Clay Elder grew up Mormon, with a fear of outsiders. That changed on a visit to New York City.

Elna Baker tells Ira about two detectives who solved a murder remarkably quickly, especially considering that they were still in middle school.

Producer Elna Baker’s mom doles out some very harsh feedback for her daughter, which goes unnoticed for ten years. (14 minutes)

Comedian Will Weldon’s ex-wife made a movie loosely based on their marriage. Producer Elna Baker watches the film with Will as he revisits his break-up.

Guest host Elna Baker hears of a story from Jane Marie, about an embarrassing moment that haunts her. (3 minutes)

Host Ira Glass talks to producer Elna Baker about the time she and her siblings found themselves trapped in a hotel room with an unexpected visitor. (13 minutes)

Elna Baker investigates the “Shot Girl Summer” phenomenon.

Shamyla always loved books. Like lots of other eleven-year-olds back in 1989, she loved The Babysitters Club.

Elna Baker notices a change in how people in New York City are dating during the pandemic. (12 minutes)

As a kid, comedian Tone Bell was a rule follower. But there was one time he got into big trouble when he broke the rules in a serious way. There’s a Polaroid commemorating the event that’s become part of family lore. Tone tells producer Elna Baker what happened.

Ira talks to producer Elna Baker about the time she and her siblings found themselves trapped in a hotel room with an unexpected visitor.

A teenage girl decides the only way forward is to tear something down and rebuild from the ground up. Elna Baker explains.

Shamyla always loved books. Like lots of other eleven-year-olds back in 1989, she loved The Babysitters Club.

Comedian Will Weldon’s ex-wife made a movie loosely based on their marriage.  Producer Elna Baker watches the film with Will as he revisits his break-up.

From the ages of 12 to 27, our producer Elna Baker was supposed to confess to male clergy anytime she did anything sexual. It was so routine for her that she barely thought to talk about it.

Elna Baker interviews comedian Michelle Buteau about one of her first big romantic challenges.

Among friends, Elna Baker is famous for her romantic advice: go big! She talks to Ira about successes and failures.

Elna Baker talks to a Republican woman who voted for Hillary Clinton this year, and has suffered consequences in the Mormon community she lives in.

Elna Baker lost a lot of weight, 110 pounds. When she was fat, she wasn’t able to get a job or a boyfriend and sometimes thought, “I wonder if it’s my weight.” She figured no, that’s a bad attitude, paranoia.

It turns out that one of the members of the This American Life staff, Elna Baker, has a kind of anti-game face. She's what's called a chronic blusher.

When Elna Baker was a kid, she hit her younger sister on the head with a broom, then lied and said it was an accident. So Elna’s dad held a family trial to find the truth.

Our listeners sent us 2,600 emails with their own getting high stories. Contributor Elna Baker read a ton of them (other staffers read the rest).

Elna Baker has a story about her teenage cousin, Navey Baker, who manages to have a secret identity while being a public figure at the same time: She's the school mascot — a tiger — at her high school.

Elna Baker tells a story about her friend Daryl Watson. Daryl was a talented playwright working in New York City.