[+]    355: The Giant Pool of Money

[–]    355: The Giant Pool of Money

A special program about the housing crisis. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

[+]    328: What I Learned from Television

[–]    328: What I Learned from Television

A show assembled from our 2007 live tour. Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, and Dan Savage went on the road with us and performed brand-new stories in front of sold-out audiences. Stories about what TV can teach us...and how TV lies to us. With music by Mates of State.

[+]    318: With Great Power

[–]    318: With Great Power

A family wishes for years that they could do something to stop their neighbor's shocking behavior. Suddenly they get the power to decisively change things forever...and they have to decide whether they will. This, and other stories of everyday people who get saddled with great power—and the great sense of responsibility that goes with it.

[+]    354: Mistakes Were Made

[–]    354: Mistakes Were Made

It's the late 1960s, and in the new technology of cryonics, a California TV repairman named Bob sees an opportunity to help people cheat death. But freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds. Harder still was admitting to the family members of people Bob had frozen that he'd screwed up. Badly.

[+]    258: Leaving the Fold

[–]    258: Leaving the Fold

Stories of people leaving the situation they're used to and striking off for something less familiar. Including the secret history of Jerry Springer: before he was the king of trash TV, he was an inspiring and talented politician. Plus, a group of nuns leaves the Catholic Church...only to find themselves essentially remaining nuns.

[+]    166: Nobody's Family Is Going to Change

[–]    166: Nobody's Family Is Going to Change

Three stories that consider the question: does anyone's family ever change? A woman travels to Alaska to spend some time with her brother, hoping he might change a little. What can happen when a sibling relationship doesn't ever change—over decades. And what if there's literally nothing that can be done to change your dad?

[+]    353: The Audacity of Government

[–]    353: The Audacity of Government

We've noticed a trend in a number of actions taken lately by the United States government. Tiny things, things you probably haven't heard of, but with big implications. Harassing widows. Defying a century-old and utterly benign treaty—with Canada! So we've decided to spend an hour talking about the unrelenting, combative style of this Administration. And yes—the always-illuminating Jack Hitt will do some of this talking.

[+]    329: Nice Work If You Can Get It

[–]    329: Nice Work If You Can Get It

A man makes his living convincing lottery winners to sign their jackpots over to him—and discovers why the vast majority of them wish they'd never won. Plus, Sarah Vowell on the downside of the dream job and John Hodgman on what happens when celebrity hunts you down and finds you...on your living room couch, pushing 40, and a couple sizes larger than you want to be.

[+]    352: The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar

[–]    352: The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar

In 1912 a four year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing in a swamp in Louisiana. Eight m