# 889: There’s Something About Hail Mary

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501/889-there-s-something-about-hail-mary
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501/889-there-s-something-about-hail-mary.md
Podcast: [This American Life](https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-american-life-7814501)
Published: 2026-06-21T22:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/889-there-s-something-about-hail-mary--72624290
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72624290/default.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/this-american-life-7814501/episodes/889-there-s-something-about-hail-mary
Duration seconds: 3862

## Resource

We spend an hour in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, behind and desperate, with people trying any damn thing they can think of. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Five years after Ora first started experiencing mysterious and debilitating health problems, she decides to try a treatment that she knows very well might kill her. Host Ira Glass talks to her about the experience. (9 minutes) Act One: Two lawyers have just 3 months to stop their client's execution. In Texas, where this story takes place, these kinds of appeals to get people off death row fail 94% of the time. (38 minutes) Act Two: At the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, migrants figured out an ingenious way to communicate with the activists gathered outside of the detention center’s walls. (13 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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