This American Life

Stories of people held captive — by criminals, by paperwork, and in one man's case, his own body — and the ways they try to cope.

Exactly how incompetent you are. What your ex’s best friend really thinks of you. The approximate time that you will die. Some things in life are better not to know about. And sometimes there can be a benefit to not knowing. In this episode — examples of ignorance truly being bliss, or even being an asset.

Words mean things, but some words are especially meaningful — whether in a survival manual, a song lyric, or a slur.

Many Americans have dreamy and romantic ideas about Paris, notions which probably trace back to the 1920s vision of Paris created by the expatriate Americans there. But what's it actually like in Paris if you're an American, without rose-colored glasses?

People go on missions to save young girls from danger. But sometimes they get so caught up in the mission that it overshadows the girl herself.