Prom

#186 - 8 June 2001

While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas—a town of about 3,000—a tornado hit the town, destroying about a third of it. When they emerged from the dance, they discovered what had happened, and in the weeks that followed, they tried to explain to themselves why the tornado hit where it did. Plus other stories that happen on Prom Night.

Golden Calf

#185 - 25 May 2001

Stories of people worshiping false idols...and if that's always a bad thing.

Neighbors

#184 - 11 May 2001

Stories of people trying to love their neighbors...and failing.

The Missing Parents Bureau

#183 - 20 April 2001

Stories about the legacy of absent parents. We hear four cases from the files of the Missing Parents Bureau.

Cringe

#182 - 13 April 2001

Stories that make us cringe, and an investigation into just what, exactly, makes some stories capable of forcing this physical reaction out of us when other stories don't. We hear tales of personal humiliation, romance gone wrong, and people who profoundly misjudge how they're perceived by others.

The Friendly Man

#181 - 6 April 2001

A special show, composed entirely of stories from just one This American Life contributor: Scott Carrier, whose strange and compelling stories sound like nothing else on the radio.

Return to Childhood

#180 - 23 March 2001

Stories of people who try to revisit their childhoods. What they find. And what they do not find.

Cicero

#179 - 16 March 2001

The story in a way of a town that time forgot, or more accurately, a town that tried to forget the times. A special broadcast co-hosted by award-winning journalist Alex Kotlowitz, author of the books There Are No Children Here and The Other Side of the River.

Superpowers

#178 - 23 February 2001

We answer the following questions about superpowers: Can superheroes be real people? (No.) Can real people become superheroes? (Maybe.) And which is better: flight or invisibility? (Depends who you ask.) Chris ware's comic mentioned in the episode is here.

American Limbo

#177 - 9 February 2001

Stories of people living completely outside the grid of American life. Americans in Paris. Chinese in America. West Virginians in treehouses. Mexican-Americans in Rochester.