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This American Life: Daily Summaries Delivered
by This American Life
Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.
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- Today1h 7m
897: Intergenerational Space Travel
People braving the true final frontier — the gap between people born at slightly different times. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Last fall, some NPR podcasts started getting mysterious comments on Spotify. They made no sense to the staff reading them – until someone from a younger generation cracked the code. (11 minutes) Act One: When Courtney Maum was eighteen, her mother married a guy she despised. At their wedding, Courtney read a poem she wrote – a pretty dark poem! – which made her mother furious. More than 30 years later, they finally talk about it. (27 minutes) Act Two: When Ike Sriskandarajah was a teenager in Madison, Wisconsin, he thought he had the greatest job. He worked at the movie theater, wore a cummerbund, and snuck friends in through the back door! It was magical. That was more than 20 years ago. Is it still as great as he remembers? Ike goes back to find out. (8 minutes) Act Three: Every morning, Myra Flynn finds herself in a standoff with her daughter over her hair. Recently, to understand why these hair sessions are so fraught, Myra started recording them. What she heard sent her on a quest to get answers from her own mother. (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org / This American Life privacy policy. / Learn more about sponsor message choices.
- 1 weeks agonarrative1h 7m5-min read
646: The Secret of My Death
This episode of This American Life explores the emotional aftermath of death through three stories, each centered on a person trying to make sense of a loved one’s passing, the secrets left behind, and the haunting question of how we are remembered. The stories reveal how grief, guilt, and identity collide in the wake of loss.
- 2 weeks agonarrative1h 1m6-min read
449: Middle School
This episode of This American Life explores the emotional turbulence and social complexity of middle school through personal stories, revealing how identity, peer dynamics, and survival strategies shape adolescence. It lands because it validates the universal pain of growing up while offering empathy and insight into a formative life stage.
- 3 weeks agonarrative1h 8m6-min read
896: I Know What You Need
This episode of This American Life explores the impulse to help others, whether through human acts of kindness, technological interventions for aging parents, or AI systems designed to assist — and what happens when those efforts misfire or reveal deeper emotional truths. At its core, it asks: do we ever truly know what someone else needs?
- 4 weeks agonarrative1h 1m9-min read
206: Somewhere in the Arabian Sea
This episode of This American Life offers a vivid, human-centered portrait of life aboard the USS John C. Stennis, an aircraft carrier deployed in the Arabian Sea shortly after 9/11, revealing the monotony, danger, and emotional complexity of military service far from home. It underscores how young sailors, many from difficult backgrounds, find purpose and identity in a war they don’t fully understand.
- Aug 17, 2026narrative59 min5-min read
895: Label Maker!
This episode of This American Life explores the emotional and societal weight of labels through three intimate stories: a couple avoiding romantic labels, a Haitian nurse losing her legal status and job due to the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and a comedian finally receiving an autism diagnosis after years of being misunderstood. The episode reveals how labels can both define and liberate, constrain and clarify.
- Aug 10, 2026narrative1h 2m6-min read
443: Amusement Park
This episode of This American Life explores the emotional and cultural significance of amusement parks through the lens of Cole Lindbergh, a man who found profound joy and identity in running the games department at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, and Jonathan Goldstein’s bittersweet teenage summer working on the Wildwood, New Jersey boardwalk. The show reveals how these spaces, often dismissed as frivolous, become sites of deep human connection, personal transformation, and unexpected meaning.
- Aug 2, 2026narrative1h 0m6-min read
894: I Couldn't Help but Notice
This episode of This American Life explores how ordinary people confront sudden, disorienting shifts in their communities — from military exercises in residential neighborhoods to the collapse of rural healthcare and the rise of state propaganda in schools. Each story centers on individuals who refuse to accept the new normal, choosing instead to act with moral clarity and personal courage.
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About This American Life
Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.
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