After the Flood

#296 - 9 September 2005

Surprising stories from survivors in New Orleans. We give people who were in the storm more time than daily news coverage can to tell their stories and talk about what they're thinking. This leads to a number of ideas that haven't made it into the regular news coverage.

Not What I Signed Up For

#295 - 26 August 2005

Stories about being sucked into something against your will. In one story, a 9/11 widow finds herself having to comfort another distraught woman on national TV. And in a story by Nick Hornby, a boy is forced to play soccer to save his nation.

Image Makers

#294 - 5 August 2005

Stories of people and institutions who are worried about what the world thinks of them, and who take action...decisive action.

A Little Bit of Knowledge

#293 - 22 July 2005

Stories about the pitfalls of knowing just a little bit too little.

The Arms Trader

#292 - 8 July 2005

The U.S. government spent two years on a sting operation trapping an Indian man named Hemant Lakhani, whom they suspected of being an illegal arms dealer. It's one of the few cases that has gone to trial in the War on Terror, and one the Justice Department has pointed to as one of their big successes. In the end, they got Lakhani, red-handed, delivering a missile to a terrorist in New Jersey. The only problem was, nothing in the sting was what it appeared to be. Including the missile.

Reunited (And It Feels So Good)

#291 - 1 July 2005

Stories about getting back together with your spouse, your country, your...Brahman bull. And how it never goes the way you think it's going to.

Godless America

#290 - 3 June 2005

At a time when House Majority Leader Tom Delay calls for enacting a "Biblical world view" in government, when Christians are asserting their ideals in the selection of judges, in public school science classes and elsewhere, This American Life spends an hour trying to remember why anyone liked the separation of church and state in the first place.

Go Ask Your Father

#289 - 13 May 2005

In this show, sons and daughters get to find out the one thing they've always wanted to know about their father. The answers aren't always what they hope for.

Not What I Meant

#288 - 6 May 2005

Stories about how easy it is for communication to go awry, and what the consequences can be after it does.

Backed Into A Corner

#287 - 15 April 2005

Stories about people who end up making choices they'd rather not make, when their options begin to run out. Sometimes this works out great; sometimes not so great.