351: Return to Childhood

Update: 2018-10-28

Description

Stories of people who try to revisit their childhoods—what they find and what they do not find.

Comments

In Channel

People tossing words out into the world impulsively. And how they ignite and burn. Over decades.

668: The Long Fuse

2019-02-1701:06:4153

Love makes us do crazy things. But usually not this crazy. This week for Valentine's Day we have stories of people going to extremes to find and pursue their one true love.

486: Valentine’s Day

2019-02-1001:01:0399

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.)

667: Wartime Radio

2019-02-0301:06:39111

The one thing you know for sure when you're watching a romantic comedy is that it's going to turn out okay in the end. When you're living one? Not so much. This week, stories that unfold like rom-coms.

638: Rom-Com

2019-01-2701:02:50245

Satan! In his many surprising manifestations, all around us.

666: The Theme That Shall Not Be Named

2019-01-2001:03:19134

We revisit those moments of calm before the storm, when things could have gone very differently, but instead, they went to hell.

665: Before Things Went to Hell

2019-01-1300:54:49100

Stories from border walls around the world, where one place ends and another begins. And the strange ecosystems that arise.

641: The Walls

2019-01-0601:13:54140

Libraries aren't just for books. They're often spaces that transform into what you need them to be: a classroom, a cyber café, a place to find answers, a quiet spot to be alone. It's actually kind of magical. This week, we have stories of people who roam the stacks and find unexpected things that just happen to be exactly what they required.

664: The Room of Requirement

2018-12-3000:58:52146

Stories about the intersection of Christmas and retail, originally broadcast in 1996 when our show was only one year old. Including David Sedaris's story "Santaland Diaries," which first aired on NPR's Morning Edition in a much shorter version.

47: Christmas and Commerce

2018-12-2301:00:2871

The story of how the American Psychiatric Association decided in 1973 that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness.

204: 81 Words

2018-12-1600:59:2480

Documents you don't normally think of, showing you things you didn't expect.

663: How I Read It

2018-12-0901:01:1181

Growing up in Mankato, Minnesota, John Biewen says, nobody ever talked about the most important historical event ever to happen there: in 1862, it was the site of the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Thirty-eight Dakota Indians were hanged after a war with white settlers. John went back to Minnesota to figure out what really happened 150 years ago, and why Minnesotans didn’t talk about it much after.

479: Little War on the Prairie

2018-12-0201:03:1296

Dr. Benjamin Gilmer gets a job at a rural clinic. He finds out he’s replaced someone — also named Dr. Gilmer — who went to prison after killing his own father. But the more Benjamin’s patients talk about the other Dr. Gilmer, the more confused he becomes. Everyone loved the old Dr. Gilmer. So Benjamin starts digging around, trying to understand how a good man can seemingly turn bad.

492: Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde

2018-11-2501:04:11111

Stories of people who believe there is always a way. And also those who don’t.

662: Where There Is a Will

2018-11-1801:01:5272

Stories of women in unsettling situations. When they try to explain what’s wrong, they’re told that they don’t understand—that there’s nothing unsettling about it.

661: But That's What Happened

2018-11-1101:01:21114

Stories of people who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else does. In other words: Stories about people pulling hoaxes...on themselves.

660: Hoaxing Yourself

2018-11-0400:56:4879

There’s no rulebook on how to handle a school shooting. And no real way to prepare for one. This week, people take what they’ve learned from these tragedies and try to use that knowledge to save others.

659: Before the Next One

2018-10-1400:58:2189

Making big decisions about other people's lives can feel pretty awful. Zoe Chace followed Senator Jeff Flake as he decided to force the Senate to delay its vote on Judge Kavanaugh. Among her discoveries: Those protestors in the elevator? They aren’t the reason he did what he did.

658: The Unhappy Deciders

2018-10-0700:58:4458

A bunch of teenagers go missing from a town in Long Island. For months, the police treat them as runaways, ignoring the kids' parents, who keep trying to tell them otherwise. They keep trying to tell them that something much worse might have happened.

657: The Runaways

2018-09-2300:58:4780

Yes, youʼve heard about the family separations. Youʼve heard about the travel ban. But there are dozens of ways the Trump administration is cracking down on immigration across many agencies, sometimes in ways so small and technical it doesnʼt make headlines. This week, the quiet bureaucratic war that’s even targeting legal immigrants.

656: Let Me Count the Ways

2018-09-1601:16:1769

Students all over are starting college this month, and some of them still have a nagging question: what, exactly, got me in? An admissions officer tells us the most wrongheaded things applicants try. And Michael Lewis has the incredible story of how a stolen library book got one man — Emir Kamenica — into his dream school.

504: How I Got Into College

2018-09-0200:59:0093

What happens when unadventurous people end up in adventurous situations. Like an astronaut who goes to places no one has gone before, even though he’s not really into outer space.

655: The Not-So-Great Unknown

2018-08-2600:57:0187

Dispatches from a government agency in its tumultuous teenage years.

652: ICE Capades

2018-07-2201:05:0871

A young preacher opens a new church. A new restaurant reopens old wounds. This week, stories of people trying to build something that will last.

651: If You Build It, Will They Come?

2018-07-1500:59:2263

Three people grapple with the question, “Are we alone?”

#617: Fermi’s Paradox

2017-05-2201:00:3198

An innocent man forgives the cop who framed him. An Argentinian talk show that usually treats women as objects suddenly gets really interested in feminism. This week, stories about changes that seem too tidy to be true.

650: Change You Can Maybe Believe In

2018-07-0101:02:0577

Democrats are desperate to retake part of Congress. Their best shot is the House. This fall, they’ll be slugging it out with Republicans—but in the meantime, they’re slugging it out with each other. The progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic party are going head-to-head in Democratic primaries all over the country right now, wrestling over what the party should be and stand for. This week, we have the story of a candidate in one primary like that.

649: It's My Party and I'll Try If I Want To

2018-06-2400:59:0150

A story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American. Abdi is a Somali refugee living in Kenya and gets the luckiest break of his life: he wins a lottery that puts him on a short list for a U.S. visa. This is his ticket out. But before he can cash in his golden ticket, the police start raiding his neighborhood, targeting refugees. Abdi has a memoir out on Tuesday called "Call Me American." He's also going on a short book tour.

560: Abdi and the Golden Ticket

2018-06-1701:02:4976

Stories about people trying to learn something when no one is clear what the lesson is supposed to be.

648: Unteachable Moment

2018-06-1001:00:2090

Stories of people starting over, sometimes because they want to, other times because they have to.

233: Starting From Scratch

2018-06-0301:00:05123

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.

647: LaDonna

2018-05-2701:05:00119

Cryptic messages on a cell phone and a teeter totter at a construction site: these are clues people found, trying to make sense of a death.

646: The Secret of My Death

2018-05-2001:04:08151

Writer Starlee Kine on what makes the perfect break-up song and whether really sad music can actually make you feel better. Plus, an eight-year-old author of a book about divorce, and other stories from the heart of heartbreak.

339: Break-Up

2018-05-1301:00:16103

Conservative students don't feel like their ideas are welcome on campus. So they're fighting back. We go to Nebraska, where one skirmish spins out of control.

645: My Effing First Amendment

2018-05-0601:01:2187

Stories about people who accidentally bump into unsettling facts of history in settings meant to teach them history. What they end up learning is very different from what they’re supposed to.

644: Random Acts of History

2018-04-2900:58:38120

The story of Reverend Carlton Pearson, a rising star in the evangelical movement, who cast aside the idea of hell, and with it everything he'd worked for over his entire life.

304: Heretics

2018-04-2200:59:0571

It’s one thing to weigh pros and cons. But sometimes all you have is con and con. This week, stories of people having to make a choice, when no good options exist.

643: Damned If You Do…

2018-04-1500:59:0467

Before he leaves the Senate for good, Republican Jeff Flake is trying to get a bill passed. He has his work cut out for him, with a Senate that barely brings anything to the floor, a party he feels estranged from, and a president who seems to hate his guts. Producer Zoe Chace hung out with him for four months.

642: The Impossible Dream

2018-04-0801:05:5556

Sons and daughters get to find out the one thing they've always wanted to know about their father. The answers aren't always what they hope for.

289: Go Ask Your Father

2018-04-0100:59:4381

A girl signs up for a class. A couple hires an accountant. A group of co-workers decides to pool their money and buy a couple of lottery tickets. In the beginning, they're full of hope and optimism...and then something turns. Stories of good ideas gone bad.

306: Seemed Like A Good Idea at the Time

2018-03-2500:58:4699

Instead of the usual "each week we choose a theme, and bring you 3 or 4 stories on that theme" business, we throw all that away and bring you 20 stories—yes, 20—in 60 minutes.

241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes

2018-03-1100:58:5994

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 when they entered the workplace, and how did their personal histories shape the way they dealt with his harassment?

640: Five Women

2018-03-0401:19:53161

Stories of dogs and cats and other animals that live in our homes. Exactly how much are they caught up in everyday family dynamics? We answer this question and others.

639: In Dog We Trust

2018-02-2500:59:22131

Stories about people feeling lost and trying to figure out how to move ahead: two brothers take a doomed road trip through Mexico and a couple from radically different backgrounds draw up a contract for their unlikely romance.

542: Wait—Do You Have The Map?

2018-02-1800:59:0478

In this politically charged climate, it feels like you have to be super careful with your language, no matter who you are or what side you're on. Stories about people who say the “wrong” thing and suffer the consequences, including a very conservative Republican from Louisiana who's lambasted for being too liberal.

637: Words You Can't Say

2018-02-0400:59:27113

In 1912 a four-year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing in a swamp in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found in the hands of a wandering handyman in Mississippi. In 2004, Bobby Dunbar's granddaughter discovered a secret beneath the legend of her grandfather's kidnapping, a secret whose revelation would divide her own family, bring redemption to another, and become the answer to a third family's century-old prayer.

352: The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar

2018-01-2800:59:43124

A year into Trump’s presidency, stories of politicians—of both parties—unable to accomplish tasks that seem pretty straightforward.

636: I Thought It Would Be Easier

2018-01-2100:59:0663

A boy who can’t dribble gets a coach, a new best friend, and something to believe in.

635: Chip in My Brain

2018-01-1401:07:5093

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 miles apart. The hope is that kids connect, but some of the public school kids just can’t get over the divide. We hear what happens when you get to see the other side and it looks a lot better.

#550: Three Miles

2018-01-0801:02:27133

This week, stories about people trying their best to turn themselves into something else—like a badger. Or a professional comedian, in a language they didn’t grow up speaking.

#596: Becoming a Badger

2018-01-0100:59:2058

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#box-pro-ellipsis-155062601325226{-webkit-line-clamp:2;-webkit-box-orient: vertical;}351: Return to Childhood

668: The Long Fuse

486: Valentine’s Day

667: Wartime Radio

638: Rom-Com

666: The Theme That Shall Not Be Named

665: Before Things Went to Hell

641: The Walls

664: The Room of Requirement

47: Christmas and Commerce

204: 81 Words

663: How I Read It

479: Little War on the Prairie

492: Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde

662: Where There Is a Will

661: But That's What Happened

660: Hoaxing Yourself

659: Before the Next One

658: The Unhappy Deciders

657: The Runaways

656: Let Me Count the Ways

504: How I Got Into College

655: The Not-So-Great Unknown

652: ICE Capades

651: If You Build It, Will They Come?

#617: Fermi’s Paradox

650: Change You Can Maybe Believe In

649: It's My Party and I'll Try If I Want To

560: Abdi and the Golden Ticket

648: Unteachable Moment

233: Starting From Scratch

647: LaDonna

646: The Secret of My Death

339: Break-Up

645: My Effing First Amendment

644: Random Acts of History

304: Heretics

643: Damned If You Do…

642: The Impossible Dream

289: Go Ask Your Father

306: Seemed Like A Good Idea at the Time

241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes

640: Five Women

639: In Dog We Trust

542: Wait—Do You Have The Map?

637: Words You Can't Say

352: The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar

636: I Thought It Would Be Easier

635: Chip in My Brain

#550: Three Miles

#596: Becoming a Badger

351: Return to Childhood

this american life

351: Return to Childhood