This American Life

Chen Almog-Goldstein was kidnapped by Hamas along with her three youngest children on October 7, 2023. This week, she tells the story of their life as hostages in Gaza. * Prologue: The 251 hostages taken by Hamas a year ago have become a divisive symbol in Israel. Host Ira Glass talks about the father of one hostage, and what happened to him at a protest last week when he called for a hostage deal. (6 minutes) * Part One: On this week’s show, we’re airing excerpts of interviews with former hostages produced by an Israeli podcast, Echad Bayom. In these interviews they describe, in a remarkably detailed and complicated way, what happened to them a year ago.  * Part Two: Chen’s story continues, with a description of what it was like to be hidden in a small apartment with her children and their captors. (6 minutes) * Part Three: Chen talks about the complicated relationship between her family and the people holding them hostage. (6 minutes) * Part Four: Chen describes hearing the Israeli news while in captivity, including one night when her own father was interviewed. (4 minutes) * Part Five: Chen talks about what it was like to walk around the streets of Gaza in disguise and their eventual release, 51 days after they were taken from their home. (13 minutes) Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/] This American Life privacy policy. [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/page/privacy-policy] Learn more about sponsor message choices. [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

People caught in limbo, using ingenuity and guile to try to get themselves out. * Prologue: Rachel has two kids. Elias, age seven, is a vegetarian. Theo, age five, is not. But Elias wants Theo, and everyone else in the house, to be vegetarian too. So Rachel and her husband are in the middle of negotiating the desires of two very strong willed kids. (12 minutes) * Act One: Sara Corbett's father-in-law Dick is 81. And he's become obsessed with a limbo most of us hate – the music he hears whenever he's on hold. (14 minutes) * Act Two: Mark Oppenheimer reports on agunah in the Orthodox Jewish community. An agunah is a woman whose husband refuses to give her a divorce – in Hebrew it means "chained wife." If you're an Orthodox Jew, strictly following Jewish law, the only real way to get divorced is if your husband agrees to hand you a piece of paper called a get. Without the get, women who want out of their marriages can stay chained to their husbands for years. In New York, a couple of rabbis were recently accused of using violence to force men to give their wives a get. (17 minutes) * Act Three: Brett Martin documents a previously unnoticed human phenomenon, one that involves airplanes, crying, and Reese Witherspoon. (11 minutes) Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/553/transcript] This American Life privacy policy. [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/page/privacy-policy] Learn more about sponsor message choices. [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

One kid comes to America as an exchange student and commits herself to the senior year experience. * Prologue: We talk to high school seniors in Salt Lake City who are trying to have the perfect year. (5 minutes) * Act One: Every year, thousands of teenagers come from all over the world to experience American high school. Last year, thirteen students from Palestine came to the US on a program sponsored by the US State Department. We tell the story of a girl named Majd, from Gaza, and her extraordinary year in America. (50 minutes) Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/841/transcript] This American Life privacy policy. [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/page/privacy-policy] Learn more about sponsor message choices. [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

People trying and struggling to see what another person sees.  * Prologue: Guest-host Tobin Low talks to comedian Tig Notaro about a jarring ride to school with her son. (6 minutes) * Act One: Producer Aviva DeKornfeld heads to the Calgary Stampede to watch as men try out a machine designed to simulate menstrual cramps. (15 minutes) * Act Two: A man can’t seem to see anyone in his life for who they really are, plunging his life into chaos. (18 minutes) * Act Three: Senior Editor David Kestenbaum hears about a way to save some money and help save the world. All he needs is a little help. (5 minutes) * Act Four: Marie Phillips reads a short story involving an aloof friend, a goose, and some extreme gardening. (7 minutes) Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/840/transcript] This American Life privacy policy. [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/page/privacy-policy] Learn more about sponsor message choices. [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Iowa has three million people and a million come to their State Fair, each with their own goals and dreams for the fair. We hang out with some of them, to see if they get what they hoped for. * Prologue: A big bull, a giant slide, and cowboys on horseback shooting balloons are just a few sights you can take in at the Iowa State Fair. Some people come for the spectacle, and some are the spectacle. (8 minutes) * Act One: Bailey Leavitt comes from a family of carnies. For her, one of the most thrilling things she looks for at the fair is someone who is really good at luring people into spending money at their stand. She takes Ira on an insider’s search for “an agent.” (16 minutes) * Act 2: Motley Crue pledged never to play the fairgrounds. Then they did. We wondered what that had been like for them. They agreed to an interview, but then they flinched. (1 minute) * Act Two: What life lessons can kids learn at the 4-H rabbit competition? A lot. (11 minutes) * Act Three: The Iowa State Fair awarded coveted slots to just nine new food vendors this year. All of them are run by people who already own restaurants or who’ve done other big fairs. All except for an unlikely newcomer: Biscuit Bar. (19 minutes) * Act Four: As the ferris wheel goes dark and the fair is closing down, one game is racing to meet their quota. Ira watches until the end. Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/839/transcript] This American Life privacy policy. [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/page/privacy-policy] Learn more about sponsor message choices. [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]