This American Life Archive

Stories that pinpoint when people's boring old lives turn into something wildly unfamiliar.

What do you get when you take a P.I. firm, then add in a bunch of sexy soccer moms, official sponsorship from Glock, a lying boss, and delusions of grandeur? This week's show.

A man has to give up parts of his life as he learns to live hearing a tone in his head all the time.

We return to people who have been on the show in the last ten years, and whose lives were drastically altered by 9/11.

A sociologist collects journals filled with gossip about AIDS in Malawi.

We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks!

Like a lot of Mexican towns, Florencia has had its share of problems dealing with drug gangs. Until recently, when new narcos rolled into town.

Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year?

Two professors each make a calculation that no one had made before.

Stories about people who find themselves either unexpectedly being singled out or doing the singling out.