The Sanctity of Marriage

#261 - 26 March 2004

Stories trying to understand what actually happens in marriages during this time when the definition of marriage is up in the air. Music throughout the hour by a real wedding band, a good one: The Doug Lawrence Orchestra.

The Facts Don't Matter

#260 - 12 March 2004

There's what happened, and there's the story that gets told about what happened. Sometimes the two things don't match up very well. This week, two case examples—ripped, as they say, from today's headlines—of the story that's told becoming the truth, even though the facts don't back it up.

Promised Land

#259 - 20 February 2004

For millenia, people have tried to reach a spiritual promised land by fasting. Jesus did it. The Buddha did it. Monks and saints and new age gurus have done it. And now, on the radio, This American Life contributor David Rakoff tries it. He does a 20-day fast, to find out if it brings him any form of enlightenment.

Leaving the Fold

#258 - 30 January 2004

A popular, progressive politician becomes...a talk show host. One you've probably heard of. A group of nuns leave the Catholic Church...only to find themselves essentially, remaining nuns. These and other stories of people leaving the situation they're used to—and striking off for something less familiar.

What I Should've Said

#257 - 16 January 2004

People return to the scene of the crime where they should have spoken clearly, plainly, forcefully...to review what the hell went wrong, and in a few cases, to fix it. Jonathan Goldstein tries to stop time. Charles Monroe tries to figure out how to teach a lesson to the President of the United States.

Living Without

#256 - 9 January 2004

Stories of people living without. Nubar Alexanian explains what fish can do for him that his own ears cannot. Sarah Vowell explains the cheerful journalism of deprivation. And other stories.

This American's Life's Holiday Gift-Giving Guide

#255 - 19 December 2003

The vexing difficulty of finding the perfect gift, illustrated in three acts.

Teenage Embed, Part Two

#254 - 12 December 2003

In early 2003, we brought you a special show about a California teenager, Hyder Akbar, who traveled to Afghanistan, his family's homeland, for the first time.

The Middle of Nowhere

#253 - 5 December 2003

Stories from faraway, hard-to-get-to places, where all rules are off, nefarious things happen because no one's looking, and there's no one to appeal to.

Poultry Slam 2003

#252 - 28 November 2003

During the period of the year with the highest turkey consumption, we bring you an annual This American Life tradition: Stories of turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, fowl of all kinds, real and imagined, and their mysterious hold over us.