Tough Room

#348 - 8 February 2008

This week we bring you backstage with comedy writers at The Onion. They start with over 600 potential headlines for their fake-news newspaper each week, and over the course of two days, in the very tough room that is their editorial conference room, they select 16 to go in the paper. Plus other people speaking their minds in very tough rooms.

Matchmakers

#347 - 18 January 2008

Sabir, a young man in Afghanistan, thought he'd found true love but he couldn't afford a wedding. So two foreign aid workers, friends of his, decide to come to his rescue. They soon find out making a lasting love match isn't as simple as writing a check.

Home Alone

#346 - 21 December 2007

A 79-year-old woman, Mary Ann, dies in Los Angeles. She's lived alone for decades. No one knows her—or her next of kin. There's a body to be buried, a house full of stuff to get rid of.

Ties That Bind

#345 - 14 December 2007

A young girl named Sarah receives a heart transplant from a boy her age, and her mother sets off to find out more about the kid who saved her daughter's life. But years later, Sarah's not sure she wants to know.

The Competition

#344 - 30 November 2007

Stories of the unintended consequences of market forces.

Poultry Slam 2007

#343 - 23 November 2007

For Thanksgiving, the time of year when poultry consumption is highest, it's our annual program about turkeys, chickens, and fowl of all types.

How to Rest in Peace

#342 - 2 November 2007

There are umpteen TV shows about solving murders, endless whodunits in bookstores. But what happens to the people left behind after the detectives close the case? Three stories about children trying to figure out how to live normally after their parents have died.

How to Talk to Kids

#341 - 5 October 2007

Stories of adults taking very different approaches to communicating with children.

The Devil in Me

#340 - 7 September 2007

Stories of people trying to exorcize their inner demons.

Break-Up

#339 - 24 August 2007

Writer Starlee Kine on what makes the perfect break-up song and whether really sad music can actually make you feel better. Plus, an eight-year-old author of a book about divorce, and other stories from the heart of heartbreak.