MacGyver

Host Ira Glass reminds the audience about the old TV series MacGyver, about the guy who stops bad guys without a gun. He uses science and sheer ingenuity to invent solutions. Then Ira interviews This American Life contributing editor Sarah Vowell, who lives in New York, about how, even in the middle of the biggest power failure in the history of the U.S., it's hard for an average citizen to exercise MacGyveresque ingenuity. (4 minutes)

There's a book called Prisoners' Inventions, by a California inmate who publishes under the pseudonym Angelo. He describes the ingenious devices prisoners build out of the rudimentary materials at hand. Actor Felix Solis reads excerpts. Our story was produced with help from Jonathan Menjivar; thanks also to Temporary Services. The book is available on the website whitewalls.org. (4 minutes)

Susan Burton tells the story of how she used a clever scheme to get over a broken heart. (17 minutes)