UnFictional

Fútbol Confidential looks at AYSO, American homegrown soccer culture.

Fútbol Confidential looks at Niky’s Sports, the biggest family-run chain of soccer stores in LA.

Two Mexican-American fans talk about rooting for more than one hometown team in Los Angeles and in Mexico.

Fútbol Confidential looks at the legendary LA city league soccer team formed over beers in a Santa Monica pub by British expatriates.

In ‘El Pueblo,’ producer Mike Schilitt explores the surprising history of Olvera Street – an idealized fantasy of Mexico created in downtown Los Angeles that has supported generations of Agelenos. 

When Aric Allen was 21, he lived in a desolate mountain cabin for 10 weeks. There he planned to write a novel, but instead he learned how to be alone.

Producer Jaime Roque takes a ride with Ernie Moran in his 1965 Chevy Impala to explore the history and culture of the lowrider community of East Los Angeles. 

In the U.S., nisha venkat feels safe and relieved to identify as queer and non-binary. But in their home country Dubai, nisha’s gender identity is illegal, and they can be deported or convicted of homexuality, or “cross-dressing.” 

Street vendors are an essential part of Los Angeles’ history and its economy. You can find vendors with mobile carts and food trucks on street corners, outside concert venues, and sporting events selling hot dogs, tacos, burritos, churros, fruit, t-shirts, souvenirs, and just about anything else you can imagine. For decades, this activity was illegal. And even though vending was somewhat decriminalized in 2018, the line between legal and illegal is not always clear. Producer James Roque follows the stories of a few of these entrepreneurs, finding out why they started vending, the challenges they encounter on a daily basis, and how they fared during the last few years.

Imagine entering a giant machine that sucks you in one end, and spits you out the other side as something completely different. That describes the transmogrifier — a fantastical device from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. Over the last couple of years, it feels like everyone has been through the transmogrifier in one way or another. In this episode, stories of the transmogrified. Unfictional producer Bob Carlson watches his two children go through the transmogrifier and come out unexpectedly as grown-ups. Meanwhile, almost every element of producer Jaime Roque’s life was upended by the transmorgrifier: new job, marriage, and prospective fatherhood.

KCRW’s Bob Carlson talks to some of Deirdre O’Donoghue’s friends and gets further inside her world away from the microphone.

Bent By Nature Episode 1 introduces KCRW DJ Deirdre O’Donoghue, host of "SNAP!," a freeform alternative and independent music and culture program in Los Angeles in the '80s — and goes inside the community she cultivated, her passion for music, and the problems she had with KCRW’s management and staff.  Featuring archival live performances by Camper Van Beethoven, the Meat Puppets, Glass Eye, Jazz Butcher, the Dream Syndicate, and more.

UnFictional host Bob Carlson’s journey on the inside of rock and roll radio.

Mary Lorson explores scenes from her childhood in a personal memoir musical documentary. Featuring an elusive father, A Dancerina doll, a Polaroid Swinger, and a camel hair coat from Saks, all in constant motion.

A promising job drew Fedelina Lugasan to the U.S. from the Philippines, she’d start her new life with a family she trusted. But the picture they painted for her was not what her life turned out to be.  

A man finds an old reel to reel tape that reveals much more than just flying saucers and alien conspiracy theories.

Ove the rowing man. A stranger who came by way of the ocean, and was soon no longer a stranger.  

Maurcio, star of a hit Mexican television show, is abandoned in the desert while trying to cross the border.  

Mauricio leaves Mexico City for Los Angeles, and his dreams of television come true in a very unlikely way.

One man’s treasure is another man’s Olympic gold medal.

It never occurred to Janey that he would put something in her drink. Never in a million years.

Take a three-day bus trip across the country with a juggalo, and you’ll learn some things.

Aric Allen spent much of the early 2000s on the phone – selling get-rich-quick schemes and rapidly turning into a person he didn’t recognize.

Enriqueta Marti was a real-life monster who roamed the streets of 20th Century Barcelona  collecting bones and kidnapping children. Except, of course, she wasn’t.

One woman discovers that her childhood crush has grown up into someone she doesn’t recognize.

A romantic daytime drive becomes a nightmare when Mihai’s mind betrays him – and he turns on the person he loves.

When John Elder Robison gets an experimental treatment for Asperger’s, he feels like he’s suddenly seeing the world in technicolor. But that doesn’t mean he likes what he sees.

This season on UnFictional, we’re looking at how we come to know the unknown parts of ourselves. Get the first episode January 31st.

It’s a bonus episode! We’ll be back in January, but we’ve got two spooky stories to tide you over – a Halloween classic, and a brand-new, never-before-heard story of a haunted house gone terribly wrong.

A girl gang goes on a rampage of sex, larceny and murder. But what happened when the cameras weren’t rolling? Go behind the scenes of a riotous ‘70s punk film.

Tara has always believed in ghosts, so she wasn’t surprised when a ghost starting haunting her Los Feliz apartment. That is, until she found out that the ghost was actually something far more frightening.

Ember has pretty much always known who she truly was. But it was a long, obstacle-ridden path to live that true life – as a woman.

A secret road leads to a marooned community and an ocean paradise – along the coast of California.

When you think of Los Angeles, you think of smog. But have you ever heard about the day when smog just showed up in Los Angeles? An impressionistic trip the hazy history of the skies over Los Angeles.

After years of living in the space between who she really is, and who her mother wants her to be, Sharon decides she’s finally going to confront her mother – on a cruise with a famous Iranian talk show psychiatrist.

A young movie nerd from Los Angeles finds himself in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the set of Francis Ford Coppola’s redemption film, “The Outsiders,” thanks to a strange cosmic twist of fate (and a pair of mail-order shoes).

The new season of UnFictional is right around the corner. Unbelievably true stories of chance encounters that changed everything. A pair of mail-order shoes that led to “The Outsiders.” A secret road to a California paradise. The day Los Angeles and smog first met. Stories that will stick in your head like a memory. Coming on February 22nd, hosted by Bob Carlson.

The past can warp a person in mysterious ways. Sometimes we can figure out what's eating at us, but sometimes, we just have to push forward – into the darkness.

A former mountaineer returns to the Himalayas for one last climb – to bury his long lost friend. A story from KCRW's newest podcast: The Document.

There comes a time in every child's life when they realize they can strike their own path. But often, that path leads straight back to their parents. This week, three stories of fathers and their children.

A bird and a cat are saved, and so – somehow – are their saviors.

Sister Aimee combined faith and fame in 1920s Los Angeles. She was the most popular woman in the country. Then she disappeared. 

Stories of two men who meet by chance and emerge indelibly changed – or at least, one of them does.

Coming home from war can be messy, especially when the battle doesn't stay on the battlefield. This is the story of what it means to love and care for soldiers who have brought the war home with them.

A tour through the life… of the tour guide.

A work by legendary radio storyteller Joe Frank.

A story of baseball, fatherhood and what it's like to be the black team. 

Perseverance is a funny thing. Some people are addicted to finishing the job, no matter the cost. Running away with an idea, no matter where it takes them. And sometimes, it turns out to be worth it.

Death is a state of mind.

When you're in trouble, do you fight or do you run? The story of a man who fled from the US government for 31 years.

Life comes at you fast and sometimes – sideways. And, before you know it, things have gone totally off the rails.

Into the hyper-masculinized world of Mexican wrestling steps Cassandro, an unapologetically gay man whose 27-year-career exploded traditional ideas of what it means to be a lucha libre fighter.

When it comes to crazy, immoral and stupid decisions, nothing can match a teenager looking for a good time.

It can be a masterful feat of salesmanship, or it can be a total mistake – an unhappy case of mistaken identification. This week on the show, Bait and Switch. Three stories from our live show at Riot LA.

A story about the last chapter of a man’s life, and how he asked for his best friend's help – to die.

There are times when it feels like everybody wants something from you, even when you have nothing left to give. This week, three stories of people who gave up a piece of themselves – or wanted a piece of somebody else.

A wedding, a bar mitzvah, and a day of innocence lost. (EXPLICIT LANGUAGE)

There's a bloody war raging in the Philippines – a war that's being waged by the country's own government, against its own people. The story of Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, and the thousands of lives it has already claimed.

Scooter Tramp Scotty has been drifting for twenty years, dipping in and out of people’s lives along the way. The road has become his home. As far as he's concerned, living life the way it should be lived.

When Erden Eruç set off to circumnavigate the globe, rowing alone across three oceans, he didn’t know just how much the trip would change him – and his relationships with his friends, family and wife. The story of an epic journey by bike, foot, and boat. And of what is, perhaps, the biggest challenge of all: coming home.

When Jacob was a kid, he was a devoted member of his local Pentecostal congregation. But as he got older, he realized that the church he loved so much might not love him back.

A story containing love, violence and a magic potato.Warning: This program contains explicit language and addresses adult topics and themes - including sex and drug use.

On November 8, 2013, the Philippines was ravaged by the strongest typhoon to make landfall in recorded history. This week, we're partnering with WGBH's GroundTruth to tell the story of the aftermath, from the place where climate change and sex trafficking meet: at a bar, in a town called Angeles.

We live with them. We feed them. Sometimes, we even clothe them. And sometimes, it all comes back to bite us. This week, trying to care for the animals in our lives – and inside ourselves.

Those with experience know that things happen for a reason -- or they don't happen at all.  (Repeat)

There's a fine line between taking a principled stand and being stubborn. Follow Tyreek Bilal as he struggles with his mosque and with his own attempts to live a godly life in a harsh world.

They do it under the cover of darkness, on buildings and storefronts and the walls of alleyways. Can breaking one law help change another? This week, we hear from street artists about graffiti as political protest, as art, and as an addictive, inimitable high.

Clifford Clinton lived a very public life in Los Angeles. He opened high-profile cafeterias – Clifton's among them – and launched a campaign to rid the city of corruption and other vices. BUT, he also lived a private life as a sexual pioneer who may have kick-started the swinging 60s.

Go down into the silo with the "missileers." Their hands are on the nuclear keys, and they practice the end of the world over and over. (Repeat)

In Soviet Russia, when the TV started playing Swan Lake, it meant something had hit the fan.

Sometimes, all we need is a good, hard push over the edge. This week, four stories of people who got a shock to the system – sometimes, literally.

Another story from broadcasting legend Joe Frank. (Repeat)

What do you live for? What would you die for? What would you kill for? (Repeat)

The messiness of human connection.

The winners of KCRW's fourth annual 24-hour radio race.

"If everything seems under control…. you’re not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti

There's a place in the desert where people gather. They have different beliefs. But when they look into the night sky, they all share one idea.

What an atomic bomb leaves behind.

I once saw a woman possessed right in front of me. Her eyes glazed over, she shook, and she wasn't there anymore… someone else was. (Repeat)

What happens in a bank vault doesn't always stay in a bank vault.

Do you know who's watching your baby?

With enough practice, you can know what anybody’s thinking – or can you?

Three stories about falling short, and having to move on anyway.

One man's life is split between homeless shelters, rental apartments, and a home – his home – in the woods.

Sometimes fathers lift you up, sometimes they need a hand, but a lot of the time they just want to rock. 

All the best stories live on the brink of a breakdown.

Between meet-cute and final embrace, every love story has an obstacle keeping our lovers from a shared destiny. (Repeat)

You leap in the air, but any landing might be the end of your career.

The greatest magicians keep their best and most finely tuned skills... a secret.

Spirituality, love, and magic in 60's Hollywood. 

Stories of women who are the center of attention, for better or worse.

The scariest nightmares are the ones that follow you into the daytime.

A cigarette at his lips, parrot Bok-Bok on his shoulder, Johnny O spent 68 years on the San Pedro waterfront, he calls himself a pirate. (Repeat)

Denmark was once home to many expatriate American Jazz musicians. These days, Horace Parlan is one of the only ones left.

Some grifters are just in it for cash. Others are in it for something much more valuable. 

There are the people we think of when they're not there, and there is the hope that someone, somewhere is thinking of YOU. (Repeat)

What's it all about, the journey, the destination… or the potholes?

When Jeff Buckley began his day in London on March 18, 1994, he was virtually unknown. By that night, he was a legend. (Repeat)

Two stories of unexpected exits from the sky - one mysterious, the other terrifying.  

Stories about those who are here to serve you… at least in theory.

A psychic told Craig he is haunted by the ghost of actor Montgomery Clift. First he didn't believe it, but finally he couldn't deny it. (REPEAT)

Stories of bad decisions, dark sides, and guilty pleasures.

All it takes is a sudden thought, a snap decision, that sends you down a road of lawlessness.

Sometimes you find yourself in an unfamiliar place.  A foreign country, jail, or maybe just the wrong smoky club... 

Created in adversity, against all odds, and finished yesterday in the ICU of a major hospital. (Repeat)

Two stories about detours on the path of life.

A story of lost souls, close calls and web design.

A meditation on the joys of laying back and looking up at a big blue sky.

A holiday broadcast presentation of UnFictional, featuring some of the show's best stories.

A couple of stories about badass dads who don’t care what you think. (Repeat)

When you're out on the basketball court, is a teammate the same thing as a friend?

Three stories about people who aren't supposed to be here.

On a summer night in the early 1990's, a small group of friends gather for a dinner party in Los Angeles. Just for fun, someone suggests having a little séance....

Sometimes the hardest thing is to find motivation to do anything at all. Just stand up and walk out the door… it may kill you, or it may change your life.

Howard Mechanic had been living under an assumed name for 28 years when he decided to run for his local city council. What was he hiding? 

As long as you’ve got connections you can get whatever you need; a job at the White House, some help on Shabbos, or a joint from an Amsterdam cafe.

Boston Irish mob boss "Whitey" Bulger and his girlfriend spent 15 years hiding out in Santa Monica. Residents say the most wanted man in America was a good neighbor.

The winners of our third annual whirlwind radio competition!

A barber is sent to war with little chance of survival. Despite the physical and emotional wounds he suffered, he came out of it a better man.

Often it’s the people closest to us, who hold the darkest secrets.

Your husband was lost at sea, and you have no way to support your family. What do you do....? Start a band.

Fascinating documentary production and storytelling that covers the ground between the sophisticated and the profane. A half-hour of captivating stories of real life, created by the most talented producers from around the country, as well as stories from writers and performers based in Los Angeles.

It's that shaky, full-body hangover you get after you realize how close you just came to oblivion…

Three stories with a bomb at the center of each. One is very real, another imaginary, and in one the bomb is human.

Transport yourself into the unknown with two stories from KCRW's newest podcast, Here Be Monsters.

Live stories from Mike White, Ken Reid and Steven Yeun about getting advice (both good and bad) from their fathers.

Stories of men who have a need to build, are compelled to build, obsessed, and healed by the act of creation. 

Stories by radio artist and storyteller Joe Frank.

A man in the wrong place at the wrong time, a man so right he’s wrong, and a boy becomes the wrong man.

To the nomads of of the Tibetan Plateau, change is part of life and if you’ve got a yak, you’ve got everything you need.

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."- Rudyard Kipling

You lie to manipulate, or to hide, or to seem more interesting, but mainly it's to save your own butt. (Repeat)

Against orders, Frederick Whitehurst kept the diary of a young North Vietnamese doctor. It took 30 years for her words to be heard. 

"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."— William Blake (1757 - 1827)

The story of a man so ahead of his time he was out of sync with the world.

When you can't trust your own thoughts, it's a lonely world. Who decides when you're better, and how do you even know?

One of the most memorable characters to ever play baseball, Dock Ellis challenged the baseball establishment, pitched a no-hitter on acid, but always had impeccable style.

Go ahead and try on a new identity and see if it fits.

Humiliation, fear, poverty, de-humanization, self-doubt and lies… welcome to show business.

Freak, it means freakishly different. It’s an outrageous, rare difference. 

Everyone has a secret shame: A secret plan, a secret crush, an unwelcome secret intruder in your pants.

There are many lessons to be learned six feet under the ground.

On this special holiday episode of UnFictional we share past stories of gifts, god and awkward family visits. 

There's a mountain top in Vermont with hiking trails, wildflowers, a dog chapel and no leash law. It's a place called Dog Mountain.

From the line of fire... Three more stories from UnFictional Live, featuring Tig Notaro, Susan Orlean and Dave White.

He took heroin, stole cars, robbed banks and kidnapped a policeman. They locked him up in prison, and that’s where he found a better life.

Nineteen people were hanged as a result of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The reasons may be very familiar to 21st century Americans.

A man’s experiences with women, beginning with his mother, create misery for everyone.

The family you’re born into, and ones you make, the family you know, and the strange and alien one you're forced into for love.

Three stories, recorded live, about hitting your breaking point and dealing with the consequences.

Judee Sill robbed stores at gunpoint, went to reform school, fell in love, got lost in drugs… and created some hauntingly beautiful songs.

Presenting the winners of the second annual KCRW 24 Hour Radio Race!

A farmer in a small New England village gets up early to milk his cows, and he’s never seen alive again.

The story of an 11-year-old boy, the only survivor of a plane crash, who has to make his way down a mountain to find rescue.

A woman arms herself before leaving for work; an 18 year old girl spends three months in an Alaskan cannery; and that woman on the phone is not who you think she is.

The kid you remember from school: a secret crush you still wonder about, the friend who drifted away, the kid who left his mark with a fist.

Police dispatcher, stripper, waitress, nanny, mariachi, restroom attendant, guard:  just trying to earn a wage over the course of a day.

Some call him the Chicano Bigfoot; Little Julian Herrera was a star of the 50s East LA music scene, until one day he just disappeared. Is he still out there somewhere?

Memories of the death house, from a man who sat with 95 condemned men on their last day on earth.

The unreal somehow takes form. An unseen hand cures illness, and a secret society of laundry dryer astronauts is created by accident.

It's 1954, a group of boys arrive at summer camp, but they don't know they are actually part of an experiment to study prejudice. Step 1: Make the boys hate each other.

While one guy tries make his mark as a man, another tries to erase the mark that represents a life of mistakes and regret, most of it spent in prison.

A new program produced by veteran radio storyteller Joe Frank.

This week, excerpts from three of our previous episodes. One is a personal story of a family's immigration experience. Another is about a different rite of passage and two proms, ten years apart. Yet another about two friends who attend funerals of people who died alone.

There's a museum in Croatia that exhibits items left behind at the end of love affairs. Take the audio guide tour... 

A reality television producer finds a line that she refuses to cross, while a man accidentally inflicts emotional scars on a first date.

Meet a mother who could very accurately analyze her daughter's dates, after a short conversation. Then later, if love is the drug, this guy may have the disease. (Repeat)

Two boys raised as preacher's kids; one tries to follow a virtuous path, the other becomes a wanted fugitive.

Will's father died when he was seven years old, but it took him 35 years to bring him home.

Stories of the unwanted: a teenager, unwanted by those closest to him, visits his troubled past. Plus, the people who take your burdensome possessions and blow them up.

Cuts and bruises, pure good and pure evil, life and death…

Joe Frank returns with an improbable story that begins in Hollywood and inexplicably ends at Auschwitz.

On Christmas Day, from noon to 2:30pm, we're sharing our favorite radio stories of 2013, all created by independent producers. Hear stories from UnFictional, Strangers, The Organist, and more! 

There's a house in Oakland where dozens of people have lived for decades… even though most of them have been dead for years.

Two stories about crime hitting close to home. A man's evil plan takes an ironic turn and a Brooklyn dad launches an investigation into the case of his kid's stolen dog.

Throughout the 20th century, Fire Island was a gay mecca for fun and freedom. In the 80's, a mysterious illness transformed the community.

Often, the most life altering turns in our life, pivot on just one quick moment.

Much like a radio listener, a blind person has to rely a lot on their sense of hearing. But once you learn to hear with your whole body...

Vietnam is filled with angry ghosts. Killed violently, buried without ritual, spirits roam resentfully, visiting the living in their dreams.

Melanie and Ed once had a landlord that they loved, even if they always feared for their life a little bit. Plus, the stories our scars tell. 

The answer to a 400 year old mystery is found in a parking lot.

A new episode featuring the work of Joe Frank.

Stories from the first ever UnFictional live show... sweet and hilarious tales of birth, family, and death.

What does an ancient African deity have to do with a Reese's cup? Meet Elegba, trickster spirit of chaos. Plus, Evan Kleiman on the spirit of chaos in restaurant kitchens.

In this updated edition of a 2011 episode, stories of the ocean, what it does to us and how it changes us...

What happens when a producer is given just a theme and a ridiculously short time-frame? It's a Radio Race! And the results were amazing.

Five animal stories curated by Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace. Plus, do you know the mind of an antelope?

Two stories of silence. A young woman's hearing gradually goes away, so she and her family weigh their options. A radio producer with chronic tinnitus can't stand silence.

Three stories from the enormous tentacled beast known as Comic-Con: Romantic nerd dreams dashed, a 9-year old with a dangerous obsession and a hero among the superheroes.

Does a breakup have to be full of aimless despair and lonely self pity? Why not mark the occasion with a ceremony and invite your friends? This is the story of one couple that did just that.

Radio storyteller Joe Frank examines the very nature of reality... 

On today's episode, two stories about fathers lost and found...

Being an African-American fighting in the jungles of Vietnam meant always getting the most dangerous missions, and sometimes having to save the lives of the very people who hated you.

A man delves into his grandparent's history as massively popular mind readers on the radio.

In the 1970's, Minneapolis was Funky Town. One night, Joanna's mom met a disco guy with a body-sized freezer who took her on the worst date she ever had.

Alex Chadwick's story of two men whose troubles and tragedies find respite in the raging rapids of Cataract Canyon.

Imagine having all the power and moral authority of the Catholic Church focused on one person… you.

Would you risk your own life to save the life of someone else?

The story of a chance meeting in the Nevada desert that lead to a series of court battles that lasted for over 30 years.

A soldier returns from Afghanistan, happy to be back. He loves music and superhero Thor. But his parents see that he is haunted by something that happened in battle.

What do you get when you take one of the greatest and strangest rock songs of all time and let fans and critics pull it apart, examine it, critique it and cover it?

Two stories about healers and teachers who DO NOT have the best interests of their students in mind.

A DJ turned-mom's relationship with the inmates at a nearby state penitentiary. Also, a shocking event transforms the family of a strip club-owner's daughter. (Repeat)

MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY: Joe Frank presents a sweeping philosophical inquiry into the nature of God, morality, love, human suffering and restaurant tipping.

 A filmmaker takes his movie to Sundance for one last chance to save his stalled career. 

For two streetwise Irish boys who loved hopping on trains and ferries and discovering new faraway places, one adventure took them so far they become front page news.

Mysteries, sudden appearances and unexpected disappearances. Two stories about searching for something that no longer exists, but then kind of finding it anyway.

Stories about unexpected holiday guests: "The King" pays a surprise visit to the Nixon White House, and a reluctant Mormon meets an un-earthly visitor...

Rocking and rolling and slamming and jamming  with the ladies of the London Roller Girls.

This week, we go beyond the wall of sleep with "the lucid dreamers." (Repeat)

A new program created for UnFictional by radio storyteller Joe Frank.

Our car is shaking the floor and rattling the windows. It's 'A Bootful of Bass.'

The story of an octogenarian dancer teaching a 28-year old how to waltz.

A young boy escapes to a foreign country by himself, on foot, with no money or passport. When he grows up, he sets himself on fire, and lives to tell the tale.

On this episode of UnFictional, three stories about getting nabbed red-handed... (Repeat)

An impressionistic portrait of conflict in Northern Ireland, from the perspective of children.

Two stories about that key life moment many of us spend a lifetime dreading, one that none of us lives to tell about. The moment. It's all in the timing... (Rebroadcast)

Stories with thoughts of the Olympics in the background.

A journey through eastern Bosnia finds the dead and missing from the infamous 1995 Srebrenica massacre as present in daily life as those they left behind.

A talented and articulate young jazz musician finds that for an "illegal," graduation marks a dead end. We follow his struggle to achieve his American dream.

This week, two stories about life, family and basketball... (Repeated from October 21, 2011)

In this episode, two personal stories from "Outfront," a 15 minute documentary series that ran on the CBC in Canada up until a few years ago.

On this episode, three stories about young people let in on the secrets of selling, both good and bad... (Repeat)

Gloria Lowe and a small army of dry-wallers, community gardeners, bakers, philosophers and other true-believers are working small miracles all over Detroit...

Writers know: the best stories are built around a moment; a point of no return. Kent Pierce and Simon Lewis both survived car wrecks that became that moment...

Storytellers who think they know the plan of action, only to come face to face with someone with a conflicting agenda. (This program originally aired January 4, 2011.)

A verbal slip turns a UCLA neuroscience researcher's affirmation into a science fiction drama that threatens to devour years of serious research.

Today on the program, a trip to auctioneer school.

Carl Kozlowski’s sometimes funny, sometimes torturous road from total denial that he suffered a sleep disorder to something resembling a cure...

In this episode, stories of the ocean; what it does to us and how it changes us... (This program originally aired on Tuesday, March 22, 2011.)

On today's episode, three stories told in words and music, all produced by Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister...

We introduce you to the Strangers podcast, from KCRW's Independent Producer Project about the strangers we meet, the strangers we become and the strange places we go.

In this episode, offbeat stories of Christmas' past, including an awkward tale told entirely through Facebook status entries.

Today, a special for the beginning of the holiday season…. a compilation of family stories from the first year of this program.

Three very funny stories told by L.A.-based storytellers. In all three tales, the human's life is significantly changed by the peculiar feelings we have about our pets.

Alex Chadwick spent a weekend at Zuccotti Park with a few Occupy activists...

Two soldiers on the run in Vietnam take two drastically different paths, and a producer asks soldiers in Iraq, ''What's on your iPod?''

On a summer night in the early 1990's, a small group of friends gather for a dinner party in Los Angeles. Just for fun, someone suggests having a little séance....

Stories of rescuers and the people they rescue....

A frustrating struggle to diagnose chronic and sometimes painful dizzy spells. Plus, a 13-year-old's eye-opening visit to Action Park and how it made him a man...

This radio piece, created by independent producer Rich Halten, is the story of a man who threw himself off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida....

When Hank Rosenfeld met veteran comedy writer Irving Brecher, he knew he was in the presence of Hollywood history. Plus, what to say when someone asks how to write comedy...

There's a quick and violent event, followed by the rippling aftermath. Plus, an independent journalist's stream-of-consciousness telling of a street mugging, his own.

Luzer Twersky, who grew up within Hasidic communities in New York and London, decided to leave the community and make a new life in the secular world...

In the first of two stories, 4-year-old Lexi takes on parenthood.  Then a professional musician's life takes an unexpected turn when he becomes a full-time father.

In this episode, two stories about the human beings inside a uniform....

A soulful and moving Dutch documentary about a civil servant who works with a professional poet to plans funerals for people who have died alone, bodies that were never claimed from the morgue...

Stories about a special rite of passage. Carlos Kotkin went to two high school proms, more than ten years apart. Plus, Curie Youth Radio's Will You Go to Prom with Me?

An episode about boxes and boxes and piles and bins of miscellaneous stuff...

Mike Birbiglia on battling an online porn virus for his tech-challenged parents, Laura Silverman on bad marriage advice, and seeing the city on a stroll with a newborn's blind father, Ryan Knighton. (This program originally was broadcast on October 12, 2010.)

Stealing an idea from Jim Jarmusch, we drop down to five random locations and hear personal stories that all take place in the nighttime.

Two stories about looking after the welfare of others, one at the beginning of life and another near the end of life. 

Two stories about families who have been driven apart... David Ellis Dickerson’s mission to save his family from a faith he considers hypocritical and dangerous. Also, Carol Brobeck and Joel Woodruff recount the adoption and reunion that defines their relationship.

This week, we spotlight Radio Diaries. Joe Richman is the man behind Radio Diaries and he helps people document their own lives in their own voices. We listen to the most recent work from Richman along with co-producer Samara Freemark. Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair: A Granddaughter's Search for the Truth just won an award at the Third Coast International Audio Festival in Chicago. Also on the program, Frank Schubert, Lighthouse Keeper.

Roswell: LA Writer Dave White tells the story of growing up in Roswell, New Mexico. He's bothered by the fact that his own personal memories keep getting drowned out by a man-made image that gets foisted on the town by endless TV shows, movies and books.How Are You Who You Are?: Eric Winick recorded this documentary about a family he grew up with in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It's a story about the rarest and most profound kind of love, where you love someone regardless of what, or who they become. Plus, an online-only interview Bob Carlson did with Winick, co-producer of the documentary. (This program was originally broadcast on October 5, 2010.)

A personal story of crossing the border and protecting the border, a fascinating, funny and thoughtful lesson in family, culture and patriotism. Also, a heartbreaking tale of an Inuit Eskimo boy who finds himself in turn of the century New York City.