# 888: Not Today, Hades!

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501/888-not-today-hades
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501/888-not-today-hades.md
Podcast: [This American Life](https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501)
Published: 2026-06-07T22:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/888-not-today-hades--72408916
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72408916/default.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/this-american-life-7814501/episodes/888-not-today-hades
Duration seconds: 3486

## Resource

Regular people trapped inside Greek myths. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: When a mysterious, ripped-open package arrives on Pablo's doorstep, he takes it as a sign. (4 minutes) Act One: Pablo flies closer to the sun. (14 minutes) Act Two: In Greek mythology, there's Hades, where everyone goes when they die. You have to cross the river Styx to get there, and there’s a gate with this three-headed dog. He’s guarding the entrance and he’s supposed to make sure only actual dead people enter. This story is about a real person in America who stood at those very gates. Which is not the easiest job it turns out, at least not right now. (24 minutes) Act Three: A mortal gets the assignment of a lifetime — to go interview an actual god who is living on earth, traveling under the name of Lionel Messi. (11 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)

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/this-american-life-7814501/episodes/888-not-today-hades/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501/888-not-today-hades.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.