Act Two: Love
Scott Richer and Julie Riggs of Louisville, Kentucky, were supposed to have their first kiss at the corner where South Fourth Street meets the alley behind the West End Baptist Church. But it went wrong.
Act Five: The Conqueror Germ
Sean Collins on the germs within us, the germs that can kill us, and the germs that do kill us. He tells the story of the battle with germs that his friend Christopher lost, and contemplates what the germ won when it defeated his friend.
Act Two
When Larry leaves his old life behind and joins a monastery, Ethan struggles to understand his best friend's decision.
Act One: Mr. Popular
David Himmel is a college sophomore and a former camper who became a counselor. He says all the best experiences of his life have been at camp or with camp people.
Prologue
Host Ira Glass talk with Claire, who obsessed over a Chilean friend — and then started to tell people she was Chilean herself.
Act Three: Strength In Numbers
Ira with "The Hens," a group of nine middle-aged women who've known each other since girlhood. They play recordings of their recent three-day road trip from Chicago to a casino in a cotton field in Mississippi.
Act Two: Baby Remember My Name
A 17 year old tricks an entire resort town into believing he is someone he is not. By Jack Hitt and Christopher Cerf.
Act Three: Voyager
Alix Spiegel tells the story of her friend Jayna, who made a Faustian bargain at 11 years old.
Act One: When You're In Love, The Whole World Is Jewish
Host Ira Glass talks about the drama of trying to be "just friends" with an ex-girlfriend. The meaning of the title will be clear if you hear the piece.
Act One: Dark Shadows
Ira continues his story.
Act Two: Tribe
This American Life associate producer Peter Clowney visits a modern-day touring company of Hair. They don't just believe they're doing a job as professional actors. They're living as a modern-day tribe of hippies — with all the tensions of any communal living.
Act One: I Like Guys
David Sedaris reads one of his funniest and most affecting stories from his book Naked before a live audience. As an adolescent boy, David feared he might be a homosexual.
Act Two: Suburban Girl
Chicago writer/musician Rennie Sparks, a member of the independent band The Handsome Family, reads "Skanks," a story of a girl struggling in a situation where some rules are strict, but other rules are up for grabs.
Act One: Religious Faction
Scott Carrier documents a group in Manti, Utah, that left the Mormon church and formed its own polygamous church. The members started fighting, broke up, and no longer speak.
Act Two: Meet Your Hero
Writer Quincy Troupe talks about how, as a boy, he idolized Miles Davis, and how, as a man, he actually became one of Davis's closest friends. And how his picture of the man changed.
Act One: Dave's Love
Bob and Dave were close childhood friends — until their relationship began to lead their peers to believe that it might be more than a friendship. The accusations led to Dave turning on Bob.