In 1995, there were seven new ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...

'' episodes; all were broadcast under the original name of the program ''Your Radio Playhouse.'' * :Air Date: 1995-11-17 :Description: Our program's very first broadcast :*Prologue –

Ira Glass Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series ''This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ...

seeks advice from long-time talk show host

Joe Franklin Joe Franklin (March 9, 1926 – January 24, 2015), born Joseph Fortgang, was an American radio and television host personality, author and actor from New York City. Franklin is noted for having the first talk show and inventing the format. His te ...

. (6 minutes) ::Interlude:

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

– "Destination Moon" :*Act 1 – Kevin Kelly (23 minutes) :: Kevin Kelly has a sort of religious experience in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and decides to live the next six months of his life to the fullest. This plot was revisited for episode 50 – Shoulda Been Dead :*Act 2 –

(7 minutes) ::Ira calls his parents in for advice about broadcasting. :*Act 3 –

Lawrence Steger Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparato ...

(13 minutes) ::Steger recounts a road trip he and a friend took after hearing about Steger's

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

diagnosis. ::Interlude:

The Treniers The Treniers (pronounced /trəˈniərz/) were an American R&B and jump blues musical group led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier. They were originally billed as the Trenier Twins, who performed alongside the Gene Gilbeaux Quartet, ...

– "(Uh-Oh) Get Out of the Car" :*Act 4 – Ed Ryder, interviewed by

and

Nancy Updike Nancy Updike is an American public radio producer and writer. Her work has been featured on radio programs including ''This American Life'' and ''All Things Considered'', and has been published in ''The New York Times Magazine'', '' LA Weekly'', ...

(9 minutes) ::Ryder was wrongly imprisoned for twenty years and recently released, and he discusses dream of playing music. Ryder performs "God Bless the Child"—this performance was re-broadcast in episode 119 – Lock-Up. ::Interlude:

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

– "''I've Had My Moments''" * :Air Date: 1995-11-24 :Description: Small-scale stories on the nature of small-scale sin :*Prologue – Ira Glass visits the

Hackers On Planet Earth The Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference series is a hacker convention sponsored by the security hacker magazine '' 2600: The Hacker Quarterly'' that until 2020 was typically held at Hotel Pennsylvania, in Manhattan, New York City. Occ ...

conference and talks to three teenagers who committed credit card fraud tell their stories. (16 minutes) :*Act 1 ::Playwright Jeff Dorchen writes a play about the previous act. (10 minutes) :*Act 2 –

interviews Michael Warr ::Poet Warr discusses his childhood as a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ev ...

. (8 minutes) :*Act 3 ::A member of the hacking group

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

discusses his arrest and imprisonment and his success as a criminal. (26 minutes) * :Air Date: 1995-12-01 :Description: Stories decrying the wonders of turkeys, chickens, and other fowl :*Act 1 ::Danielle explains why her family calls chicken "fish" at the dinner table. (20 minutes) ::Interlude:

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

– "

Saturday Night Fish Fry "Saturday Night Fish Fry" is a jump blues song written by Louis Jordan and Ellis Lawrence Walsh, best known through the version recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five. The recording is considered to be one of the "excellent and commercially ...

" :*Act 2 ::Julie discusses life on a turkey farm (8 minutes) :*Act 3 – Luis Rodriguez ::Rodriguez reads a poem about poultry. (4 minutes) ::Interlude:

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...

– "A Chicken Ain't Nothing But a Bird" :*Act 4 –

Verda Mae Cosgrove Verda may refer to: People Mononym * Saint Verda, 4th-century Persian martyr Surname * Sandra Verda (1959-2014), Italian writer Given name *Verda Erman (1944–2014), Turkish classical pianist * Verda Smith (1923–2000), American National Footbal ...

::The hostess of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''Seasonings'' explains how to cook a chicken. (6 minutes) ::Interlude:

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

– "Eat That Bird" :*Act 5 –

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries.” He published his first co ...

::Sedaris buys a

taxidermied Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...

turkey. (3 minutes) :*Act 6 –

::Glass presents the first new episode of the WCFL radio program "Chickenman" since 1969. (8 minutes) * :Air Date: 1995-12-08 :Description: Stories about vacations gone awry—or perhaps vacations that never should have happened :*Prologue –

::Ira discusses his family photos from a trip to Hawaii. (9 minutes) :*Act 1 –

Sandra Tsing Loh Sandra Tsing Loh (, born February 11, 1962) is an American writer, actress, radio personality, and former professor of art at the University of California, Irvine. Life and career Loh is the younger daughter of a Chinese American, Chinese fathe ...

::Loh reads a story about her family vacation in Ethiopia. (22 minutes) :*Act 2 –

::Sedaris discusses hitchhiking. (25 minutes) ::Interlude:

Ozark Mountain Devils The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

– "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" * :Air Date: 1995-12-15 :Description: Stories that reveal the societal "trend" toward anger and away from genuine forgiveness :Prologue –

::Glass reads a list of words that

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

advised

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

use when referring to Democrats. (7 minutes) :*Act 1 –

Jack Hitt Jack Hitt is an American author. He has been a contributing editor to '' Harper's'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''This American Life'', and the now-defunct magazine '' Lingua Franca''. His work has appeared in such publications as ''Outsi ...

::Hitt is confronted by someone who read an article he wrote about

Susan Smith Susan Leigh Smith (née Vaughan; born September 26, 1971) is an American woman who was convicted of murdering her two sons, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander, in 1994 by drowning them in a South Carolina lake. The case gained i ...

. (15 minutes) :*Act 2 – Iris Moore and Larry Steeger ::Moore and Steeger give monologues about forgiveness. (9 minutes) ::Interlude: Unknown artist – "I Blame God" :*Act 3 – Darrin Bowden ::Bowden explains the effects of harsh criminal sentences on minors. (6 minutes) ::Interlude:

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

– "The Wall" :*Act 4 –

::Glass interviews Glen Fitzgerald, a Christian missionary who works with gang members. (9 minutes) ::Interlude:

– "

Folsom Prison Blues "Folsom Prison Blues" is a song by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. Written in 1953, it was first recorded in 1955 for his debut studio album '' Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!'' (1957), appearing as the album's eleventh track. T ...

" :*Act 5 – Cheryl Trykv ::A story read before a live audience about someone who doesn't want forgiveness. (14 minutes) * :Air Date: 1995-12-22 :Description: Several Christmas-themed performances :*Prologue –

::A Christmas radio play with Sedaris and the Pinetree Gang. (28 minutes) :*Act 1 – Beau O'Reilly ::A Christmas tree story. (14 minutes) :*Act 2 –

Reginald Gibbons Reginald Gibbons (born 1947) is an American poet, fiction writer, translator, literary critic. He is a Frances Hooper Professor of Arts and Humanities at Northwestern University. Gibbons has published numerous books, as well as poems, short storie ...

::A story about Christmas at juvenile court. (10 minutes) :*Act 3 – Peter Clowney ::Christmas at the Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church, whose choir provides music for the entire episode. (9 minutes)
Episode 7
– "Quitting" :Air Date: 1995-12-29 :Description: Stories of people who quit everything in their lives that they hated—and what happened to them afterwards :*Prologue –

Evan Harris Evan Leslie Harris (born 21 October 1965) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservative ...

starts the magazine ''Quitter Quarterly'' with

Shelley Ross Shelley Ross is an American television executive producer, former writer and editor at the ''National Enquirer'', former executive producer of ABC News '' Good Morning America'', and former executive producer at CBS News ''The Early Show''. Car ...

(22 minutes) ::Interlude:

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

– "Don't Fence Me In" :*Act 1 –

::Loh reads a story about quitting. (10 minutes) ::Interlude:

Brave Combo Brave Combo is a polka/rock/worldbeat band based in Denton, Texas. Founded in 1979 by guitarist/keyboardist/accordionist Carl Finch, they have been a prominent fixture in the Texas music scene for more than thirty-five years. Their music, both o ...

– "Do Something Different (Disappear)" :*Act 2 –

::Glass plays excerpts from ''

Shut Up, Little Man! ''Shut Up, Little Man!'' is the title of audio Cinéma vérité, vérité recordings of two argumentative and violent alcoholics, Peter J. Haskett and Raymond Huffman in San Francisco. ''Bananafish Magazine, Bananafish'' magazine arranged for a co ...

'' (9 minutes) :*Act 3 – Lisa Buscani ::A story about being unable to quit. (13 minutes) ::Interlude: Robert Metrick – "The Calendar Song" :*Act 4 –

Dwight Okita Dwight Holden Okita (born August 26, 1958) is a Japanese-American novelist, poet, and playwright. His work reflects his experiences as a third-generation Japanese-American (sansei), a gay man, and a Nichiren Buddhist. He studied English literature ...

and Ira Glass ::Okita reads the poem "Farewell Samba" from his book ''Crossing with the Light'' and Glass reads

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1 ...

's "Poetry of Departures". (3 minutes)

External links

''This American Life''s radio archive for 1995
{{DISPLAYTITLE:List of 1995 ''This American Life'' episodes

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...