This American Life (Unofficial)

What’s great about living in a family is that everyone sees everything differently. Also, that’s what’s awful about living in a family. We go behind closed doors with two families.

Shalom Auslander goes on vacation with his family, suspects the beloved, chatty old man in the room next door is an imposter, and sets out to prove it. This and other stories about the pitfalls of making snap judgments about others.

America loves winners—now more than ever. But how do you get to a win in 2025 America? We watch someone trying to score a win in a game whose rules are being made up as she plays.

Three stories about the strange power inanimate objects can hold over us.

What happens when people create alternate versions of themselves and release them into the wild?

When Zohran Mamdani won the primary race for New York mayor, the Democratic establishment's lukewarm response echoed the treatment of another charismatic, unconventional candidate decades earlier. This week, we bring you the story of Harold Washington, the greatest politician you've probably never heard of, and the backlash that ensued when he became Chicago's first Black mayor.

A group of immigration judges, who almost never speak to the press, describes the dismantling of our immigration court system from the inside.

Things are different on college campuses this year. We see inside the drama, with students and staff.

Small human plans that run into much larger obstacles.

Since October 7th, while the world has focused its attention on Gaza, the Israeli government has tightened the screws on the three million Palestinians in the West Bank in all sorts of dramatic ways. We travel to the West Bank to see these changes in person.

The story of the most commonly performed surgery, and what goes wrong with it – terribly wrong – 100,000 times a year in the United States. We’re excited to bring you the first episode of The Retrievals, Season 2, the new show from longtime This American Life producer and editor Susan Burton. It’s from Serial Productions and The New York Times.

People on a mission to achieve their goals before their window of opportunity closes.

On his first day in office, President Trump decided to freeze all U.S. foreign aid. Soon after, his administration effectively dissolved USAID—the federal agency that delivers billions in food, medicine, and other aid worldwide. Many of its programs have been canceled. Now, as USAID officially winds down, we try to assess its impact. What was good? What was not so good? We meet people around the w...

Conversations across a divide: People who are outside a war zone check in with family, friends, and strangers inside.

A show about people who are suddenly confronted with who they are.

People immersed in chaos try to solve for what it all adds up to.

A couple devises a strategy to get their daughter's killer prosecuted and to get attention for other Native families.

Artifacts and exhibits of this particular moment we are living through.

Sometimes, life’s biggest mysteries require one very specific person to answer them.

Unnecessary and outrageous lies that make you wonder — why lie about that in the first place?

Zach Mack and his dad try to mend a rift between them in a very unusual way.

People stuck in a loop, trying to find their way out.

People living in that in-between moment before everything changes.

In the new year, stories of people trying a radical approach to solving their problems.

The tiny thing that unravels your world.