This season, unbelievably true stories of perception and what it’s like to experience the world the way someone else does. An experimental treatment that works all too well. A man selling get rich schemes until he unleashes a part of himself he...
Music could be your whole life
KCRW’s Bob Carlson talks to some of Deirdre O’Donoghue’s friends and gets further inside her world away from the microphone.
11/4/2021 • 32 minutes, 3 seconds
This is SNAP!
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.
10/28/2021 • 34 minutes, 17 seconds
The Dream is Over
One man’s treasure is another man’s Olympic gold medal.
3/21/2019 • 34 minutes, 8 seconds
Denial
It never occurred to Janey that he would put something in her drink. Never in a million years.
3/14/2019 • 30 minutes, 43 seconds
Friends in Juggalo Places
Take a three-day bus trip across the country with a juggalo, and you’ll learn some things.
3/7/2019 • 30 minutes, 39 seconds
1-800-KISS-MY-ASS
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.
2/28/2019 • 22 minutes, 31 seconds
Vampire of Barcelona
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.
2/21/2019 • 23 minutes, 36 seconds
Strangers in a Good Way
One woman discovers that her childhood crush has grown up into someone she doesn’t recognize.
2/14/2019 • 29 minutes, 40 seconds
Purple Rain
A romantic daytime drive becomes a nightmare when Mihai’s mind betrays him – and he turns on the person he loves.
2/7/2019 • 18 minutes, 46 seconds
My Foolish Illusion
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.
1/31/2019 • 29 minutes, 2 seconds
Stories of Perception
This season on UnFictional, we’re looking at how we come to know the unknown parts of ourselves. Get the first episode January 31st.
1/24/2019 • 2 minutes, 44 seconds
Halloween 2018
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.
10/31/2018 • 23 minutes, 1 second
Punk Jubilee
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.
3/29/2018 • 37 minutes, 42 seconds
Haunted
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.
3/22/2018 • 19 minutes, 54 seconds
Her Name is Ember
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.
3/15/2018 • 18 minutes, 4 seconds
Big Sur: The Secret Road
A secret road leads to a marooned community and an ocean paradise – along the coast of California.
3/8/2018 • 30 minutes, 19 seconds
Bay of Smokes: The Day Smog Showed Up In LA
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.
3/1/2018 • 26 minutes, 26 seconds
Man Choubam (I am good)
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.
2/22/2018 • 44 minutes, 12 seconds
The Outsider
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).
2/22/2018 • 39 minutes, 7 seconds
UnFictional returns!
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.
2/14/2018 • 2 minutes, 44 seconds
The Past Can Hold a Terrible Power
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.
7/1/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Because It's There
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.
6/24/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Father's Day 2017
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.
6/17/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Lost Bird
A bird and a cat are saved, and so – somehow – are their saviors.
6/6/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Sister Aimee
Sister Aimee combined faith and fame in 1920s Los Angeles. She was the most popular woman in the country. Then she disappeared.
6/3/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Other Man
Stories of two men who meet by chance and emerge indelibly changed – or at least, one of them does.
5/27/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Enemy Within
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.
5/6/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Barcelona: The View from the Streets
A tour through the life… of the tour guide.
4/29/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Joe Frank: Dreamers
A work by legendary radio storyteller Joe Frank.
4/22/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Green Goblins
A story of baseball, fatherhood and what it's like to be the black team.
4/15/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Running Away
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.
4/1/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Thought I Was Dead
Death is a state of mind.
3/25/2017 • 29 minutes, 32 seconds
Conspiracy, Not the Crime
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.
3/18/2017 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
That Escalated Quickly
Life comes at you fast and sometimes – sideways. And, before you know it, things have gone totally off the rails.
3/11/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Liberace of Lucha Libre
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.
3/4/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Road Warriors
When it comes to crazy, immoral and stupid decisions, nothing can match a teenager looking for a good time.
2/25/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Bait and Switch
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.
2/18/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Last Chapter
A story about the last chapter of a man’s life, and how he asked for his best friend's help – to die.
2/11/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
You Want a Piece of Me?
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.
2/4/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Big Day
A wedding, a bar mitzvah, and a day of innocence lost. (EXPLICIT LANGUAGE)
1/28/2017 • 29 minutes, 49 seconds
Shoot First
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.
1/21/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Eyes Back on the Highway
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.
1/14/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Solo Man
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.
1/7/2017 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
What Jacob Heard
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.
12/17/2016 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Grace of the Sea
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.
12/10/2016 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Bar Girls of Angeles
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.
12/3/2016 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Animal Inside
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.
11/26/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
No Such Thing As Luck
Those with experience know that things happen for a reason -- or they don't happen at all. (Repeat)
11/19/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Bilal's Calling
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.
11/12/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Graffiti Paint and Protest
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.
10/22/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Terri and Clifford
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.
10/15/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
The Missileers
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)
10/8/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Looping Swans
In Soviet Russia, when the TV started playing Swan Lake, it meant something had hit the fan.
10/1/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
A Shock to the System
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.
9/24/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Joe Frank: Thief
Another story from broadcasting legend Joe Frank. (Repeat)
9/17/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Live Die Kill: Los Angeles
What do you live for? What would you die for? What would you kill for? (Repeat)
9/10/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Love Me
The messiness of human connection.
9/3/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
24-hour Radio Race 2016
The winners of KCRW's fourth annual 24-hour radio race.
8/27/2016 • 29 minutes, 59 seconds
Faster and Faster
"If everything seems under control…. you’re not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti
8/20/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
We Are Not Alone
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.
8/13/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Hearing Hiroshima
What an atomic bomb leaves behind.
8/6/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Possession
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)
7/30/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Stockholm Syndrome
What happens in a bank vault doesn't always stay in a bank vault.
7/23/2016 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Wake Up Baby
Do you know who's watching your baby?
7/16/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
You’re a Mind Reader
With enough practice, you can know what anybody’s thinking – or can you?
7/9/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Cut Your Losses
Three stories about falling short, and having to move on anyway.
7/2/2016 • 30 minutes
Homeless
One man's life is split between homeless shelters, rental apartments, and a home – his home – in the woods.
6/25/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Fathers' Day 2016
Sometimes fathers lift you up, sometimes they need a hand, but a lot of the time they just want to rock.
6/18/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Crack Up
All the best stories live on the brink of a breakdown.
6/11/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
What Keeps Us Apart
Between meet-cute and final embrace, every love story has an obstacle keeping our lovers from a shared destiny. (Repeat)
6/4/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
A Dancer Dies Twice
You leap in the air, but any landing might be the end of your career.
5/28/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Misdirection
The greatest magicians keep their best and most finely tuned skills... a secret.
5/21/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Something Can't Be Everything
Spirituality, love, and magic in 60's Hollywood.
5/14/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Belle of the Ball
Stories of women who are the center of attention, for better or worse.
4/30/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Standing Over the Bed
The scariest nightmares are the ones that follow you into the daytime.
4/23/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
The Pirate
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)
4/16/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
A Portrait of Horace Parlan
Denmark was once home to many expatriate American Jazz musicians. These days, Horace Parlan is one of the only ones left.
4/9/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
The Hoax Artist
Some grifters are just in it for cash. Others are in it for something much more valuable.
4/2/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Thinking of You
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)
3/26/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
A Bump in the Road
What's it all about, the journey, the destination… or the potholes?
3/19/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
The Grace of Jeff Buckley
When Jeff Buckley began his day in London on March 18, 1994, he was virtually unknown. By that night, he was a legend. (Repeat)
3/12/2016 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Out of the Air
Two stories of unexpected exits from the sky - one mysterious, the other terrifying.
3/5/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Service Sector
Stories about those who are here to serve you… at least in theory.
2/27/2016 • 29 minutes, 59 seconds
I Am Montgomery Clift
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)
2/20/2016 • 30 minutes
Don’t Judge Me
Stories of bad decisions, dark sides, and guilty pleasures.
2/13/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
My Life of Crime
All it takes is a sudden thought, a snap decision, that sends you down a road of lawlessness.
2/6/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Where Nobody Knows Your Name
Sometimes you find yourself in an unfamiliar place. A foreign country, jail, or maybe just the wrong smoky club...
1/30/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Joe Frank: Downfall
Created in adversity, against all odds, and finished yesterday in the ICU of a major hospital. (Repeat)
1/23/2016 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Career Change
Two stories about detours on the path of life.
1/16/2016 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Last Chance to Evacuate Earth
A story of lost souls, close calls and web design.
1/9/2016 • 29 minutes, 47 seconds
Skylarking
A meditation on the joys of laying back and looking up at a big blue sky.
12/29/2015 • 29 minutes, 47 seconds
UnFictional Holiday Special 2015
A holiday broadcast presentation of UnFictional, featuring some of the show's best stories.
12/25/2015 • 59 minutes, 33 seconds
Tough Guy
A couple of stories about badass dads who don’t care what you think. (Repeat)
12/5/2015 • 30 minutes, 15 seconds
Friends and Basketball
When you're out on the basketball court, is a teammate the same thing as a friend?
11/21/2015 • 30 minutes, 2 seconds
Intruder Alert
Three stories about people who aren't supposed to be here.
11/14/2015 • 29 minutes, 58 seconds
The Séance 2015
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....
10/31/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Get Off the Couch
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.
10/24/2015 • 29 minutes, 59 seconds
Vanished Status
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?
10/10/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Friends in High Places
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.
10/3/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Couple in 303
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.
9/19/2015 • 29 minutes, 57 seconds
The 24 Hour Radio Race 2015
The winners of our third annual whirlwind radio competition!
9/12/2015 • 29 minutes, 57 seconds
An American Life
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.
9/5/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Who Are You
Often it’s the people closest to us, who hold the darkest secrets.
8/22/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Fishwives' Tale
Your husband was lost at sea, and you have no way to support your family. What do you do....? Start a band.
8/15/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
A Long Way from Home
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.
8/8/2015 • 29 minutes, 59 seconds
Collision Course
It's that shaky, full-body hangover you get after you realize how close you just came to oblivion…
7/11/2015 • 29 minutes, 57 seconds
When It All Blows Up
Three stories with a bomb at the center of each. One is very real, another imaginary, and in one the bomb is human.
7/4/2015 • 29 minutes, 47 seconds
Introducing 'Here Be Monsters'
Transport yourself into the unknown with two stories from KCRW's newest podcast, Here Be Monsters.
6/27/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Advice from Dad
Live stories from Mike White, Ken Reid and Steven Yeun about getting advice (both good and bad) from their fathers.
6/20/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
A Need to Build
Stories of men who have a need to build, are compelled to build, obsessed, and healed by the act of creation.
6/6/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Joe Frank: The Poor Are Always with Us
Stories by radio artist and storyteller Joe Frank.
5/30/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Wrong Man
A man in the wrong place at the wrong time, a man so right he’s wrong, and a boy becomes the wrong man.
5/23/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Winter Camp
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.
5/16/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Mothers Day 2015
"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."- Rudyard Kipling
5/9/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Big Lie
You lie to manipulate, or to hide, or to seem more interesting, but mainly it's to save your own butt. (Repeat)
5/7/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram
Against orders, Frederick Whitehurst kept the diary of a young North Vietnamese doctor. It took 30 years for her words to be heard.
5/2/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
My Former Enemy
"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."— William Blake (1757 - 1827)
4/25/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Nature Boy
The story of a man so ahead of his time he was out of sync with the world.
4/18/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Fragile Brain
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?
4/11/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Ballad of Dock Ellis
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.
4/4/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The New Me
Go ahead and try on a new identity and see if it fits.
3/28/2015 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
A Foot in the Door
Humiliation, fear, poverty, de-humanization, self-doubt and lies… welcome to show business.
3/21/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Practices of Enfreakment
Freak, it means freakishly different. It’s an outrageous, rare difference.
3/7/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
My Secret Shame
Everyone has a secret shame: A secret plan, a secret crush, an unwelcome secret intruder in your pants.
1/31/2015 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
How to Dig a Grave
There are many lessons to be learned six feet under the ground.
1/24/2015 • 29 minutes, 32 seconds
An UnFictional Christmas Special
On this special holiday episode of UnFictional we share past stories of gifts, god and awkward family visits.
12/25/2014 • 58 minutes, 31 seconds
Dog Mountain
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.
12/20/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
UnFictional Live, Volume 2
From the line of fire... Three more stories from UnFictional Live, featuring Tig Notaro, Susan Orlean and Dave White.
12/13/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Most Dangerous Guy in Norway?
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.
11/8/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Witch Hunt
Nineteen people were hanged as a result of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The reasons may be very familiar to 21st century Americans.
11/1/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Joe Frank: Sunken Ship
A man’s experiences with women, beginning with his mother, create misery for everyone.
10/25/2014 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Meet the Family
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.
10/11/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Just Can't Handle It
Three stories, recorded live, about hitting your breaking point and dealing with the consequences.
10/4/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Lost Genius of Judee Sill
Judee Sill robbed stores at gunpoint, went to reform school, fell in love, got lost in drugs… and created some hauntingly beautiful songs.
9/27/2014 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The 24 Hour Radio Race 2014
Presenting the winners of the second annual KCRW 24 Hour Radio Race!
8/23/2014 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Story of Orville Gibson
A farmer in a small New England village gets up early to milk his cows, and he’s never seen alive again.
8/2/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Falling
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.
6/28/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Women's Work
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.
6/21/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
I Knew You Back Then
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.
6/7/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
LA Work Day
Police dispatcher, stripper, waitress, nanny, mariachi, restroom attendant, guard: just trying to earn a wage over the course of a day.
6/3/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Little Julian's Secret
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?
5/24/2014 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Ministry of Presence
Memories of the death house, from a man who sat with 95 condemned men on their last day on earth.
5/10/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Unreal Made Real
The unreal somehow takes form. An unseen hand cures illness, and a secret society of laundry dryer astronauts is created by accident.
4/29/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Robbers Cave
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.
4/12/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Mark of a Man
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.
4/8/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Joe Frank: Isolation
A new program produced by veteran radio storyteller Joe Frank.
4/1/2014 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Connie and Pedro; The Two Proms of Carlos Kotkin; The Lonely Funeral
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.
3/29/2014 • 19 minutes, 37 seconds
The Cabinet of Animosities
There's a museum in Croatia that exhibits items left behind at the end of love affairs. Take the audio guide tour...
3/15/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
My Reality
A reality television producer finds a line that she refuses to cross, while a man accidentally inflicts emotional scars on a first date.
2/25/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Cracking the Love Code
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)
2/15/2014 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Preacher's Kid
Two boys raised as preacher's kids; one tries to follow a virtuous path, the other becomes a wanted fugitive.
2/4/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Southern Flight 242: Bringing My Father Home
Will's father died when he was seven years old, but it took him 35 years to bring him home.
1/28/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Unwanted
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.
1/18/2014 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Mano a Mano
Cuts and bruises, pure good and pure evil, life and death…
1/14/2014 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Joe Frank: A Hollywood True Story
Joe Frank returns with an improbable story that begins in Hollywood and inexplicably ends at Auschwitz.
12/31/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
An Afternoon of Stories from KCRW's Independent Producer Project
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!
12/25/2013 • 2 hours, 18 minutes, 53 seconds
Extended Family
There's a house in Oakland where dozens of people have lived for decades… even though most of them have been dead for years.
12/24/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Family Justice
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.
12/10/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Ghosts of Fire Island
Throughout the 20th century, Fire Island was a gay mecca for fun and freedom. In the 80's, a mysterious illness transformed the community.
12/3/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
One Moment Changes Everything
Often, the most life altering turns in our life, pivot on just one quick moment.
11/26/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Skating in Darkness
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...
11/16/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Wandering Souls: Saigon
Vietnam is filled with angry ghosts. Killed violently, buried without ritual, spirits roam resentfully, visiting the living in their dreams.
11/12/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Consequences
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.
11/5/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Bones of a Damaged King
The answer to a 400 year old mystery is found in a parking lot.
10/19/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Joe Frank: A Life Well Lived
A new episode featuring the work of Joe Frank.
10/5/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
UnFictional Live, Volume 1
Stories from the first ever UnFictional live show... sweet and hilarious tales of birth, family, and death.
10/1/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The God of Chaos
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.
9/21/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Womb 2013
In this updated edition of a 2011 episode, stories of the ocean, what it does to us and how it changes us...
9/14/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
24-Hour Radio Race 2013
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.
9/10/2013 • 29 minutes, 29 seconds
A Pack, a Flock, a Herd, a Murder
Five animal stories curated by Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace. Plus, do you know the mind of an antelope?
8/27/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Silence
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.
8/3/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Wrath of Comic-Con
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.
7/23/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Weddings and Unweddings
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.
7/9/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Joe Frank: Reality Check
Radio storyteller Joe Frank examines the very nature of reality...
6/21/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Invisible Man
On today's episode, two stories about fathers lost and found...
6/15/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Bloods
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.
5/28/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Keep Them Guessing
A man delves into his grandparent's history as massively popular mind readers on the radio.
5/18/2013 • 29 minutes, 43 seconds
Moms Gone Wild
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.
5/14/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Descent
Alex Chadwick's story of two men whose troubles and tragedies find respite in the raging rapids of Cataract Canyon.
5/4/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Me and the Holy See
Imagine having all the power and moral authority of the Catholic Church focused on one person… you.
4/30/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
No Greater Love
Would you risk your own life to save the life of someone else?
4/23/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Man in the Road
The story of a chance meeting in the Nevada desert that lead to a series of court battles that lasted for over 30 years.
4/13/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Nick's Story
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.
3/26/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Rhapsody in Bohemia
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?
3/16/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
My So-Called Guru
Two stories about healers and teachers who DO NOT have the best interests of their students in mind.
3/12/2013 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Welcome to the Metal
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)
2/5/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Joe Frank: A Conversation
MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY: Joe Frank presents a sweeping philosophical inquiry into the nature of God, morality, love, human suffering and restaurant tipping.
1/29/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Sundance Experience
A filmmaker takes his movie to Sundance for one last chance to save his stalled career.
1/18/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Don't Go Far
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.
1/12/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
After You Left
Mysteries, sudden appearances and unexpected disappearances. Two stories about searching for something that no longer exists, but then kind of finding it anyway.
1/1/2013 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Holiday Visitors
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...
12/25/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Roller Girls
Rocking and rolling and slamming and jamming with the ladies of the London Roller Girls.
12/15/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Lucid Dreamers
This week, we go beyond the wall of sleep with "the lucid dreamers." (Repeat)
11/17/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Joe Frank: Old Man
A new program created for UnFictional by radio storyteller Joe Frank.
11/13/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
A Bootful of Bass
Our car is shaking the floor and rattling the windows. It's 'A Bootful of Bass.'
11/3/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Heel, Toe, Step Together
The story of an octogenarian dancer teaching a 28-year old how to waltz.
10/13/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Self-Immolation Man
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.
10/9/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Caught!
On this episode of UnFictional, three stories about getting nabbed red-handed... (Repeat)
9/11/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Child of Ardoyne
An impressionistic portrait of conflict in Northern Ireland, from the perspective of children.
9/4/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Angel of Death
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)
8/28/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Not the Olympics
Stories with thoughts of the Olympics in the background.
8/7/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Ghosts of Srebrenica
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.
7/14/2012 • 29 minutes
American Dreamer: Sam's Story
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.
6/16/2012 • 30 minutes
Bring Your Game
This week, two stories about life, family and basketball... (Repeated from October 21, 2011)
6/5/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
In the Family
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.
5/12/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Your Future in Sales
On this episode, three stories about young people let in on the secrets of selling, both good and bad... (Repeat)
5/1/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Work in Progress
Gloria Lowe and a small army of dry-wallers, community gardeners, bakers, philosophers and other true-believers are working small miracles all over Detroit...
4/14/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
It's Always Now
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...
4/10/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Best Laid Plans
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.)
3/17/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Man Who Could Record Your Dreams
A verbal slip turns a UCLA neuroscience researcher's affirmation into a science fiction drama that threatens to devour years of serious research.
3/13/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Auctioneer
Today on the program, a trip to auctioneer school.
2/28/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Why I Ride the Bus
Carl Kozlowski’s sometimes funny, sometimes torturous road from total denial that he suffered a sleep disorder to something resembling a cure...
2/18/2012 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Womb
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.)
2/7/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Natural Disorder
On today's episode, three stories told in words and music, all produced by Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister...
1/14/2012 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Strangers
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.
1/3/2012 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Christmas 2011
In this episode, offbeat stories of Christmas' past, including an awkward tale told entirely through Facebook status entries.
12/24/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Holiday Buffet
Today, a special for the beginning of the holiday season…. a compilation of family stories from the first year of this program.
11/29/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Domesticated
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.
11/22/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Occupation in October
Alex Chadwick spent a weekend at Zuccotti Park with a few Occupy activists...
11/12/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
War and the Warriors
Two soldiers on the run in Vietnam take two drastically different paths, and a producer asks soldiers in Iraq, ''What's on your iPod?''
11/5/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Seance
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....
11/1/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
We Come to Someone's Worst Day
Stories of rescuers and the people they rescue....
10/15/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Dizzy
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...
10/4/2011 • 29 minutes, 32 seconds
Sunshine Skyway
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....
9/17/2011 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Irv and Me
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...
8/27/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
And Then What Happened?
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.
8/23/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Breaking Away
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...
8/2/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Accidental Parent
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.
7/2/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
In Uniform
In this episode, two stories about the human beings inside a uniform....
6/4/2011 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Lonely Funeral
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...
5/21/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Two Proms of Carlos Kotkin
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?
4/23/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Miscellaneous
An episode about boxes and boxes and piles and bins of miscellaneous stuff...
3/2/2011 • 29 minutes, 32 seconds
Stories about Dads
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.)
2/19/2011 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
Night on Earth
Stealing an idea from Jim Jarmusch, we drop down to five random locations and hear personal stories that all take place in the nighttime.
12/7/2010 • 29 minutes, 29 seconds
Care
Two stories about looking after the welfare of others, one at the beginning of life and another near the end of life.
11/23/2010 • 30 minutes
Separated by Birth
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.
11/9/2010 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Radio Diaries: Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair
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.
11/2/2010 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Hometowns
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.)
10/5/2010 • 30 minutes, 26 seconds
Connie and Pedro
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.