Host Ira Glass tells a story about how, when he was in seventh grade, he was over at his best friend's house and saw beer in the fridge. He'd only ever seen beer in fridges on TV; he didn't think it existed in real life. It was a little disturbing. And suddenly, he had to reevaluate what he thought of his friend's family. Valentina Filimonova had a similar experience when, two weeks after she arrived in New York from Ukraine, she went to the drugstore to buy tampons. And Starlee Kine describes how her father learned that there was a whole other way to live his life—after staring at a fish tank. (7 1/2 minutes)

Act One. Teen Wolf...Blitzer.

When he was a teenager, Haider Hamza worked in the Iraqi Ministry of Information. He was specially trained to talk to visiting dignitaries and foreign reporters, and he loved his job. It was exciting, and he was treated like a celebrity. Then the war broke out, his family fled, his job disappeared, and Haider suddenly had to figure out what to do next: hide, like his father wanted, or jump into the fray—in one of the most dangerous ways possible. Gideon Yago tells the story. (28 minutes)

Song: "Ala Honak," Sajada Al Ubaid


Act One, Continued.

Haider's story continues. (17 minutes)

Act Two. A Sense of Place.

Filmmaker Tony Hill took his friend Sally Goode, who was born blind, to a place she'd never been before, then taped her trying to figure out where she was. We first heard Hill's story care of our colleagues at the Third Coast International Audio Festival. They got it from the Audible Picture Show. (5 minutes)

Song: "Your Littlest World," The Rogers Sisters