High Cost of Living

#123 - 26 February 1999

Stories of people who choose not to live every moment to the fullest or smell the roses, and instead choose to withdraw from life, to make themselves numb.

Valentine's Day '99

#122 - 12 February 1999

For Valentine's Day, stories of impossible love and heartbreak.

Twentieth Century Man

#121 - 29 January 1999

One thing that makes our country different from most others is this idea that you can re-create yourself as someone you'd prefer to be...sell everything off, head out west, start a new life. But what happens if you're too good at it? At throwing everything out and starting over?

Be Careful Who You Pretend to Be

#120 - 22 January 1999

Three stories of people pretending to be something they're not, and what happens to them.

Lockup

#119 - 8 January 1999

With the number of prisoners in the United States rising rapidly, we present stories of their lives and the lives of their families and children.

What You Lookin' At?

#118 - 18 December 1998

Stories about seeing and being seen. Taped before a live audience in Town Hall in New York City in December 1998, this was a co-production with WNYC New York, featuring live music by the pop band They Might Be Giants and the This American Life Orchestra.

You Gonna Eat That?

#117 - 11 December 1998

The family table is stage on which many family dramas are played out. We hear three stories...of three families...at three meals.

Poultry Slam 1998

#116 - 27 November 1998

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

First Day

#115 - 13 November 1998

Stories of the first day on the job, the first day in a relationship, the first day in school. On the first day, any first day, we're expected to live by the rules and customs of the culture we're entering, but we don't know those rules and customs just yet.

Last Words

#114 - 23 October 1998

Stories of people's last words before death. Their one last shot at figuring things out, summing things up. One last moment of asserting the fact of our existence, at the moment of our annihilation.