This week we take on … this week. Stories united by one thing: They all happened in the seven days prior to broadcast. We try our hand reporting the global stories in Egypt and Afghanistan; and take on super local stories, too, like a man who tries valiantly â valiantly! â to actually get out of bed when his alarm clock goes off.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/481/this-week
What animals sacrifice for us, and what we sacrifice for them. Including a story from Susan Orlean about dogs in World War II, and the This American Life staff confronts Ira about his dog, Piney. Photo: Dog wearing suicide bomb vest, 1943.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/480/animal-sacrifice#play
This week, at the suggestion of a 14-year-old listener, we bring you stories from the awkward, confusing, hormonally charged world of middle school. Including a teacher who transforms peer pressure into a force for good, and reports from the frontlines of the middle school dance.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/449/middle-school
Stories of how people cope after brushes with death. Sometimes death comes as a disease. Sometimes it swims up and bites you. And sometimes it’s a pen or pencil, sitting there, just waiting for you to ingest it. Tig Notaro’s comedy set is at Louis CK’s site.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/476/what-doesnt-kill-you
This week people reach out in all kinds of ways to try and get their point across. And the recipients of those messages try to decipher what they mean. Messages in code, over the phone, and from beyond the grave.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/475/send-a-message
As kids and teachers head back to school, we wanted to turn away from questions about politics and unions and money and all the regular school stuff people argue about, and turn to something more optimistic â an emerging theory about what to teach kids, from Paul Tough’s new book How Children Succeed. Photo: Theo takes the marshmallow test.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/474/back-to-school
Only the clever need apply. This week, stories of people acting on a technicality in the face of some of life’s toughest regulators: financial regulators, parents and God.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/473/loopholes
This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 1.7 million listeners. It is produced by Chicago Public Radio, distributed by Public Radio International, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards. It is also often the most popular podcast in the country, with more than a half million people downloading each week.
We head to some of the happiest places on Earth: Amusement Parks! Jonathan Goldstein revisits one he worked at as a teen, Ira takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the staff so loves their jobs they make music videos and other videos.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/443/amusement-park
Stories of people who canât seem to stop getting in their own way â sabotaging everything from their romantic relationships to their physical health. Featuring a new radio drama by Jonathan Mitchell.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/462/own-worst-enemy