Notes on Camp. Life at one summer camp (pictured), including the counselor everyone's in love with and adolescent girls consulting a Ouiji board to find out who'll be named captain in the camp's color wars. Also: Israeli Army Summer Camp.

  Act V. Murderers perform a play about murder.Over the course of several months, we followed inmates as they rehearsed and staged the last act of Shakespeare's Hamlet. They shared surprising insights into the play.

  Babysitting. The last story in this show, about two teenagers who ended up babysitting children who didn't exist, is one of the most popular things we've ever put on the air, and even won an international prize.

  Somewhere in the Arabian Sea. Arguably the funniest hour ever produced about the War on Terror. This show's about life onboard an aircraft carrier fighting the U.S. war in Afghanistan. One woman is risking her life, living in a war zone, to stock vending machines with candy for twelve hours a day.

  20 Acts in 60 Minutes. Instead of the regular "each week we choose a theme, and bring you three or four stories on that theme" business, we throw all that away and bring you 20 – yes, 20 – stories in one hour.

  Music Lessons. David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell and Anne Lamott read live, before a cheering audience in San Francisco. Sarah rocked the crowd so hard that afterwards, David announced to anyone who'd listen: "She must be destroyed."

  Break-Up. Writer Starlee Kine on what makes the perfect break-up song and whether really sad music can actually make you feel better. Plus, an eight-year-old author of a book about divorce and other stories from the heart of heartbreak.

Other favorites:

  Telephone.A man suspects his teenage son is doing drugs. He starts taping his son's phone calls, setting off a series of deceptions and counter-deceptions, all caught on tape, and ending in an act of pure, surprising genius parenting.

  Cruelty of Children.One of David Sedaris's funniest stories, plus a story that's so disturbing – about kids being cruel to an adult for very understandable reasons – that years after it was broadcast, people still ask if it's true.

  My Pen Pal. Sarah, a ten-year-old from the upper peninsula of Michigan, unwittingly becomes pen pals with Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, arguably U.S. enemy number one at the time. Then she goes to visit him.

  24 Hours at the Golden Apple. We record in a Chicago diner called the Golden Apple from 5 a.m. until 5 a.m. the next day. There's the waitress who has worked the graveyard shift for over two decades, the customers who come in every day, the couples working out their problems, various drunks, and, of course, cops.

  Superpowers. A teenage girl made a checklist of all the things she'd need to do to become a superhero – learn to fly a helicopter, learn Russian, learn to fire a bazooka, you get the idea – and then proceeded to do all the things on the list. Also, which superpower is better: flight or invisibility?

  The Fix is In. This is the story of the FBI sting of food giant Archer Daniels Midland. We play excerpts of FBI surveillance tapes in which executives casually divide world markets, call customers "the enemy," and sneer at the notion of competitive free trade. Then there's the improbable story of the actual FBI investigation, its unlikely twists and lucky accidents, all brought about by a man who turned out to be simultaneously one of the best and one of the worst cooperating witnesses in FBI history.

  Middle of Nowhere. One woman's lonely battle against her own phone company, MCI. And: how a tiny island nation you've never heard of (pictured) is involved in the bankrupting of the Russian economy, global terrorism, North Korean defectors, the end of the world, and a late 80's London musical about Leonardo da Vinci.

  Teenage Embed, Part Two. An Afghan teen raised in California goes back to his father's home province in Afghanistan and reports on the reconstruction after the fall of the Taliban. Funny, charming, moving, and some of the best reporting from Afghanistan that you'll hear. Because his father is the governor of a rural province for the new Afghan government, the teenager – Hyder Akbar – has access to all sorts of things few reporters or foreigners get to see.The first installment of Hyder's travels to Afghanistan is also pretty interesting.

  Prom. When a tornado hits Hoisington, Kansas, during prom, destroying a third of the town, the students come to believe that fate struck this way for a reason.

  The House By Loon Lake. A sort of real-life Hardy Boys mystery, about a young boy, an abandoned house, and the mysterious family who once lived there. It seemed like they just vanished one day, leaving salt and pepper shakers on the table, notes on the bedroom mirror, and a wallet with money still inside.

  Classifieds. Every story in this show comes from one Sunday's newspaper classified ads. Jon Langford – legendary leader of the Mekons – assembles a complete band from the musicians' classifieds.

  Testosterone. While putting this show together about the link between personality traits and testosterone, we on the staff of TAL decided to examine our own personalities and guess who has the most testosterone. Then we all got tested. Not the smartest thing for a group of co-workers to do with each other.

  My Experimental Phase. The story of a man who had never heard pop music or seen MTV. He barely spoke English, he lived like someone from the 19th century, and was heading for an arranged marriage at twenty. Then he jumped from the 19th century to the 21st ... in just one year.

  Harold.A parable of race and politics in America. The story of Chicago's first black mayor – and the chaos that broke loose in Chicago politics when he took office. If you've never heard the hilarious, inspiring voice of Harold Washington, you're in for a treat.

  Starting from Scratch. Puppies! If a man can't make a fortune off a cable channel devoted entirely to frolicking, adorable puppies, what's capitalism good for? Also: Adam and Eve.

  Pray. Alix Spiegel tells the story of travelling to Colorado Springs, where Christians are coming together to form a "prayer shield" over their city. During her days there doing her reporting, they try to convert her into a believer.

  Lockup.Compelling and sometimes very funny stories about the millions of Americans who are now behind bars. Including the story of a Texas radio show which allows families to talk – over the airwaves – to their inmate relatives (who aren't allowed access to telephones).

  Simulated Worlds.We're a nation with fake Oval Offices, fake ethnic restaurants, fake colonial towns, and more. In one story, we send a medieval scholar to Medieval Times – the jousting arena – to evaluate its authenticity.

  Two Steps Back. Ten years ago, when he was still a reporter for NPR's All Things Considered, Ira Glass did a year-long series on an inner city school where things were getting better: test scores were rising, students were motivated. Then a decade later, he heard that one of the best classroom teachers in the city (pictured) was thinking of quitting, because the very programs that had made this schools so successful were being dismantled by new administrators.

  Accidental Documentaries. This show is made of stories in which all the tape was found in attics and junk stores. These "accidental documentaries" include the portrait of life in one Midwestern family, documented through recordings they sent a son who was off in medical school in California.

  Perfect Evidence. DNA evidence hasn't only freed people who were wrongly convicted, it's shed light on how they got put away in the first place: how police and prosecutors get innocent people to confess to crimes they didn't commit, how they get witnesses to pin crimes on innocent people.We hear how police framed some Chicago kids in a brutal rape murder case, and how they got a suburban teenager to confess to the murder of his own sister – which he did not commit.

  Like it or Not. This is the one and only episode of This American Life not hosted by Ira Glass, and it's just plain interesting to listen to someone else do the job. The luminous David Rakoff is extra-luminous as the host, and you also get to hear Starlee Kine's great story about the world's slowest car chase (pictured).

  Jobs That Take Over Your Life. Scott Carrier's story is in some genre of its own, raw and sad in a way that's rarely heard on radio. (Pictured: Albert, from another story in this show about the worst on-the-job stateside accident during World War II).

  Conventions. The story about the couple meeting as they attended two side-by-side conventions is a heartbreaker.

  Sinatra. Gay Talese reads from a classic piece of reporting he did during Sinatra's heyday. Sarah Vowell's plea to television producers about what song they should not play during Sinatra's TV obituary was later broadcast on ABC's Nightline the night Sinatra died.

  Poultry Slam '03. For years, every Thanksgiving we'd put together a show about turkeys, chickens, ducks and fowl of all sort – and their mysterious hold over us.This episode pulls together favorite stories from all those shows.

  Who's Canadian? Since this was first broadcast, some of the ideas in this show have circulated in all sorts of places, but it's still a really fun show.

  Guns. A police officer and a Texas woman each explain how they nearly were killed by handguns ... and how each of them came to opposite conclusions about guns as a result. Sarah Vowell flies home to Montana to try to finally understand her gunsmith father's love of firearms.

  Liars. Stories of compulsive liars.

  Fiasco!Jack Hitt's opening story – about a school production of Peter Pan gone horribly awry – is so funny that in the middle of the taping, host Ira Glass had to turn off his microphone because of all the embarassing snorting sounds he was making.

  Media Fringe. Being rescued by the world's most famous maid. The rancid, corrupt world of feel-good radio news.

  Valentine's Day '98. Usually when we hear stories about love, they're stories about the moment people fall for each other. This show's made up of love stories that all take place decades after that moment, after years together.

  Get Over It! Misadventures in being "just friends." Scott Carrier tries to get amnesia, like people get in the movies when a coconut bonks them on the head.

  Shoulda Been Dead.This show includes some of the stories from the very first episode of This American Life, reworked slightly once the program's style and tone was more firmly established. Some of it's actually pretty memorable.

  When You Talk About Music. (especially the opening story)

  We're From the Private Sector and We're Here To Help. (no reporting has gotten as close to the private security guys – the armies for hire – in Iraq)

  Meet the Pros. (note: the Phil Gordon who wanders into the poker story is now the co-host of Celebrity Poker Showdown)

  Numbers.

  First Day. (especially the Squirrel Cop Story)

  The Sanctity of Marriage. (especially the story about the scientist who can tell if your marriage will last in fifteen minutes of videotaping)

  What Are You Looking At?

  Propriety. (especially the story about how, contrary to FCC policy, curse words actually don't seem to hurt children)

  Father's Day

  Family Business.

  Sissies.

  In Dog We Trust.

  81 Words.

  Sentencing. (especially Congressman Dan Rostenkowski's admission that, until he was thrown in prison, he didn't understand the injustice of the drug sentencing laws he'd voted for in Congress)

  Monogamy.

  Crime Scene.

  Primary. (especially Sarah Vowell's story)

  Ghosts of Elections Past. (how've we gotten through this whole list without mentioning Michael Lewis till now?)