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All Episodes of This American Life

Browse all episodes of This American Life

Binge this in 1h 58m•Peaking at 8.4/10

The Peabody Award-winning public radio series that combines journalism with opinion, fiction and biography becomes this highly anticipated TV series hosted by Ira Glass.

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Season 1

7.7/1030 votes
Reality Check
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 3/22/2007
Three stories of people who hatched plans in the hopes of making their dreams come true, but were snapped back to reality by unpleasant outcomes: an elementary school student tries to solve a common childhood problem; a rancher resuscitates a beloved pet, which later turns on him; people team to give an unknown rock band the greatest night of its life.
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown
7.5/1027 votes
The Cameraman
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 4/12/2007
Being behind the camera changes you. It's not just that you see everything differently; you act differently also. This episode features two stories, one big, one small, exploring this phenomenon.
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown
7.4/1024 votes
My Way
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 3/29/2007
An exploration of the benefits and costs of stubbornness. If you're a 15-year-old boy, and you don't want to fall in love, maybe you can just decide not to do it. Ever. Stories of trying to cheat death, love, political reality, and memory with only an idiosyncratic vision and a lot of stamina.
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown
7.3/1019 votes
Pandora's Box
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 4/26/2007
Three stories of consequences that follow from human beings' doing what we do best: poking our noses everywhere, fixing things that may or may not be broken, and opening our big mouths. A hot dog stand in Chicago unleashes dark forces in the human soul; and scientists try, unsuccessfully, to create perfect pigs.
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown
7.2/1020 votes
Growth Spurt
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 4/19/2007
What do you do if you don't like where you are in life? You simply decide to move forward, into the next stage, by sheer force of will. A widow; an ambitious, first-time screenwriter; and a 13-year-old girl all charge forward into their futures with uneven results.
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown
6.9/1024 votes
God's Close-Up
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 4/5/2007
An artist, his Jesus-model, the model's girlfriend, the girlfriend's father, and a bunch of bearded men all converge in Utah. An elaborate artistic tableau is set up in the desert, and there are several attempts by the faithful and the not-so-faithful to bridge the divide between them. Nancy Updike reports.
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown