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Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.

The locals in the southern Italian town where he lives call him Signor Farfalla - Mr. Butterfly - for he is a discreet gentleman who paints rare butterflies. His life is inconspicuous: mornings are spent brushing at a canvas, afternoons idling in the cafés, and evenings talking with his friend, the town priest, over a glass of brandy. Yet there are other sides to this gentleman’s life.... Part thriller, part character study, part drama of deceit and self-betrayal, The American shows Martin Booth at the very height of his powers.

Thirty years after its publication, The Death and Life of Great American Cities was described by The New York Times as "perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning....[It] can also be seen in a much larger context. It is first of all a work of literature; the...

Charles Fletcher Lummis began his spectacular career in 1884 by walking from Ohio to start a new job at the three-year old Los Angeles Times. By the time of his death in 1928, the 3,500 mile "tramp across the continent" was just a footnote in his astonishingly varied career: crusading journalist, author of nearly two dozen books, editor of the influential political and literary magazine Out West, Los Angeles city librarian, preserver of Spanish missions, and Indian rights gadfly.

First published in 1985, Habits of the Heart continues to be one of the most discussed interpretations of modern American society, a quest for a democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditions. In a new preface, the authors relate the arguments of the book both to the current realities of American society and to the growing debate about the country's future. With this new edition, one of the most influential books of recent times takes on a new immediacy.

Opinionated talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has been chronicling local, state, and national events for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 15 years. He has sounded off on topics as diverse as the hunt for Osama bin Laden and what the color of your Christmas lights says about you. In this collection of 100 of his most memorable columns, Smerconish reflects on American political life with his characteristic feistiness.

The haunting of the Bell family at their home in Tennessee started out harmless enough with knocking and scratching noises. But soon, members of the family were scratched, kicked, and slapped by a spirit who identifies herself as a witch named Kate Batts. Centuries later, this legendary ghost story continues to haunt all who hear it.

Flight for Life is the heart-stopping account of one of the most gripping rescue missions in African history, told by a doctor involved in saving the lives of Nigerian workers who became victims of a tragic American chemical company explosion. Dr. Stewart and his colleague moved mountains and cut red tape to fly patients to one of the premiere burn centers in the United States.

This groundbreaking book serves as a manifesto for Progressive beliefs, predicting the shift from competitive capitalism to corporate dominance and the evolution of government towards a welfare state. By the time of Herbert Croly’s passing in 1930, only 7,500 copies of The Promise of American Life had been sold. Yet, its impact was profound, notably shaping the political landscape and influencing Theodore Roosevelt to embrace the principles of The New Nationalism.

A FINALIST for the Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the VCU/Cabell First Novelist Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, the NYPL Young Lions Award, and the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award “A blistering coming of age story” —O: The Oprah Magazine...

You may know of many Native American tribes, but there is more to their story. Learn about life in the time that the First Americans lived.

Lauren Boebert is the gun-toting Republican Congresswoman from Rifle, Colorado, who overcame difficult life circumstances to be a leading voice for personal freedom and our 2nd Amendment rights. Raised on welfare in a Democrat household, young Lauren learned from her first job at McDonald’s that she could provide for herself better than the government ever could. My American Life describes in vivid detail why Lauren dropped out of high school, the success of Shooters Grill, and how she came to be a United States Congresswoman.

It’s a New Jersey summer in 1967, and thirteen-year-old Ravi Ramanathan has the makings of a tennis prodigy. His surgeon father encourages his ambition, while his mother dreams of their only child following his father’s path. Surrounded by his parents’ love, Ravi chafes a bit at their daily routines and little traditions. Then one unexpected day, everything changes. Realizing how much he took for granted, Ravi must grow up overnight and find a new role in the life of his family.

You may know of George Washington, but there is more to his story. Learn about life in the time that Washington lived, and how he impacted the American Revolution.

Over the last few years, Moustafa Bayoumi has been an extra in Sex and the City 2 playing a generic Arab, a terrorist suspect (or at least his namesake "Mustafa Bayoumi" was) in a detective novel, the subject of a trumped-up controversy because a book he had written was seen by right-wing media as pushing an "anti-American, pro-Islam" agenda, and was asked by a US citizenship officer to drop his middle name of Mohamed. Others have endured far worse fates.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson insisted that "the policeman is the frontline soldier in our war against crime", and police forces, arms makers, policy makers, and crime experts heeded this call to arms, bringing weapons and practices from the arena of war back home. The Punitive Turn in American Life offers a political and cultural history of the ways in which punishment and surveillance have moved to the center of American life and become imbued with militarized language and policies.

A Life in Words, the first complete translation of Ismat Chughtai's celebrated memoir Kaghazi hai Pairahan, provides a delightful account of several crucial years of her life. Along side vivid descriptions of her childhood years are the conflicted experiences of growing up in a large Muslim...

A rags-to-$9-billion-riches story. A crash course in Burger King history and fast food in America, The Burger King is McLamore's candid and conversational memoir. Written before his death in 1996, he talks of his life, the birth of the Whopper, and the rise of Burger King. McLamore's account of Burger King offers an instructive and inspiring tale to young entrepreneurs. Here's a story of entrepreneurship development from one of the top entrepreneurs of fast food chains.

This Italian-American Life is a weekly podcast hosted by Peter and Mike, two first-generation Italian-Americans sharing real stories from their lives, families, and culture. Navigating the push and pull between Italian roots and American life, they bring humor, heart, and a lot of personality to every episode. Expect lively conversations, cultural insights, and plenty of espresso-fueled nostalgia. Whether you're Italian-American or just love a good story, pull up a chair — you're part of the famiglia now. tialife.substack.com

George W. Romney was a remarkable person. As chairman of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, he saved that company from sure destruction and led it to its greatest success. He later became the most popular governor in Michigan history, a Republican stalwart beloved in a Democratic state. He ran for the presidency in 1967 and served as Secretary of HUD in the first Nixon administration before leaving over concerns about the president.