This American Life
Hosted by Ira Glass · 7 decoded episodes · newest Oct 5, 2026
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. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.
Episodes 7
- Oct 5, 2026 · 1h 0mTwin brothers confront the father who never came backThe search tests whether acknowledgment can repair a family wound shaped by years of absence, silence, and uncertainty.
- Sep 26, 2026 · 1h 5mA mother confronts the cost of school integrationThe episode examines what happens when a family’s commitment to challenging educational inequality collides with a child’s need for rigorous preparation and safety.
- Sep 21, 2026 · 1h 9mGenerations translate the worlds their elders missedThe episode shows how age-based misunderstandings can conceal shared fears, inherited pressures, and opportunities for repair.
- Sep 14, 2026 · 1h 8mDeath’s clues expose memory, grief and the chance to reconcileThe episode shows how imagined stories about death can distort memory, reveal painful truths and open unexpected paths toward forgiveness.
- Sep 7, 2026 · 1h 4mMiddle school turns ordinary moments into high-stakes social testsThe episode shows how puberty, isolation, judgment, and belonging shape young adolescents—and how empathy can change the outcome.
- Aug 31, 2026 · 1h 11mForced help fails where trust succeedsThe episode tests a deceptively simple question: what happens when assistance ignores the person, system, or community it is meant to serve?
- Aug 17, 2026 · 1h 1mLabels clarify identity while reshaping livesThe episode shows how names can offer explanation and belonging while also determining work, relationships, and how others interpret difference.