🎙️ Podcasts
Popular shows, newest episodes first. Audio plays straight from each publisher; Banana News only keeps titles, dates and links.
Shows in Culture
Culture
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The Finnish Baby Box
A simple cardboard box helped transform Finland into one of the best places in the world to raise a child.
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The license to be funny in America
One of the most fundamental aspects of American democracy has been the public’s ability to critique power, whether that’s through protest, legislation, or a really funny joke. Today, we take a romp into the history of American comedy, showing no matter how crude, rude, or distasteful the humor may be, Americans have a…
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893: Testosterone
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered everyone over 30 in the military to have their testosterone tested. That inspired us to rerun this classic episode where everyone at This American Life tested their testosterone and compared results. It did not lead to workplace harmony. Visit…
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Return of Alpha Gal
Tuck your napkin under your chin. We’re about to serve up a tale of love, loss, and lamb chops - with a side of genetic modification.
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100 Objects #10: Nunchaku
In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee made nunchaku (nunchucks) cool, but the nunchucks craze coincided with something much bigger: the birth of a radical new Asian American identity.
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The architect of modern China
From impoverishment to global superpower, China’s supremacy happened at a breakneck speed thanks to the visionary strategy of the man who took power in 1978. Over the next decade, under leader Deng Xiaoping’s firm leadership, China flirted with capitalism and transformed its socio-economic and political systems…
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The Staten Island Problem - Part 3: The Tuvalu Effect
A group on Staten Island tries to stop secession, squaring off against the secessionists in a heated set of debates and meetings recorded on never-before-seen archival tapes. A set of debates best understood via a detour into the history of a remote Polynesian island. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
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The Original 100 Objects
Neil MacGregor reflects on creating the landmark series that changed how people think about history. Then, revisit the Rosetta Stone, the artifact that unlocked ancient Egypt.
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The Chinafication of Walmart
We think of Walmart as ultra-American, but its business relationship with China has fundamentally changed how American retail operates. In this episode, how one retailer helped turn China into the world’s factory, eventually becoming the single largest U.S. importer of Chinese consumer goods. Guest: Eileen Otis…
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892: Trapped on a Bus
People on journeys they did not intend — or agree to. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: A woman on a nighttime bus ride wakes up to discover the bus driver is taking the passengers somewhere none of them want to go. (8 minutes) (00:08:11) Act One…
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Listen to "We Keep Us Safe" on NPR's Embedded podcast
In the summer of 2020, teenager Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join a racial justice movement after the killing of George Floyd. Less than a week after he arrived in Seattle, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved. In this eight-part series, hosts Sydney Brownstone of The Seattle Times…
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Neither Confirm Nor Deny
Whether it comes from government spokespeople or celebrity publicists, the phrase “can neither confirm nor deny” is the perfect non-denial denial.
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100 Objects #9: Missing Children Milk Carton
In 1982, a twelve-year-old paperboy, Johnny Gosch, vanished from a quiet Iowa street and sparked an unlikely campaign: the faces of missing children printed on milk cartons by the billions.
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Route 66 and the quest to connect America
Route 66 turns 100 this year. It's considered America’s most nostalgic road trip. With wide open road, sunsets that fill the whole sky, dirt-kissed Chevy trucks, and revving motorcycles. But Route 66 started out as a muddy road to nowhere. Today on the show, we’ll meet a league of gilded-age bicyclists, a ragtag gang…
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The Staten Island Problem - Part 2: A New Map
After the Supreme Court takes a close look at New York City government, Staten Island comes out the loser. A local artist begins organizing for secession. We take a deep dive into the psychology of the island, which has a lot to do with the largest garbage dump in the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
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If Mosquito Hawks Can Fly
A Louisiana man born into slavery designs an airship with hopes to take flight. Those plans are interrupted, but maybe not forever.
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How wheelchairs, a river, and a spaceship challenged the status quo
Stories of resistance from three places: Denver, Colorado where the Gang of 19 put their bodies on the line for the right to use public transportation. Montgomery, Alabama, where a song quietly galvanized generations. And finally, on broadcast TV, where a 1966 prime-time show inspired Americans to dream bigger. To…
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891: The Test Case
Some people in this country think Antifa is a dangerous domestic terror organization. Some think that’s a complete myth. This week, we go to the federal trial where, for the first time, the government sets out to prove that Antifa is real. Zoe Chace reports. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our…
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100 Objects #8: Billy Possum
The teddy bear was a huge hit, and sparked an idea…maybe every president from then on should have their own viral stuffed animal.
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The ongoing battle over asylum in America
The U.S. has long professed to be a country where people can seek refuge. That's the promise etched into the base of the Statue of Liberty. But it's never been that clear-cut. And in June, the Supreme Court passed two rulings that could make seeking safe haven in the U.S. even more difficult. Today on the show, the…
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The Staten Island Problem - Part 1: The Mayor vs. the Borough President
A riot, a voyage at sea, and a movement to break up the greatest city in the country. The first Black mayor of New York City faces off with the borough president of Staten Island and tries to hold his city together. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Score
We keep score of everything these days. But what happens when the numbers start changing what we actually care about?
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American history through song
There are many ways to look at and understand American history. In this series, we’ve shared stories about how this country was founded and how it continues to evolve over time. Today, a journey through American history, with the sounds of music. To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free…
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Revenge of "A Good Walk Spoiled"
Ten years ago, Malcolm inveighed against the exclusive country clubs of Los Angeles in an episode of Revisionist History called "A Good Walk Spoiled." This November, thanks to a Los Angeles City Council member who heard the episode, Los Angeles voters will have the opportunity to take up Malcolm's cause. Today…
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Atomic Artifacts
America represents many different things to many different people. What if you could only choose one thing, one physical object, to represent it all?
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100 Objects #7: The Otis Pamphlet
Journalist Jack Hitt returns to tell the wild, tragic story of America’s forgotten proto-founding father and his inflammatory 1764 pamphlet.
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The story of July 4th is messier than you remember
Devastating compromises. Midnight rides. A nailbiter vote. Statue toppling riots… and the very real possibility of death. This July 4th, we're taking you inside the making of the Declaration of Independence and how, against all odds, a single document introduced the world to a new kind of nation. Guests: Walter…
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Transatlantic Fiber-Optic Expialidocious
Before the internet went global, one undersea gamble made it possible.
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The genius and murkiness of the Constitution
What does the Constitution mean to me? That’s a question writer and actor Heidi Schreck asked herself years ago, when she started working on her one-woman play about the Constitution — a document that she loved deeply. Today on the show, we ask the same question as we explore what the historical document means, and…
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