In The Story’s final show, we check in with guests who came on the program at moments when their lives were in transition, we revisit one of the first times we saw a story doesn’t have to be dramatic to be memorable, and Dick gives his final thoughts on eight years of hosting the program.

Ailyn Perez and Stephen Costello are husband-and-wife opera singers. They talk with Dick about the peculiarity of their relationship, which includes competing to see who can hold the longest notes, and trying to get cast in the same productions so that they can spend time together. Also in this show, wildlife photographer Tim Laman tells Dick about his journey to photograph every species of the Birds of Paradise. It took him 8 years and 18 expeditions to do it, and there are still a few he...

Jennifer Thompson was a college student when she was raped. During the attack Jennifer tried to memorize what the man looked like so she could identify him later. Jennifer identified Ronald Cotton. Cotton served 11 years before he was exonerated. Also, Lamonte Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his elderly next door neighbor. He was exonerated last summer and is still trying to negotiate life in a world he was removed from for years.

Over the last 5 years, the state of Texas has proven 12 people innocent by DNA testing. This month, James Waller officially became part of that group when he was exonerated of raping a child in 1982. Also in this episode: a new documentary about the musician John Coltrane.

Jason Puracal was working in Nicaragua when he was wrongfully convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime.  He was sentenced to 22 years in one of the worst prisons in the country.  His sister Janis led the charge for his release. Also, a forensic DNA expert who has devoted himself to using new DNA technology to free the innocent.

After Innocence: Exoneration in America. Day 2. Guests includeScott Hornoff, a Rhode Island police officer convicted of murder in 1996. Since his exoneration he has been unable to find work in this country so he has become a private security consultant in Afghanistan. Also: Julie Baumer, convicted of child abuse for what later was determined to be “shaken baby syndrome”. She was exonerated.  And the man at the Innocence Project who receives thousands of letters from prisoners hoping to be freed.

Known as a vocalist for the 1970's rock band Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry strips some of his classics of vocals and reinvents them in the style of 1920's jazz. Tune in to hear Avalon with trumpet, banjo and bass sax. Also in this show: 99% Invisible explores a Philadelphia park that became a mecca for skaters.

The Final Exit Network says mentally competent adults have a basic human right to end their lives. Dick Gordon talks with one of the group's guides, Fran Schindler, about her own serious illness and decision to participate.

"I think about Vietnam every day." Many veterans will say the same thing about their time as a soldier. In this oral history, we hear from five veterans, all African-Americans, who fought in Vietnam early on. They were interviewed by the journalist Wallace Terry for his book Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans. Music. Also in this episode: from swords to ploughsares. And a listener story about the song "In Bright Mansions Above."

Dick speaks with Toby and Itzhak Perlman about their marriage of 46 years, and how they met at music camp and became friends listening to classical music on records.

Say your movement is restricted to one zip code - you might get stir-crazy, feel restricted. Sound recordist Tony Schwartz knew there was enough in his NYC neighborhood to keep him recording an entire career. Also in this show: Dick speaks with record collector Ignacio Varchausky of Buenos Aires.

Memories of the Attica Prison uprising of 1971.

Guest host Phoebe Judge speaks with Neil White, who got sentenced to 18-months for check fraud. He expected a minimum-security prison, but instead found himself in a home for leprosy patients. Then, Phoebe meets some of the people at the Carville National Leprosarium. Also in this show: Booker T. Jones on the rules of the organ, the day he first stepped into Satellite Records, and just how “Green Onions” got on the radio.

Carter Niemeyer has wrestled with wolves to relocate them and examined the scenes of livestock kills to determine if wolves were responsible. He is a wolfer.

Sarah Churman talks about how she was able to hear for the first time when she was 29 years old. Also in this show: Producer Marika Partridge shares music, stories and sounds her family gathered in during a world tour in 1968.

Camille Seaman's Shinnecock Indian ancestors hunted whale in the Atlantic Ocean, and began to photograph the the wonder of icebergs through her camera lens.We also hear from Elaine Parker who worked at McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica.

Dick speaks with a coach and quarterback from the legendary football program of Muck City, Fl.

Guest host Phoebe Judge speaks with writer Alexandra Fuller about growing up in Africa. She captures her fierce, resilient mother, whom she calls "dangerously imaginative." Fuller says Africa and her mother taught her self-reliance and tenacity.

Dick speaks with Dianne Dwyer Modestini, the art restorer who discovered a painting by Salvatore Mundi was actually a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Also in this show: Photographer Christian Patterson on how he discovered evidence of Charles Starkweather's and Caril Ann Fugate's muder spree - 50 years later.

Photographer David Plowden's passion for America's steel bridges, corn fields, boats and steam engines is almost tactile in his photos. He talks with Dick Gordon about what has stopped him from taking photos: namely, the feeling that the America he knew is gone, and with it, many of the people he photographed with such admiration.

Karl Marlantes was a young Marine lieutenent man when he was sent to Vietnam, and he did what he was trained to do: kill the enemy and survive. Also on this show: Musician Tom Irwin found a diary squirreled away in a cupboard in the family home, which inspired his latest CD.

When other kids were out riding bikes, Anthony Mangieri was in his grandmother’s kitchen experimenting with ancient dough leavening methods. Now he makes some of the best pizzas in the country. Also in this show: A trip to the Capitol Pool Checkers Club where men with nicknames like the Hammer, the Pressure Man, and the Razor gather to play checkers; and how one woman stopped being a ring girl, and started treating the wounds of boxers.

Rojelio Garcia was a teenager in jail, playing chess behind bars, when he remembered the fifth grade teacher he used to spar against. He wrote a letter to the teacher, Paul Karrer, and eventually the two started playing chess, writing on pieces of paper and sending it over the mail. Soon it became clear that, for both of them, it was more than a game. Also in this show: Ron Carter, a jazz double bass player, has been recorded in more than 2,000 albums.

Stacy Nakell has one of the toughest jobs there is. She's a social worker. But she has an extra edge when she tells women that they can find the courage to stand up to a violent person in their lives. Stacy is a boxer in her off-hours. Also in this episode, Lucy Carnaghi about her favorite job, we couldn't resist. For a time, Lucy drove a horse-drawn carriage through the streets of Chicago. 

Andrew Chin, a.k.a. Brushy One-String, has crafted a unique style playing a one-string guitar and singing in an utterly original voice. Also in this show: A sculptor recreates Rome’s Trevi Fountain - in cardboard.