Episodes
This is our definitive archive - it lists which show we sent out for broadcast every single week since the show began in 1995. It includes repeats. Shows are listed in reverse chronological order according to broadcast date.
2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995
Buy a show on CD for $13 (includes shipping) by clicking on the dollar icon next to the show's title.
Listen via RealAudio by getting the free RealOne player and clicking on the blue RealAudio icons below. (Note: don't let RealAudio fool you! You do NOT need the paid version of RealPlayer to listen to our files.)
Visit Audible.com for high-quality downloads of TAL episodes.
Try our favorites if you're not sure where to begin.
Why some shows are not available on CD:
There's a handful of shows - especially very early shows - that we'd just as soon vanquish from the face of the earth and never have anyone ever hear again, thank you very much. Then there are some later shows where writers haven't granted permission to release their stories on CD. Some of those writers did give us permission to post their stories via RealAudio and Audible.com, which is why some shows are unavailable on CD but available in other formats.
If a show you want isn't available on CD:
You can still usually hear it for free, as streaming audio, here on the website. Most shows are also available for download at Audible.com/thisamericanlife for a small fee. If your computer can burn CDs, you can make your own CD from an Audible.com download.
Why you can't download our RealAudio Files:
Allowing download of those files would require us to PAY contributors for each download - as we do when we sell a CD or a show on Audible. Doing this would be an administrative nightmare, and we probably wouldn't be able to continue offering free audio, so we've chosen not to make downloads available.
Why are some shows not available on RealAudio: Certain shows are not available as RealAudio files because the writers or performers didn't want their work reproduced.
Mailing List
Sign up for the This American Life weekly update list, and we'll send you a weekly email detailing the coming week's theme, along with notes on TAL events.
Since this is an announcement-only list, we're the only ones that can send out messages. This means you'll only get one message a week, max, unless there's some sort of extra-special announcement. And don't worry--we don't share subscriber information with anyone, for any reason. Period.
To subscribe to the This American Life updates list, just pop your email address in below.
To unsubscribe from the This American Life updates list, enter your email address:
Thanks to Rob Carlson at Epistolary.org for his tireless help.
