This American Life

860: Suddenly: A Mirror!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A show about people who are suddenly confronted with who they are.

Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.

• Prologue: Guest host Aviva DeKornfeld tells Ira Glass about breaking into a community pool as a kid, and the split-second decision that has haunted her ever since. (4 minutes)
• Act One: Some people are great in a crisis. Others, not so much. Does that mean anything about who we really are? Tobin Low investigates. (10 minutes)
• Act Two: Aviva DeKornfeld has the story of Leisha Hailey, who was certain she had the next million-dollar idea. (11 minutes)
• Act Three: Comedian Mike Birbiglia talks about the questions his daughter asks him and how trying to answer them showed him surprising reflections of himself.  (15 minutes)
• Act Four: David Kestenbaum tells the story of the suspicious disappearance of multiple shoes and a woman determined to explain it. (8 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

This American Life privacy policy.
Learn more about sponsor message choices.

More Great Podcasts:

Is The U.S.A. Guilty of Digital Colonialism? Yes They Are.

Artie Intel and Michilene Learning Report on Artificial Intelligence for The AI Report. This Message Brought to you by the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform -... Read more

May 29, 2024 Skagway politicians are the latest to go for the money grab!

Studies have shown that airplane water and ice are often contaminated with bacteria. The new Ritz-Carlton 452 passenger cruise ship will have 731 pieces of... Read more

Alyssa Rallo Bennett & Kelly Wong TALK Stonestreet Studios | EP #368

It is a pleasure to welcome Stonestreet Studios co-founder Alyssa Rallo Bennett and director of marketing and public relations Kelly Wong to The Jake’s Take... Read more

Vikas Khanna

We're serving up something a little different this week on GE&D! Indian cuisine ambassador, TV host, and world-renowned chef Vikas Khanna joins Dan to talk... Read more

Essentials: Machines, Creativity & Love | Dr. Lex Fridman

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode my guest is Lex Fridman, PhD, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an expert in... Read more

self discovery

[video available on spotify] i’ve spent the majority of my life soul-searching, and at this point, i think i have a pretty strong sense of... Read more

Who spilled the tea about who fibs about TEA?

This week on The Big Fib we find out if our child contestant can spot which adult is lying about TEA. Who invented the first... Read more

KEXP DJ Cheryl Waters on Swedish band Goat teaming up with MC Yallah

Cheryl Waters, host of KEXP’s Midday Show, is back with Evie Stokes. Cheryl talks about Swedish alternative/experimental fusion group Goat and their collaboration with African... Read more

The FBI’s Obsession with Aretha Franklin

Our people love us some Aretha Franklin. We've been two-stepping to her greatest hits for generations. She was our beloved "Queen of Soul." So why... Read more

Older posts