I Want What I Want

February 23, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Format: Narrative radio/podcast anthology with hosted segments, interviews, audio clips, and dramatic storytelling across three acts.
The Key Players:
- Host: Ira Glass, wry narrator weaving quirky tales of human choices.
- Filmmaker Ariel Knight: Shares Sundance-winning doc clip on beekeeper family.
- Comedian John Tothill: Stand-up routine on gluttony.
- Evan Roberts & Keith: Exes in emotional Zoom reunion.
- Producer Zoe Chase: Reports live from Antifa trial courtroom.
The Vibe: Fun, quirky, and introspective—mix of heartwarming family moments, laugh-out-loud comedy, awkward reconciliation, and absurd legal drama.

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1 (00:39) **🎙️ Introduction: Ariel Knight**
2 (08:43) **Show Teaser: Choosing the Unconventional**
3 (10:23) **Act One: Lessons in Selfishness**
4 (26:03) **The Joy of X**
5 (43:54) **Act Three: The Lawyer, the Judge in the Wardrobe**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

People deciding to do things that most of us do NOT choose to do.

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Prologue: A new documentary called The Boys and the Bees captures a moment where a six-year-old has a very unlikely wish, and his dad decides to grant it. Host Ira Glass talks with filmmaker Arielle Knight about what happens next. (9 minutes)
Act One: John Tothill tells the story of Edward Dando, a 19th-century British glutton who would eat hundreds of oysters at a time and then run out on the check. John makes the case that we should all be more like Edward Dando. (15 minutes)
Act Two: Producer Tobin Low listens in as Evan Roberts calls up an ex for the first time in years and tries to make the case that they should have been friends all along. (16 minutes)
Act Three: Producer Zoe Chace brings us a dispatch from a courtroom in Texas this week, where on the very first day of a landmark federal trial about Antifa, the judge makes an unusual decision that no one sees coming. (15 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org