# List of 2005 This American Life episodes

In 2005, there were 26 This American Life episodes.
* Episode 280 – "In Country"
** Show description: On the experiences of United States National Guard reservists and Marines in post-invasion Iraq
** Act 1: When Weekend Warriors Work on Weekdays – Ira Glass
** Act 2: Marine Life – Jack Hitt
* Episode 281 – "My Big Break"
** Show description: On personal struggles leading to unexpected success or failure
** Act 1: Take My Break, Please – David Segal
** Act 2: What Happens in Baghdad, Stays in Baghdad – Jen Banbury
** Act 3: Oedipus Hex – Shalom Auslander
* Episode 282 – "DIY"
** Show description: An entire episode of a story about the wrongful murder conviction of Collin Warner. After 21 years in prison, Warner's friends managed to prove Warner's innocence and free him from jail.
** Act 1: Untitled – Anya Bourg
** Act 2: The story of Collin Warner continues
* Episode 283 – "Remember Me"
** Act 1: Thinking inside the box – David Wilcox
** Act 2: Where's Walter? – Starlee Kine
** Act 3: Giving up the ghosts – Shalom Auslander
* Episode 284 – "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?"
** Act 1: The Karachi kid
** Act 2: Not far from the tree – Amy O'Leary
** Act 3: Because I'm the mommy, that's why
* Episode 285 – "Know Your Enemy"
** Act 1: The Minister Meets the Martyr
** Act 2: I Am Curious, Jello – David Segal
** Act 3: Eight Percent of Nothing – Etgar Keret
* Episode 286 – "Mind Games"
** Act 1: Untitled – Ira Glass
** Act 2: The Spy Who Loved Everyone – Jorge Just
** Act 3: Invisible Girl – Scott Carrier
* Episode 287 – "Backed Into a Corner"
** Act 1: Working Class Hero Sandwich – Shirleen Holt
** Act 2: Don't Drive Like My Brother – Jonathan Menjivar
** Act 3: Confessions of a Not-So-Dangerous Mind – Brian Montopoli
* Episode 288 – "Not What I Meant"
** Act 1: Froggy Goes A-Courtin' – Gabrielle Galanek
** Act 2: Cat Got Your Tongue – David Sedaris
** Act 3: Romance Languages – Ben Karlin
* Episode 289 – "Go Ask Your Father"
** Act 1: Make Him Say Uncle – Ira Glass
** Act 2: My Favorite Martian – Paul Tough
* Episode 290 – "Godless America"
** Act 1: The Substance of Things Hoped For
** Act 2: God Said, Huh? – Julia Sweeney
* Episode 291 – "Reunited (and It Feels So Good)"
** Act 1: Not Your Parents' Parent Trap – Nazanin Rafsanjani
** Act 2: If By Chance We Meet Again – Ira Glass
** Act 3: French Kiss – Sarah Vowell
* Episode 292 – "The Arms Trader"
** Prologue – Ira Glass on the Lackawanna 6
** Act 1: Petra Bartosiewicz on the arrest and conviction of Hemant Lakhani
** Act 2: continuation of Act 1
* Episode 293 – "A Little Bit of Knowledge"
** Prologue: Ira Glass and Nancy Updike
** Act 1: Small Thoughts in Big Brains – Alex Blumberg
** Act 2: And Daddy Makes Three – Dan Savage
** Act 3: Sucker MC-Square – Robert Andrew Powell
** Act 4: The Art of Adult Conversation – Alexa Junge
* Episode 294 – "Image Makers"
** Act 1: Dewey Decibel System – Alex Blumberg
** Act 2: Goldstein on Goldstein – Jonathan Goldstein
** Act 3: Hearth Shaped Box – Julie Hill
* Episode 295 – "Not What I Signed Up For"
** Act 1: The Double Whammy – Ira Glass
** Act 2: Small Fish, Smaller Pond – Nick Hornby
* Episode 296 – "After the Flood"
** Show description: Stories from survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
** Prologue: Ira Glass interviews William Nichelson about the role of state and federal authorities
** Act 1: Middle of Somewhere – Ira Glass interviews Denise Moore, a hurricane survivor
** Music interlude: Memphis Minnie, When the Levee Breaks
** Act 2: Forgotten, But Not Lost – Alex Blumberg interviews Lorrie Beth Slonsky and Debbie Zelinsky about an occurrence at the Pontchartrain Expressway bridge
** Music interlude: Fats Domino, "Walking to New Orleans"
** Act 3: Social Studies Lesson – Alex Blumberg interviews Ashley Nelson
** Ray Charles, Them That Got
** Act 4: Diaspora – Cheryl Wagner
** Act 5: Displaced Persons Camp – Lisa Pollak interviews survivors of Hurricane Charley in Florida
* Episode 297 – "This Is Not My Beautiful House"
** Show description: Stories from the Houston Astrodome and New Orleans about survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
** Act 1: Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow – Jane Feltes
** Act 2: No Place Like Dome – Ira Glass
** Act 3: Land Grab – Lisa Pollak
** Act 4: The Long Way Home – Nick Spitzer
** Act 5: Water Bed – Alex Kotlowitz
* Episode 298 – "Getting and Spending"
** Act 1: Mothers of Invention – Alex Kotlowitz and Amy Drozdowska-McGuire
** Act 2: That Guy – Diane Cook
** Act 3: Mall Rat – John Hodgman
* Episode 299 – "Back From The Dead"
** Act 1: In the Event of An Emergency – Ira Glass
** Act 2: 'P' Is For Porta-Potty – Sarah Koenig
** Act 3: Friday Night Floodlights – Lisa Pollak
* Episode 300 – "What's in a Number?"
** Act 1: Truth, Damn Truth, and Statistics – Alex Blumberg
** Act 2: Not Just a Number – Ryan Gist
** Act 3: What do we do with these numbers anyway? – Ira Glass
* Episode 301 – "Settling the Score"
** Air date: November 11, 2005
** Prologue – Ira Glass
** Act 1: One Good Deed – Erin Einhorn
** Act 2: The Things That Money Can Buy – Beau O'Reilly
* Episode 302 – "Strangers in a Strange Land"
** Air date: November 18, 2005
** Prologue – Ira Glass
** Act 1: Not Just Tourists, Tourists Who Care – Chris Tenove
** Act 2: Johnny Get Your Mouse – Amy O'Leary
* Episode 303 – "David and Goliath"
** Act 1: Lab Rugrats – Ira Glass
** Act 2: Dreams of Distant Factories – Rachel Louise Snyder
** Act 3: Adventures at Poo Corner – David Sedaris
* Episode 304 – "Heretics"
** Act 1: Rise – Russell Cobb
** Act 2: Fall
* Episode 305 – "The "This American Life" Holiday Spectacular"
** Act 1: Twas the Morning After – David Rakoff
** Act 2: No Tenenbaum, No Tenenbaum – John Hodgman
** Act 3: My So-Called Jesus – Heather O'Neill
** Act 4: An Animal Farm Christmas – David Sedaris
** Act 5: Christmas at Valley Forge – Sarah Vowell
** Act 6: What Would Joseph Do? – Jonathan Goldstein