This American Life 1

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has been in the news over an extra-long deployment that's taking a toll on its crew. Back in 2002, we explored life aboard another aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, stationed in the Arabian Sea and supporting bombing missions over Afghanistan. Only a few dozen people on board actually fly jets. The rest of the crew — over 5,000 p...

Labels are powerful. They can distill you down to a single word. They can get stuck on you without your permission. And sometimes, when they get taken away, they can upend your entire life. On this episode: labels and the havoc they wreak. (00:00:00) Prologue: Sara and Ethan have been dating for 10 months. They see each other at least once a week, text pretty much every day, ...

We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks! Ira Glass takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the young staff – coached by a funny, fun-loving boss just a little older than they are – truly seem to love their jobs. (00:00:00) Prologue: Host Ira Glass walks through a Kansas City Missouri amusement park called Worlds of Fun with...

People dealing with new, glaring, massive changes happening right where they live. Prologue: Rick Cole, a city councilmember in Pasadena, CA, talks to Ira about how he responded to a surprise nighttime military exercise in his neighborhood this June – complete with helicopters, gunfire, and flash bangs. (5 minutes) Act One: A doctor trained as a midwife tells the eye-popping...