The one animal we can’t seem to live without, even when we really, really want to.

• Prologue: At the announcement of New York City’s inaugural rat czar, we meet Darneice Foster, who despises the rats outside her apartment. And host Ira Glass introduces two special co-hosts for today’s show. (11 minutes)
• Act One: Producer Elna Baker meets Todd Sklar, a man who can’t quit rats. (22 minutes)
• Act Two: Fifty years ago, New York City started to put garbage out in plastic bags. This has become the number one food source for rats. Producer Ike Sriskandarajah investigates the decision that led to the city’s rat baby boom. (10 minutes)
• Act Three: How did Alberta, Canada pull off a feat that has eluded the rest of human civilization? Ira visits the largest rat-less land in the world. (15 minutes)
• Act Four: We drop a hot mic into a hot mess of a rats’ nest. You’ll never believe what happens next. (3 minutes)

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Stories about birds and the hearts they sway, the havoc they wreak, the lives they change.

• Prologue: Ira goes out birding with birder extraordinaire Noah Strycker, who tells the dramatic story of the bird that changed his life: the turkey vulture. (13 minutes)
• Act One: Carmen Milito tells Ira the story of a date she went on as a teenager, and the bird her mom brought to the occasion. (14 minutes)
• Act 2: Ira tromps around the woods some more with Noah Strycker, who explains, among other things, his problem with the movie Spencer.
• Act Two: Producer Bim Adewunmi on a decades-long political battle in Florida — between the incumbent state bird and the challenger that threatens to knock it off its perch. (7 minutes)
• Act Three: There are the birds who exist, and then there are the birds who may as well exist. Producer Sean Cole explains. (18 minutes)

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In a crisis, when all logic suggests that you get away from the dangerous thing, how will you respond?

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• Prologue: Ira talks to two members of a recreational swimming club who intentionally swam straight toward a shark that had just bitten their friend. (10 minutes)
• Act One: Sarah Polley has always been reluctant to jump into challenging situations. Then something happened that changed all of that – something that also made her think her teeth were going to fall out. (21 minutes)
• Act Two: Comedian Josh Johnson tells the story of a “trad wife” who stepped into an incendiary situation. And even as the flames consumed her, she kept stepping. (7 minutes)
• Act Three: This summer, thousands of young people have taken to the streets in Nairobi to protest the Kenyan government. But behind those protestors are thousands of worried parents. Reporter Kimu Elolia talks to a woman whose son keeps lying to her. (19 minutes)

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Humans encounter non-human intelligences of various kinds and try to make sense of them.

• Prologue: Ira has some thoughts about our country’s long history of alien invasion movies. (2 minutes)
• Act One: We’ve witnessed a revolution in A.I. since the public rollout of ChatGPT.  Our Senior Editor David Kestenbaum thinks that even though there’s been a ton of coverage, there’s one thing people haven’t talked much about: have these machines gotten to the point that they’re starting to have something like human intelligence? Where they actually understand language and concepts, and can reason? He talks with scientists at Microsoft who’ve been trying to figure that out. (30 minutes)
• Act Two: A short piece of fiction from the perspective of aliens who’ve been scouting Earth, from writer Terry Bisson. It’s called “They're Made Out of Meat.” It’s performed by actors Maeve Higgins and H Jon Benjamin. (5 minutes)
• Act Three: A species of massive, mysterious, highly intelligent beings have recently been making contact with humanity. Or our boats, anyway. Many people seem convinced they are seeking revenge for past injustices. Producer Chris Benderev wondered if that was true. (7 minutes)
• Act Four: Many of us, especially when we’re young, feel like we’re the alien, trying to understand and fit in with the humans on this planet. Producer Diane Wu spent some time recently with a teenage humanoid who feels that way. (15 minutes)

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We document one day in a Chicago diner called the Golden Apple, starting at 5 a.m. and going until 5 a.m. the next morning. We hear from the waitress who has worked the graveyard shift for over two decades, the regular customers who come every day, the couples working out their problems, assorted drunks, and, of course, cops.

• Act One: In this act, we hear several stories that happened during the daylight hours of the diner's operation. The first is from Nancy Updike, who talks with early morning customers, including one guy who comes in mornings to play his accordion, and another who at the age of 8 was the youngest butcher in Illinois. We also hear from several regulars who come to the Golden Apple every day, more than once. Many of them are old and alone. They say they come for the coffee, and to talk to the waitresses. Reporter Susan Burton talks with two friends who used to be a couple. They stopped dating three years ago, but haven't stopped fighting about whose fault it was. An older lady who grew up in the neighborhood explains her neighbors' feelings towards African Americans and gay people. (29 minutes)
• Act Two: In this act, we hear from the rowdier, drunker late-night patrons of the Golden Apple. A guy walks in with two young women, hoping to go home with one of them. A woman explains the difference between earthly time and other kinds of time. Two teenaged girls, best friends, spend four hours trying to meet a guy named Jeff at the diner. Two cops talk about TV, what they do on their breaks, and how sometimes it's okay to drive around all night on their beat doing nothing. (26 minutes)

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People rethinking some of the most important relationships in their lives — with their sister, their political party, and the nominee for president.

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• Prologue: Ira observes that we are in a moment of national reconsideration. (2 minutes)
• Act One: Zoe Chace reports on a surprising guest at the Republican National Convention: Teamsters president Sean O’Brien. (18 minutes)
• Act Two: Ira talks to Representative Seth Moulton about what it was like to be among the first members of Congress to call for President Joe Biden to step aside. (18 minutes)
• Act Three: Two adult sisters revisit old rivalries when they compete for a world record in typing with their pinkies. (16 minutes)

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People ​so close to each other, ​in ​extremely intimate situations​,​ who are also a million miles apart.

• Prologue: Valerie Kipnis tells Ira about riding the subway, shoulder-to-shoulder with someone she knows quite well, pretending she doesn’t see him. (8 minutes)
• Act One: How much can you trust whether somebody who you think is close to you really is close to you? Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr.’s been thinking about that question since a recent visit with some of his childhood friends in Sierra Leone. (37 minutes)
• Act Two: Comedian Tig Notaro has the story of someone as close as her actual bedside yet who, in another way, is impossibly far away. (9 minutes)

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We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks! Ira Glass takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the young staff – coached by a funny, fun-loving boss just a little older than they are – truly seem to love their jobs.  

• Prologue: Host Ira Glass walks through a Kansas City Missouri amusement park called Worlds of Fun with Cole Lindbergh, who had a season pass to the park as a little kid, starting working there summers at 14, and then just stayed. Now he's a full-time, year-round employee, running the games department. It's possible he does this job better than anyone in the country. It's rare to witness someone so happily great at his job. (9 minutes)
• Act One: Ira continues with Cole Lindbergh and the hundred teenagers who work for him

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In Rafah, Yousef is out of options and faces his toughest move yet.

• Prologue: Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Yousef Hammash has decided where to go next and when. In Rafah, he is out of options and faces his toughest move yet. (5 minutes)
• Act One: Yousef does not even want to think about leaving Gaza. (18 minutes)
• Act Two: The actual price — in cash — of getting out of Gaza. (31 minutes)

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It's funny the things that go through your head during a disaster.

• Prologue: Host Ira Glass has fallen off his bike a number of times at this point. He reflects on what goes through his head as he’s going down. (2 minutes)
• Act One: Producer Ike Sriskandarajah revisits a maritime disaster that left an impact on a group of friends from his youth. What he learns forever changes their impressions of that day. (23 minutes)
• Act Two: When to leave Twitter is a question lots of executives faced when Elon Musk took over the company — those who weren't immediately fired, anyway. We hear an insider’s account from the man who ran Trust & Safety at the company, until he couldn’t stand it anymore. (28 minutes)

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