Immigrants are fleeing Alabama...but not just the undocumented ones. This and other stories of people living with the unintended consequences of their decisions.

Continental Breakup

#455 - 20 January 2012

If you're like us, when the words "European debt crisis" pop up in the news you feel a little worried, and a little like taking a nap. Turns out, there's a story behind this story. One that's filled with guilt, and drama, and betrayal, and 100-year-old dreams come true. Alex Blumberg of Planet Money guest hosts.

Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory

#454 - 6 January 2012

NOTE: This American Life has retracted this story because we learned that many of Mike Daisey's experiences in China were fabricated.

Nemeses

#453 - 16 December 2011

This week, stories where a longtime standoff keeps both sides coming back for more. Including a story about the time in Poland's recent history where the country's two political blocks came together and believed, however briefly, they'd be able to set aside their differences. And another story about a college rivalry gone viral, and personal.

Poultry Slam 2011

#452 - 2 December 2011

We bring you our sort-of-annual holiday tradition: The Poultry Slam! Stories of what happens when humans and fowl collide, including the tale of one notorious turkey who unleashed a long reign of terror on an unsuspecting neighborhood.

Back to Penn State

#451 - 18 November 2011

In the wake of the recent news, listeners have contacted us and tweeted about the show we did two years ago at Penn State, #1 Party School. We listen again to some of those stories, with new interviews recorded this past week, as Penn State fans and loyalists try to make sense of the actions of Coach Joe Paterno and school officials.

So Crazy It Just Might Work

#450 - 11 November 2011

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.