What does God get out of us praising him? Or is it actually for us? (7 minutes)

Lina Misitzis tells Ira Glass about this one video game character from the 90s who consistently brings men to tears.

Host Ira Glass follows presidential hopeful Julián Castro as he prepares for the first debate of the Democratic primary. His goal is just to let people know he’s in the race! By, possibly, interrupting somebody onstage.

Host Ira talks with comedian Gary Gulman about his transformation from high school nobody to football star.

Ira follows Yankee Stadium cameraman Eric Capstick as he puts fans on the Jumbotron. (5 minutes)

Ira goes to a crowded singles bar where it wasn’t hard to find serial ghosters — people who kiss and disappear.  (8 minutes)

Eleven adult siblings need to divide their dead parents' stuff. But they don’t all get along.

Ira tells the story of a guy, Lenny Pozner, who strikes up a conversation with a stranger in a bar, only to learn the guy already knows who Lenny is. And the stranger is furious with him.

Mike Wise tells Ira about a run he went on one winter night with his dog, years ago along the C&O Canal in DC. It was late.

Host Ira Glass plays recordings from the Satanic Prayer Line, and speaks to the line’s creator, Chris Allert.

Host Ira Glass gets his grandmother Frieda’s college files, which reveal a whole other side of this person he thought he knew so well.

Host Ira Glass finds the men behind a bot, whose job was to generate random inspirational quotes and images. But the bot ended up making something more surprising.

Etgar Keret tells the story of how his mother convinced an army general to send her son home for a day in the middle of a war.

Ira Glass talks with producer Lilly Sullivan about a story she heard growing up about men messing with a girl’s mind. Lilly can relate. (9 minutes)

Sean Cole explains why he decided that he would speak with a British accent—morning, noon and night—from the age of fourteen until he was sixteen, and how he believed the lie that he was British must be true.

A school in rural Ohio has decided to arm some of its staff, and is practicing how to use the school's new guns in case of an emergency. Reporter Lisa Pollak talks to Ira about how they came to the decision, and what they learned at that training.

Host Ira Glass on the weird news vortex of the past week. (3 minutes)

Host Ira Glass goes to Tijuana, Mexico where people trying to come to the U.S. asking for asylum have devised a new way to keep track of their place in line.  (11 minutes)Cindy Carcamo first wrote about this story for the Los Angeles Times.

Medical Examiner D.J. Drakovic, in Pontiac Michigan, explains how every crime scene is like a novel.

Host Ira Glass talks to Congressman Mark Pocan and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal about a bold bill they sponsored last week.