In 2002, there were 25 This American Life episodes.

• Episode 203 – "Recordings for Someone"
  • Act 1: Love Story – Ira Glass
  • Act 2: War Story – John Brasfield
  • Act 3: Special Effects Story – Kevin Murphy
  • Act 4: Buddy Picture – Jonathan Goldstein
• Episode 204 – "81 Words"
  • Show description: Devoted entirely to Alix Spiegel's feature on the removal of homosexuality as a form of mental illness from the DSM-II during the 1973 meeting of the APA. Spiegel won the 2002 Livingston Award for National Reporting for this episode.
  • Act 1: Untitled – Alix Spiegel
  • Act 2: Untitled – Alix Spiegel
• Episode 205 – "Plan B"
  • Act 1: It's Another Tequila Sunrise – John Hodgman
  • Act 2: Why Talk? – Starlee Kine
  • Act 3: Kidnapping as Plan B – Ira Glass
  • Act 4: A Fate Most of Us Fear – Jonathan Goldstein
  • Act 5: The Accursed Items – J. Robert Lennon
• Episode 206 – "Somewhere in the Arabian Sea"
  • Act 1: Untitled – Wendy Dorr, Alex Blumberg and Ira Glass
• Episode 207 – "Special Ed"
  • Act 1: Get on the Mic – Ira Glass
  • Act 2: Black Hole Son
  • Act 3: Walkout – Veronica Chater
• Episode 208 – "Office Politics"
  • Act 1: Hang In There Kitty Cat, It's Almost Friday – Starlee Kine
  • Act 2: Sheetcakes in the Conference Room, Whiskey After Dark – David Rakoff
  • Act 3: When the Job That Takes You Off the Streets Is On The Streets – Julie Snyder
    • A story about the culture and politics of street vendors and panhandlers in New York City
• Episode 209 – "Didn't Ask to Be Born"
  • Act 1: The chronicle of a family that unravelled – Debra Gwartney and Sandy Tolan
  • Act 2: Untitled – Brent Runyon
• Episode 210 – "Perfect Evidence"
  • Act 1: Hawks and Rabbits – Shane DuBow
  • Act 2: Snitch
• Episode 211 – "Naming Names"
  • Act 1: How Britain Nearly Saved America – Jon Ronson
  • Act 2: One Crucible Leads to Another – Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller
  • Act 3: Beating the Erasers – Susan Drury
• Episode 212 – "The Other Man"
  • Act 1: Psychic Buddha, Qu'est-ce Que C'est – Davy Rothbart
  • Act 2: The Jackson Two – Ira Glass
  • Act 3: Mr. Fun – Jonathan Goldstein and Heather O'Neill
• Episode 213 – "Devil On My Shoulder"
  • Act 1: It's Fun to Make Hell on Earth – George Ratliff
  • Act 2: Sixteen Candles Can Lead to a Lot of Fire – Ira Glass
  • Act 3: Devil in Angel's Clothing, or Is It the Other Way Around? – Sarah Koenig
• Episode 214 – "Family Physics"
  • Act 1: Occam's Razor – Cris Beam
  • Act 2: The Trajectory and Force of Bodies in Orbit – Jon Ronson
  • Act 3: Conservation of Energy and Matter – David Sedaris
• Episode 215 – "Ask An Expert"
  • Act 1: An Epidemic Created by Doctors – Alix Spiegel
  • Act 2: Not Stella Adler, Just Stellllaaah – Jod Kaftan
• Episode 216 – "Give the People What They Want"
  • Act 1: Let Them Eat Cake, Wedding Cake – Ira Glass
  • Act 2: God Shed his Grace on Thee – Jack Hitt
  • Act 3: Have Paint, Will Travel – Alex Kotlowitz and Amy Dorn
  • Act 4: Handing People Their Dreams – Ali Davis
  • Act 5: What Daddy Wants – Curtis Sittenfeld
• Episode 217 – "Give It to Them"
  • Act 1: Life Indoors – Nancy Updike
  • Act 2: Here and There in the Land of Israel – Ira Glass
  • Act 3: What's a Moderate? – Nancy Updike
• Episode 218 – "Act V"
  • Act 1: Act Five, Scene 1 – Jack Hitt
  • Act 2: Act Five, Scene 2 – Jack Hitt
• Episode 219 – "High Speed Chase"
  • Act 1: Cowboys and Indians, Part 1 – Susan Burton
  • Act 2: Cowboys and Indians, Part 2 – Susan Burton
• Episode 220 – "Testosterone"
  • Act 1: Life at Zero – Ira Glass
  • Act 2: Infinite Gent
  • Act 3: Contest-osterone
  • Act 4: Learning to Shut Up – Miriam Toews
• Episode 221 – "Fake I.D."
  • Act 1: Pole Vault – Ira Glass
  • Act 2: This Blessed House – Jhumpa Lahiri
  • Act 3: The Lie that Binds – David Sedaris
• Episode 222 – "Suckers"
  • Act 1: No Receipt, No Surrender – "Jen"
  • Act 2: The Stereo Type – Shane DuBow
  • Act 3: Suckers in the Promised Land – Adam Davidson
  • Act 4: Mother Sucker – Heather O'Neill
• Episode 223 – "Classifieds"
  • Centered on classified ads appearing on the same day in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Reader
  • Act 1: Lost and Found Ads – Todd Bachmann
  • Act 2: Help Wanted – Joe Richman
  • Act 3: Musicians Classifieds – Starlee Kine
  • Act 4: Personal Ads – Jonathan Goldstein
  • Act 5: For Sale – Jay Allison
• Episode 224 – "Middlemen"
  • Act 1: Show Me the Monet – Alex Blumberg and Davy Rothbart
  • Act 2: Stuck inside of Memphis
  • Act 3: What it Takes to Tromp Through the Desert – Wendy Dorr
• Episode 225 – "Home Movies"
  • Act 1: The Big Night – Jonathan Goldstein
  • Act 2: The Kids Stay in the Picture – Ira Glass
  • Act 3: A Half-Million Home Videos Can't be Wrong – Ira Glass
  • Act 4: The Cinema of Upward Mobility – Susan Burton
  • Act 5: Untitled – David Sedaris
• Episode 226 – "Reruns"
  • Act 1: Action! Action! Action! – Starlee Kine talks about Trent Harris' Beaver Trilogy
  • Act 2: Marriage as Rerun, featuring John Hodgman and Robert Krulwich – Ira Glass
  • Act 3: Reruns at the back of the Bus – Sarah Vowell
• Episode 227 – "Why We Fight"
  • Act 1: Senator's Proxy – Ira Glass
  • Act 2: When Firas Comes Marching Home Again – Adam Davidson
  • Act 3: Realism 101 – Ira Glass
  • Act 4: Who Cares?

• This American Life's radio archive for 2002