# 881: I Want What I Want

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501/881-i-want-what-i-want
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501/881-i-want-what-i-want.md
Podcast: [This American Life](https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501)
Published: 2026-02-22T23:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/881-i-want-what-i-want--71324428
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71324428/default.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/this-american-life-7814501/episodes/881-i-want-what-i-want
Duration seconds: 3643

## Resource

People deciding to do things that most of us do NOT choose to do. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. 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 This American Life privacy policy. Learn more about sponsor message choices. 🎬 SEE THE STORY UNFOLD: Want to see the original photos, documents, and the faces behind this week's acts? 👇 View the visual archive for this episode here: https://goo.su/XwNQm (Updated for each story)

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## Transcript

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