Another outstanding @thisamericanlife.org episode, this one on the saga of transpeople in the US military under T-rump. www.thisamericanlife.org/887/two-is-o... But the short story by Rachel Khong (Act 3) is truly extraordinary. I just ordered her book, My Dear You.

Geirid and Chrissy are extreme planners. But about a year ago, they were confronted with a situation that even they had no idea how to plan for. link.podtrac.com/qi557nin

One family faces the Trump administration’s ban on trans people serving in the military, and responds with a surprising secret weapon. link.podtrac.com/qi557nin

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Their neighbor made their lives miserable for years. Carved slurs into their lawn with weed killer. Killed their cat. Then he threw out his trash — and they found his social security number. 🎧 With Great Power: link.podtrac.com/i7xnisph

This week: People who end up with far more power than they bargained for, and everything that comes with it. link.podtrac.com/i7xnisph

Ira has always believed commencement speeches are a doomed form. In 2012, he gave one anyway. It's better than most graduation speeches, which is exactly what he was afraid of. We released Ira's speech as a bonus episode for Life Partners. Sign up to hear it and support the show: bit.ly/40LYPIO

Iran has been under an internet blackout since the war began. We collected voice memos from inside the country about what people are living through — from a pizza shop owner, an ER nurse, a bodybuilder, and a doctor who treated victims of the regime's crackdown in January.

Fantastic @thisamericanlife.org episode on the daily realities of Iranian life (and diversity of opinion) during this horrific war. Thank you for humanizing the Iranian people. This captures well the reality my family has shared with me between blackouts. www.thisamericanlife.org/886/blackout

Voice memos from inside Iran — from ordinary people living through a war and an internet blackout at the same time. link.podtrac.com/7km9v53p

Since the war began, Iran has been under a near-total internet blackout. We collected voice memos from inside the country. Even though it was dangerous and difficult, people wanted to be heard. link.podtrac.com/7km9v53p

Ira went digging through decades of old recordings. In the fourth box: something he's been looking for. Become a Life Partner and hear the bonus episode to find out what's on the tape: bit.ly/40LYPIO

Sarah Koenig tells the story of a woman who sued the casino where she lost her inheritance, saying that it was to blame, not her. link.podtrac.com/20kld7ss

This week: Ira gets a lesson on the basics of card-counting and goes to a casino to try out his newfound skill. Stories about blackjack, the game everyone thinks they can beat. link.podtrac.com/20kld7ss

This week: Infidelity. Stories about the cheaters and the cheated on, and their very different takes on what happened. link.podtrac.com/1rf1s22c

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This week: @nicholehill.bsky.social takes us inside a very big American life. A man who became one of the most famous people in the world — and then, all of a sudden, was not. link.podtrac.com/kumc9ulj

At a time when the U.S. government is trying to make American history tidier, we try to learn from the mess — including the untold, messy story of Paul and Essie Robeson. link.podtrac.com/kumc9ulj

Davy's mother is pretty normal. Except that she channels an ancient monk named Aaron, whom no one else can see. Davy talks to his family about it and asks the question they've never discussed: do any of them believe Aaron is real? link.podtrac.com/flozd99h

Sarah Koenig on the time Robert Redford showed up at her house for dinner and stole all her parents' attention. Young Sarah was not pleased, and Robert Redford paid the price. link.podtrac.com/flozd99h

Bonus episode: George Saunders reads a short story we featured in the early days of our show — a darkly comic tale about a salesman who trades in virtual reality memories.

On our show this week, M. Gessen tells Ira about the surprising events that prompted them to begin reporting on their own family. link.podtrac.com/69952cui

M. Gessen's son described their cousin Allen as "an egg who knows how to talk to people." M.'s description was less charitable. serial.lnk.to/RM5obK

M. Gessen turns the true crime lens on their own family — and says it made for a better podcast. Ira Glass wanted to know what that was like. Listen to "The Idiot," the new season of Serial, out now. serial.lnk.to/RM5obK

M. Gessen returns to our show with a true-crime story that takes place entirely within their own family. A story from the team at @serialproductions.bsky.social and @nytimes.com.

This week's episode started as a bonus for our Life Partners subscribers. That's the kind of thing they get: personal and behind-the-scenes stories that don't make it into the regular feed. Join today: bit.ly/4debpbY

This week, Ira revisits a series of interviews he did with his own parents that changed his relationship with them in ways he never saw coming. Listen to our new episode: "Call Your Parents." link.podtrac.com/r12ywz3z

One week left to get your application in for our next fellowship session. It's a paid position with benefits, and you'll observe and participate in all aspects of the show’s production. Deadline: April 1.

In the early days of the radio show, Ira did a series of interviews with his parents that completely changed his relationship with them. This week, he returns to those interviews. link.podtrac.com/dw4ij7n6

Ready to be a Life Partner? Support us and unlock ad-free listening, special bonus content, plus hundreds of handpicked archive episodes chosen personally by Ira Glass. thisamericanlife.supercast.com?utm_campaign...

The plan was simple: a 40-minute pleasure cruise with two friends. But what should have been an easy evening on the water turned into an overnight ordeal — leaving Alex lost, stranded, and bleeding on a deserted island within sight of the Empire State Building. link.podtrac.com/odlixl4x

The deadline to apply for our next fellowship session is April 1. ✅ paid position ✅ health insurance ✅ relocation reimbursement And you'll participate in all aspects of show production. www.thisamericanlife.org/fellowships

Listen to this episode, all the way to the very end.

Was honored to be a part of this one. Thank you to Ryan Schwank for trusting us with his story.

This week's episode almost had a very different title. "Give a Little Whistle" is out now: link.podtrac.com/iehabou3

"We could tell a [ICE] cadet up and down that they were going to get themselves killed in the field or get arrested or violate the law...but it didn't matter...they could still graduate, no matter what we saw them do." link.podtrac.com/iehabou3

Immigration officials have been doing a lot of things lately that are hard to explain. When asked why, the answers aren't frank — they're talking points, many of which don't turn out to be true. Two lawyers who work for ICE just lifted the curtain. link.podtrac.com/iehabou3

Heard this yesterday while out walking. Shocking details in this story. Kudos yet again to @thisamericanlife.org

A must listen.

Two lawyers who work for ICE step forward and lift the curtain on what is really happening inside our immigration system right now. link.podtrac.com/iehabou3

Bonus episode: Ira's parents appeared on our show many times, especially in year one, and it changed his relationship with them. He plays those stories and talks about them. Become a Life Partner to listen.

A classic episode, back in your feed this week. David Rakoff. Starlee Kine. And an office so chaotic that they hired a psychic. link.podtrac.com/ijguudw5

This week: Stories of high drama from America's workplaces — surprising, emotional places full of the greed, jealousy, and ambition of real politics.

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8 days out, 42 minutes of the episode still didn't exist. Totally normal here. 🙃 Listen from the future to our new episode "I Want What I Want" link.podtrac.com/amocu3ws

Evan made a list of all 17 of his exes and set out to reconnect with every one of them. The first 16 were fine. Ex number 17 was another story. link.podtrac.com/amocu3ws

A kid who wants to get stung by a bee. A man who tracks down all 17 of his exes. A judge who does the unexpected. Listen to our new episode: I Want What I Want. link.podtrac.com/amocu3ws

A family of beekeepers in Georgia has two very different sons: Carver, who follows every rule, and Aaro, who is more carefree. Carver is the only member of his family who's never been stung. Until now — when he decides he wants to. link.podtrac.com/amocu3ws

Zoe Chace brings us a dispatch from a courtroom in Texas this week, where on the very first day of a landmark federal trial about Antifa, the judge makes an unusual decision that no one sees coming. link.podtrac.com/amocu3ws