This American Life

Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson - the two guys who reported our "Giant Pool of Money" episode - are back. They'll explain what happened this week, including what regulators could've done to prevent all of this from happening in the first place.

Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson - the two guys who reported our "Giant Pool of Money" episode - are back. They'll explain what happened this week, including what regulators could've done to prevent all of this from happening in the first place.

Stories about people who take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts.

Stories about people who take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts.

Stories about the lengths we go to make things right, and about what money can and cannot fix.

Stories about the lengths we go to make things right, and about what money can and cannot fix.

Professor So and So, Jojobean and YeaWhatever spend part of every day running cons on internet scammers: and consider themselves enforcers of justice, even after endangering a man’s life. This and other stories of who steps up, who doesn't and why.

Professor So and So, Jojobean and YeaWhatever spend part of every day running cons on internet scammers: and consider themselves enforcers of justice, even after endangering a man’s life. This and other stories of who steps up, who doesn't and why.

Stories of people trying to exorcize their inner demons.

Stories of people trying to get rich quick, or otherwise make something for nothing. As everyone knows, there's no such thing as something for nothing. You always pay a price.

Stories of people trying to get rich quick, or otherwise make something for nothing. As everyone knows, there's no such thing as something for nothing. You always pay a price.

Stories about the trouble people get into when they assume too much about strangers.

Stories about the trouble people get into when they assume too much about strangers.

Mike Birbiglia had bizarre adventures at night, but just got used to sleep being slightly scary—until it almost killed him. Reasons to fear sleep, including roaches, bedbugs, "The Shining," and mild-mannered husbands who turn into maniacs while asleep.

Stories of what happens when you go from private person to public face.

Two baby girls were born in a hospital, and the infants were accidentally switched. One of the mothers realized the mistake but chose to keep quiet. Until the day, more than 40 years later, when she decides to tell both daughters what happened.

When John returned from Iraq, he was haunted by the killing he'd done. He got treatment, and his case looked optimistic. Then John attacked his fiancée. This and other stories of people who've come face to face with death and are struggling to move on.

Stories about the pitfalls of knowing just a little bit too little.

Stories of proxy fights, proxy arguments, and proxy situations of all kinds.

Stories of social engineering on a small scale. In one, a man convinces his friend to try something new, turn his back on a good-paying salary and an apartment...and become homeless.

Josh's mother and younger brother were a mess. His mother drank too much. His brother got arrested a lot. Josh hadn't lived with them since he was nine, and they didn't play much of a role in his daily life--until duty called, and they took over his life.

Does the truth always come out? Of course not! Though sometimes it comes out in the most uncomfortable ways imaginable. Stories of concealed truths bubbling to the surface, including a new, unpublished story by fiction writer and filmmaker Etgar Keret.

A lawyer in the Justice Department gets the professional opportunity of a lifetime: to be the lead prosecutor in one of the first high-profile terrorist cases since 9/11. But things go badly for him – so badly, he ends up on trial himself.

While the seniors danced at Prom Night 2001 in Hoisington, Kansas -- a town of about 3,000 -- a tornado hit the town, destroying about a third of it. Plus other stories from Prom Nights.

Haider was a teenager in Iraq when the war broke out. And he decided to do one of the least safe things possible: work for foreign media covering the war. Plus, other stories of what happens when you strike out into the world.

A special program about the housing crisis. We explain it all to you. Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? Why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to one thing.

Stories of everyday people who get saddled with great power and the great sense of responsibility that goes with it.

It's the late 60's and one man sees a business opportunity in cryonics. Freezing people to be reanimated by scientists of the future: how hard can that be? This and other stories about the difficulty of taking responsibility for failure.