The 10 Best This American Life Podcast Episodes
1) #513: 129 Cars
We spend a month at a Jeep dealership on Long Island as they try to make their monthly sales goal: 129 cars. If they make it, they'll get a huge bonus from the manufacturer, possibly as high as $85,00...Show More
phocks recommended:
I wanna listen to more of these classic episodes. This one opens a window into a life you never knew existed. I love the accents and the sto...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.2) 686: Umbrellas Up
For over 100 days now, protesters in Hong Kong have taken to the streets every weekend. What it’s like to live through that.
kyotea recommended:
I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago during the Umbrella movement protests & was amazed at how peaceful it was. Things have changed and protests h...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.3) 713: Made to Be Broken
From the moment we wake up in the morning there are a trillion rules — big and little — governing our lives. But sometimes, we encounter one we just can't abide by. In a pitched moment of rule-questio...Show More
phocks recommended:
I love this format of 3 little stories all touching on the same issue. This episode is so well produced and they all fit together so nicely,...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.4) 640: Five Women
A different kind of #MeToo story, about several women who worked for the same man. They tell us not only about their troubling encounters with him, but also about their lives beforehand. Who were they...Show More
saam recommended:
This is a stand out, stand alone episode. It does not follow the regular TAL model, and the craft of the story is a legendary telling. Maste...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.5) #550: Three Miles
There’s a program that brings together kids from two schools. One school is public and in the country’s poorest congressional district. The other is private and costs $43,000/year. They are three mile...Show More
paigebets recommended:
This report uncovers so many nuances of the great socio economic divide that plays A MAJOR role in the psyche of young people; how one sees ...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.6) 667: 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.)
jangiesen recommended:
Act 1 feels like reading the diary of someone whose life is changing completely.
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.7) 736: The Herd
What happens when your own community suddenly turns on you?
hannahmdejong recommended:
A fascinating look at different strategies to change someone’s mind, at a time when the stakes are so high with the pandemic. This helped me...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.8) 647: LaDonna
A security guard at the airport notices something going wrong on the tarmac, and takes it upon herself to fix it. It’s way harder than she expects.
tylerwitzig recommended:
A woman who fights sexism in her workplace.
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.9) #621: Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville
Two towns where people got really upset about undocumented immigrants, even though in both places, that did not seem to be the most important thing happening at all. One of the towns, a small town in ...Show More
t10000 recommended:
Amazing
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.10) #282: DIY
After four lawyers fail to get an innocent man out of prison, his friend takes on the case himself. He becomes a do-it-yourself investigator. He learns to read court records, he tracks down hard-to-fi...Show More
layne recommended:
So glad they rebroadcast this one. Incredible, touching, true crime story. Definitely one of their best.
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.