The Annoying Gap Between Theory...and Practice

#250 - 7 November 2003

Why is it always harder than you think it'll be? We explore several case examples of the annoying gap between theory and practice.

Garbage

#249 - 31 October 2003

We make what's usually invisible, visible: the world of trash. We follow the trash from the sanitation men on the street, to the mob guys who controlled the hauling business, to the people who actually live in dumps.

Like It or Not

#248 - 24 October 2003

Some stories we make happen, others happen to us. Extremes from the latter category, where people let things happen to them and don't act, even when maybe they should. David Rakoff guest hosts.

What Is This Thing?

#247 - 19 September 2003

What is this thing? This thing called love, that is. For answers, we explore the romance novel industry, a $1.5 billion empire run almost entirely by and for women. Plus, relearning the rules of romance from the other side of the gender line. And Sarah Vowell tells the story of the Greatest Romance of the 20th Century.

My Pen Pal

#246 - 12 September 2003

Stories of very unusual pen pals, people whose relationship could not exist without the help of the postal service.

Allure of the Mean Friend

#245 - 5 September 2003

What is it about them, our mean friends? They treat us badly, they don't call us back, they cancel plans at the last minute, and yet we come back for more. Popular bullies exist in business, politics, everywhere. How do they stay so popular?

MacGyver

#244 - 15 August 2003

In real life, we usually never get to invent ingenious solutions, like the guy in the old TV series MacGyver. Today, four real stories in which real people invent amazingly clever solutions to their problems.

Later That Same Day

#243 - 25 July 2003

Stories about what the passage of time can do to someone. When each story starts, the world's aligned one way. Years pass—or sometimes just months—and everything's different.

Enemy Camp

#242 - 18 July 2003

Living behind enemy lines among the enemy, it's sometimes hard to remember why you're fighting in the first place.

20 Acts in 60 Minutes

#241 - 11 July 2003

Instead of the usual "each week we choose a theme, and bring you 3 or 4 stories on that theme" business, we throw all that away and bring you 20 stories—yes, 20—in 60 minutes.