Open Letters: Back Issues

Every Sunday during our six months of publication, our subscribers received, via email, a free, easy-to-read, easy-to print PDF (portable document format) file that contained all of the week's letters, compiled into a nicely laid-out, two-column magazine, usually about fourteen pages long. For more on the thinking behind the weekly, click here.

Below, you can download each of our twenty-four issues. Just click on the link above the description of the issue you want to receive.

In order to read our back issues, you need to have a program called Adobe Acrobat loaded onto your computer. Most computers these days seem to have Acrobat on them somewhere; try downloading an issue and just double-clicking on it. That should bring up the magazine, which you can read on screen, or print out and carry around. (We recommend the printing option.)

If that doesn't work, and if you can't find Acrobat on your computer, you can download it, for free, from Adobe. Just click here.

Vol. I, No. 1

June 25, 2000

Includes letters from:

Chana Shvonne Williford,
on meeting Tattoo Guy.

Lynn Crosbie,
on loving a goalie.

Paul Tough,
on a moment of coincidence.

X.,
on her son, and his father.

Marc Herman,
on typing in a hammock.

And a conversation
with Sarah Jones,
on being the most popular
girl in school.
Vol. I, No. 2

July 2, 2000

Includes letters from:

Samantha Shapiro,
on Jerusalem's
Department
of Lost Objects.

Noah Cowan,
on a cross-cultural
dialogue.

X.,
on riding the Rotor.

And a conversation
with Sam and Zak,
on what can (and should)
be smoked. Vol. 1, No. 3

July 9, 2000

Includes letters from:

Sarah Vowell,
on patriotism
and The Patriot.

Blue Chevigny,
on faith
and the movies.

Jonathan Goldstein,
on an old flame.

And a conversation
with Todd Strandberg,
on the Rapture Index.

Vol. I, No. 4

July 16, 2000

Includes letters from:

Chana Shvonne Williford,
on moving in together.

Tabatha Southey,
on an alleged
personality flaw.

X.,
on the secret life
of thirteen-year-olds.

Scott Carrier,
on crickets,
purity, and desire.

And Andrew Wilson,
on a trip to the DMV. Vol. I, No. 5

July 23, 2000

[The Editors Write]

Includes letters from:

Emily White,
on mothers
and mania.

Craig Taylor,
on an encounter
with an Eminem fan.

Joel Lovell,
on a fainting spell.

And Ian Brown,
on a moment of clarity. Vol. I, No. 6a / No. 6b

July 30, 2000

[The Work Week]

Includes letters from:

Dishwasher Pete,
on keeping his
conscience clean.

Heather O'Neill,
on liberating the sixth grade.

Andy Jenkins,
on office life,
with skateboarders.

Bill Lychack,
on rewriting tales of faith.

And Alivia Zivich,
on dot-com office politics.

Vol. I, No. 7

August 6, 2000

[Sickness and Health]

Includes letters from:

Michael Welch,
on a bad trip.

Aliza Pollack,
on entering the
world of cancer.

Kevin Patterson,
on the nervous system.

Ethan Watters,
on why he gambles.

And Jorge Colombo,
on the people
in his neighborhood. Vol. I, No. 8

August 13, 2000

[Parents and Children]

Includes letters from:

X.,
on her son
and his father.

Sharon O'Connor,
on her sensitive daughter.

Lillie Allison,
on knowing a secret.

Nick Davis,
on an anniversary.

And X., again,
on an unexpected phone call.

Vol. II, No. 1

September 10, 2000

[Back to School]

Includes letters from:

John Kellogg Hodgman,
on memory and chaos.

Cheryl Wagner,
on being a good neighbor.

David Brown,
on a man and a bridge.

Paul Maliszewski,
on a giant moving sale.

And a conversation
with Eilis Dolan Klein,
on the first day of kindergarten. Vol. II, No. 2

September 17, 2000

Includes letters from:

Rory Evans,
on tagging state capitols,
as penance.

Stephen Osborne,
on wipe-outs,
then and now.

Amy Sohn,
on phone sex,
train travel,
and expectation.

And Adam Heimlich,
on the new new economy.
Vol. II, No. 3

September 24, 2000

Includes letters from:

Team Leader,
a series of leaked memos,
on commitment and motivation.

Anonymous,
on interviewing with Microsoft.

Dennis Costello,
on the anatomy of a broken heart.

And Stacey Richter,
on her first funeral,
and on a run-in with the law,
at Safeway.

Vol. II, No. 4

October 1, 2000

[Sequels and Second Acts]

Includes letters from:

Dishwasher Pete,
on the rat problem.

Aliza Pollack,
on her continuing chemotherapy.

Cheryl Wagner,
on why she should be
the godmother.

Paul Tough,
on joke-sorting.

And Paul Maliszewski,
on the twenty-four-foot
moving truck. Vol. II, No. 5

October 8, 2000

Includes letters from:

Gregory Gransden,
on Mexico City's
crime reporters.

Ian Brown,
on reading
and not reading
Paradise Lost.

And Robbie Fulks,
on being a musician,
and being audited.
Vol. II, No. 6

October 15, 2000

[In the System]

Includes letters from:

Miriam Toews,
on studying psychology
and making amends.

Jessica Willis,
on being
section 35-ed.

And M.,
on life in a psychiatric ward.

Vol. II, No. 7

October 22, 2000

Includes letters from:

John Hodgman,
on mortality, metaphors,
and the Slingshot.

Jourdon Anderson,
on slavery and back pay.

Julie Shapiro,
on selling
the new Radiohead.

Lauren Zalaznick,
on reading
a misdirected email.

And Sheila Heti,
on not keeping secrets. Vol. II, No. 8

October 29, 2000

Includes letters from:

Jonathan Lethem,
on his favorite band.

Heather O'Neill,
on a family outing.

Kevin Walters,
on coming back
to Hattiesburg.

Leanne Shapton,
on photography and surprise.

And Chana Williford,
on a new adventure.

Vol. III, No. 1

November 12, 2000

[The Election]

Includes letters from:

Sarah Vowell,
on voting.

Michael Welch,
on staying up all night
with Al Gore.

Kevin Baker,
on the first election
of the post-nation era.

And Mrs. Hugh Ross,
on her son,
fallen in WWI. Vol. III, No. 2

November 19, 2000

Includes letters from:

Paul Maliszewski,
on trying to find
a place to live.

Cheryl Wagner,
on her sister's
thirtieth birthday.

Golda Fried,
on studying
the Rolling Stones.

And Craig Taylor,
on moving to London. Vol. III, No. 3

November 26, 2000

Includes letters from:

Josh Goldfein,
on counting votes
in Palm Beach.

Rick Moody,
on birds and memory.

And Jessica Willis,
on wanting to breed.

Vol. III, No. 4

December 3, 2000

[The Man Issue]

Includes letters from:

Dean Allen,
on his mother's wedding.

Bruce Grierson,
on the war on beavers.

Michael Welch,
on his guilty heart.

And Todd Pruzan,
on his new apartment.
Vol. III, No. 5

December 10, 2000

[Sickness and Health]

Includes letters from:

Kevin Patterson,
on leprosy.

Aliza Pollack,
on leaving
(and re-entering)
the cancer zone.

And a conversation
with Matt Salada,
on diabetes and rock 'n roll.
Vol. III, No. 6

December 17, 2000

[Other People's Mail]

A special issue of found letters, selected and curated by Abby Bridge.

Includes love letters to Tiger Woods and Amazon.com,
a Dear John letter found under a bridge in Portland,
a first-person account
of especially creative
customer service,
and a letter from Lady Stardust, promising extraordinary sums of money.

Vol. III, No. 7

December 31, 2000

Includes letters from:

Angelica Biddle,
on a family Thanksgiving.

Paul Maliszewski,
on suing his landlord.

Stephen Osborne,
on getting sick,
and getting well.

Heather O'Neill,
on a visit
from her mother.

And Jonathan Ames,
on the germs
that surround him.
Vol. III, No. 8

January 7, 2001

Includes letters from:

Brian Dunn,
on starting over.

B.,
on marriage and divorce.

Scott,
on his failing dot-com.

Sharon O'Connor,
on pregnancy
and mortality.

And X.,
on a day
at the beach.
Special T.A.L. Issue

December 2, 2000

[A special compilation issue distributed at the live "This American Life" shows in December 2000. It has a certain "greatest hits" quality, though in the end, who can really say which hits are the greatest?]

Includes letters from:
X.,
Sarah Vowell,
Paul Tough,
Ian Brown,
John Hodgman,
and Michael Welch;
plus a conversation with Sarah Jones on popularity.