#679 : July 12, 2019
Save the Girl
People go on missions to save young girls from danger. But sometimes they get so caught up in the mission that it overshadows the girl herself.
#678 : July 5, 2019
The Wannabes
This country is crawling in presidential candidates right now and they're bumping into each other in Des Moines and yelling over each other in Miami. We hang out with them, in this weird early period of the election when they're easy to walk right up to.
#677 : June 14, 2019
Seeing Yourself In the Wild
Stories of those unexpected moments when we see who we really are.
#676 : May 31, 2019
Here’s Looking at You, Kid
Adults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right?
#674 : May 10, 2019
Get a Spine!
Stories of people standing up for themselves, shaking off their fear, bracing themselves, and doing what they’ve been scared to do.
#673 : April 19, 2019
Left Behind
People figuring out how to move through a world in which something important has disappeared.
#671 : March 29, 2019
Anything Can Be Anything
People connecting the dots that maybe should not be connected.
#670 : March 15, 2019
Beware the Jabberwock
Stories from the upside-down world where conspiracy theorists dwell.
#669 : March 1, 2019
Scrambling to Get Off the Ice
The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee may have to fight to protect Mueller's investigation and make his report public. Now that they’re in the majority, they have new tools they can use. Our producer Zoe Chace spent weeks behind the scenes with them as they tried out their new powers for the first time. This and other stories of people scrambling to get their footing on some challenging terrain.
#668 : February 15, 2019
The Long Fuse
People tossing words out into the world impulsively. And how they ignite and burn. Over decades.
#667 : February 1, 2019
Wartime Radio
Intimate and personal dispatches from two very different battlefields: A small town in the Syrian war. And the U.S. opioid epidemic. Each came from a DIY radio outfit. (Okay, one’s a podcast.)
#666 : January 18, 2018
The Theme That Shall Not Be Named
Satan! In his many surprising manifestations, all around us.
#665 : January 11, 2019
Before Things Went to Hell
We revisit those moments of calm before the storm, when things could have gone very differently, but instead, they went to hell.
#664 : December 28, 2018
The Room of Requirement
Libraries aren't just for books. They're often spaces that transform into what you need them to be: a classroom, a cyber café, a place to find answers, a quiet spot to be alone. It's actually kind of magical. This week, we have stories of people who roam the stacks and find unexpected things that just happen to be exactly what they required.
#663 : December 7, 2018
How I Read It
Documents you don't normally think of, showing you things you didn't expect.
#662 : November 16, 2018
Where There Is a Will
Stories of people who believe there is always a way. And also those who don’t.
#661 : November 9, 2018
But That's What Happened
Stories of women in unsettling situations. When they try to explain what’s wrong, they’re told that they don’t understand—that there’s nothing unsettling about it.
#660 : November 2, 2018
Hoaxing Yourself
Stories of people who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else does. In other words: Stories about people pulling hoaxes...on themselves.
#659 : October 12, 2018
Before the Next One
There’s no rulebook on how to handle a school shooting. And no real way to prepare for one. This week, people take what they’ve learned from these tragedies and try to use that knowledge to save others.
#658 : October 5, 2018
The Unhappy Deciders
Making big decisions about other people's lives can feel pretty awful. Zoe Chace followed Senator Jeff Flake as he decided to force the Senate to delay its vote on Judge Kavanaugh. Among her discoveries: Those protestors in the elevator? They aren’t the reason he did what he did.
#657 : September 21, 2018
The Runaways
A bunch of teenagers go missing from a town in Long Island. For months, the police treat them as runaways, ignoring the kids' parents, who keep trying to tell them otherwise. They keep trying to tell them that something much worse might have happened.
#656 : September 14, 2018
Let Me Count the Ways
Yes, youʼve heard about the family separations. Youʼve heard about the travel ban. But there are dozens of ways the Trump administration is cracking down on immigration across many agencies, sometimes in ways so small and technical it doesnʼt make headlines. This week, the quiet bureaucratic war that’s even targeting legal immigrants.
#655 : August 24, 2018
The Not-So-Great Unknown
What happens when unadventurous people end up in adventurous situations. Like an astronaut who goes to places no one has gone before, even though he’s not really into outer space.
#654 : August 10, 2018
The Feather Heist
A flute player breaks into a British museum and makes off with a million dollars worth of dead birds.
#653 : August 3, 2018
Crime Scene
Every crime scene hides a story. In this week's show, we hear about crime scenes and the stories they tell.
#652 : July 20, 2018
ICE Capades
Dispatches from a government agency in its tumultuous teenage years.
#651 : July 13, 2018
If You Build It, Will They Come?
A young preacher opens a new church. A new restaurant reopens old wounds. This week, stories of people trying to build something that will last.
#650 : June 29, 2018
Change You Can Maybe Believe In
An innocent man forgives the cop who framed him. An Argentinian talk show that usually treats women as objects suddenly gets really interested in feminism. This week, stories about changes that seem too tidy to be true.