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''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by
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'', ' ...
. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
. Primarily a
journalistic Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
program, it has also featured
essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
s,
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...
s, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage. The first episode aired on November 17, 1995, under the show's original title, ''Your Radio Playhouse''. The series was distributed by Public Radio International until June 2014, when the program became self-distributed with
Public Radio Exchange The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...
delivering new episodes to public radio stations. A television adaptation of the show ran for two seasons on the Showtime cable network between June 2007 and May 2008.


Format

Each week's show has a theme, explored in several "acts". On occasion, an entire program will consist of a single act. Each act is produced by a combination of staff and freelance contributors. Programs usually begin with a short program identification by host
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'', ' ...
who then introduces a prologue related to the theme which precedes act one. This prologue will then lead into the presentation of the theme for that week's show. After the introduction of the theme, Glass then introduces the first act of the program. Content varies widely by episode. Stories are often told as
first-person narrative A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-telle ...
s. The mood of the show ranges from gloomy to ironic, from thought-provoking to humorous. The show often addresses current events, such as Hurricane Katrina in "After the Flood". Often ''This American Life'' features stories which explore aspects of human nature, such as "Kid Logic", which presented pieces on the reasoning of children. The majority of interviews with subjects never make it to the air, as many as 80 percent, because the team looks for interviewees who recount stories in a "particular way". The end credits of each show are read by Glass, and include a sound clip extracted out of context from some portion of that show, which Glass humorously attributes to previous WBEZ general manager
Torey Malatia Torey Malatia (born August 1951) is an American people, American journalist, radio producer, and public media manager. In 2016 he was named president, CEO, and general manager of Rhode Island Public Radio. Until resigning on July 26, 2013, he se ...
, who co-founded the show with Glass in 1995. Glass has stated he is contractually obligated to mention station WBEZ (and previously, also former distributor PRI) three times in the course of the show.


History

In the early 1990s, Glass co-hosted, with Gary Covino, a Friday-night show in Chicago called ''The Wild Room.'' However, he was looking for new opportunities in radio, and had been sending grant proposals to the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...
for two years when, in 1995, the
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...
approached Torey Malatia, general manager of Chicago Public Radio. They offered him to make a show featuring local Chicago writers and performance artists. Malatia approached Glass with the idea, who countered that he wanted to do a weekly program, but with a different premise, a budget of , and sights on taking it national. In a 1998 article in the '' Chicago Reader'', Michael Miner quoted Covino as saying, "The show
lass Lass may refer to: *A girl/young woman in Scottish/Northern English People Surname *August Lass (1903–1962), Estonian footballer * Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass (1940–1995), Polish actress *Donna Lass (1944–' 1970), possible victim of the Zodiac ...
proposed was ''The Wild Room''. He just didn't call it ''The Wild Room''." Glass, however, didn't include his co-host in his plans and assured him that the deal was unlikely to happen. When the show went on without him, Covino says he felt "betrayed". While Glass admits he wasn't transparent about his plans, in that same article, he explained, "Every week on ''The Wild Room'' we came to the show with two independent sensibilities. I love Gary. I loved Gary. But I didn't want to keep doing that show...and the notion that everything I brought to ''The Wild Room'' I got from him I find completely infuriating...I didn't want to do free-form radio anymore. I have no interest in improvisation. It might have been possible to design a show with him that he would have felt comfortable with and I would have felt comfortable with. But at that point—I was in my late 30s—I just wanted to do the thing I wanted to do." The show debuted on WBEZ in Chicago as ''Your Radio Playhouse'' on November 17, 1995. Glass conceived a format where each segment of the show would be an "act," and at the beginning of each episode, would explain that show consisted of "documentaries, monologues, overheard conversations, found tapes, ndanything we can think of." Glass also served as executive producer. The program's name was changed beginning with the March 21, 1996, episode, and was picked up nationally by PRI the following June. Chicago Public Media (then called the WBEZ Alliance) produced. The program's first year was produced on a budget that was tight even by US public-radio standards. A budget of $243,000 covered an outfitted studio, marketing costs, satellite time, four full-time staffers, and various freelance writers and reporters. The station was located at Chicago's
Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, family ...
. Early on, Glass commissioned stories from artists, writers, theater people, and journalists. National
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
began in June 1996 when Public Radio International formed a distribution partnership with the program, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting awarded the show a three-year grant for $350,000, double what Glass applied for. As time went on, the staff was drawn more to journalistic stories that were, as Glass puts it, "in a style where there were characters and scenes and plot and funny moments." The show is also carried on Sirius XM Satellite Radio over the Public Radio International block on the XM Public Radio channel. In the early 2010's, the program consistently rated as the first- or second-most downloaded podcast on iTunes for each week. Early response to the program was largely positive. In 1998, ''
Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'' magazine called it "hip as well as intensely literary and surprisingly irreverent." Glass used a unique strategy to promote the show to stations by giving away pledge drive ads he developed himself. By the end of 1999, TAL aired on 325 public radio stations, and, around that time, Rhino Records released a "
greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
" CD of ''TAL'' episodes. In January 2011, the series was picked up by
CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The program is shortened slightly for the Canadian broadcast to allow for a five-minute newscast at the top of the hour, although this is partly made up for by the removal of mid-program breaks, most of the production credits (apart from that of Malatia), and underwriting announcements (CBC's radio services being fully commercial-free, except when contractually or legally required). In January 2012, ''This American Life'' presented excerpts from a one-man theater show ''The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs'' by Mike Daisey as an exposé of conditions at a
Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan and Foxconn internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng, New ...
factory in China. The episode was entitled "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory" and became one of the show's most popular episodes at that time, with 888,000 downloads and 206,000 streams. WBEZ planned to host a live showing and a Q+A of "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" in Chicago on April 7, 2012. On March 16, 2012, ''This American Life'' officially retracted the episode after learning that several events recounted both in the radio story and the monologue were fabrications. WBEZ canceled the planned live performance and refunded all ticket purchases. Airing that day, ''This American Life'' devoted the week's show (titled "Retraction") to detailing the inconsistencies in "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs". The show includes interviews between Rob Schmitz, the reporter who discovered the discrepancies, and Daisey's translator in China, Cathy Lee, as well as an interview between host Glass and Daisey. Daisey apologized for presenting his work as journalism, saying "It's not journalism. It's theater," but refused to acknowledge that he had lied—even in the face of obvious discrepancies. The podcast of this episode became the most downloaded until February 2013. Two weeks later, the show also reiterated that they had previously removed three stories by
Stephen Glass Stephen Randall Glass (born September 15, 1972) is an American paralegal who previously worked as a journalist for ''The New Republic'' from 1995 to 1998, until it was revealed that many of his published articles were fabrications. An internal i ...
due to dubious content, namely episode 57, "Delivery", episode 79, " Stuck in the Wrong Decade", and episode 86, "How to Take Money from Strangers." The episodes including the segments had inadvertently resurfaced in episode streams due to a website redesign. Though the segments were cut from podcast streams, the transcript of the contents have been kept accessible on the show's official website. In 2015, the show retracted a story about canvassers who tried to change people's political opinions. The story was based on an article in ''
Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
'' that was also retracted. In March 2014, the program announced that PRI would stop distributing the show in July, and that May, Glass announced that the staff would be distributing the show themselves, with
Public Radio Exchange The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...
doing the technical legwork to deliver the audio to the radio stations. On October 1, 2014, the show produced a spinoff, '' Serial'', a season-long exploration delivered as a podcast series. In 2015, Glass became the sole owner of ''This American Life''; WBEZ continued as a production partner on the show and on ''Serial'' with future shows to be independent. In 2017, ''This American Life'' launched the podcast '' S-Town'' through the spinoff company Serial Productions. Serial Productions was bought by
The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City. History The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. ...
in 2020. The ''Times'' and Serial jointly produced the podcasts ''Nice White Parents'', hosted by
Chana Joffe-Walt Chana Joffe-Walt is a radio journalist and producer. She has worked for ''Planet Money'' and ''This American Life''. Early life Joffe-Walt's parents are South African. She graduated from Oberlin College in 2003. Career Joffe-Walt began her radi ...
, which debuted in July 2020; and ''The Improvement Association'', hosted by Zoe Chace, which debuted in April 2021.


Production

In a 2014 interview, Glass revealed the software and equipment used to make the show. The staff records interviews using Marantz PMD661 digital recorders and
Audio Technica (stylized as audio-technica) is a Japanese company that designs and manufactures professional microphones, headphones, turntables, phonographic magnetic cartridges, and other audio equipment. Company history Audio-Technica was established i ...
AT835b shotgun microphones. After each recording session (whether a single interview or day of recording) he uses a story structuring technique he learned from print journalist
Paul Tough Paul Tough (born 1967) is a Canadian-American writer and broadcaster. He is perhaps best known for authoring the works ''Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America'' and ''How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and th ...
. He jots or types all the most memorable moments from the tape, then has the recording transcribed and makes note of any quotes of potential value in the story. He then arranges those quotes into a structured narrative. To edit each story, the reporter presents the show to other producers. Guests on the show have included
Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published seven books: '' The Tipping Point: How Little ...
and Michael Paterniti, who would normally command tens of thousands of dollars for an article but have settled for as little as 200 per day to have a piece included on the show. The program helped launch the literary careers of many, including contributing editor
Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...
and essayists David Rakoff and
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 c ...
. For live shows, which combine live and pre-recorded elements, Glass previously used a
mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...
and CD players. With time, he switched to using an
iPad Mini The iPad Mini (branded and marketed as iPad mini) is a line of mini tablet computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a sub-series of the iPad line of tablets, with screen sizes of 7.9 inches and 8.3 inches. The first- ...
running TouchAble software, which in turn controls the
Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Ableton Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool ...
software on his
MacBook Air The MacBook Air is a line of ultrabook computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It consists of a full-size keyboard, a machined aluminum case, and, in the more modern versions, a thin light structure. The Air was originally position ...
. He can plug the MacBook into the house sound system using the device's headphone jack. The show offers two, six-month fellowship positions annually for persons who have worked in the field of journalism, but who would like training in how to tell stories in the style of ''This American Life''.


Music

Episodes of ''TAL'' are accompanied by music. Some songs are used between acts and are credited in the episode guide for the show. Other songs are used as thematic background music for stories and are not credited. Jonathan Menjivar is a producer and music supervisor at the show. "Over the years, we've used hundreds of songs under our stories—and in some stories, we use a number of different songs in different sections. We tried to answer these emails , but often it was impossible sometimes to pinpoint which song people were asking about...".


Reception


Critical reception

The show received positive reviews from the beginning. Marc Fisher with ''
American Journalism Review The ''American Journalism Review'' (''AJR'') was an American magazine covering topics in journalism. It was launched in 1977 as the ''Washington Journalism Review'' by journalist Roger Kranz. It ceased publication in 2015. History and profile Th ...
'' drew attention to how the program's production style elicits "a sense of ease, informality and direct, unfiltered access", and "the effect is liberating". After remarking that producing so many stories each episode is "labor intensive," David Stewart with ''Current'' said it is "remarkable that while a few stories were fatuous or trite, most were successful and some really memorable." He added, "Whose American life is this? Clearly Ira's: it is kinky, clever, at once disingenuous and innocent, fanciful, rarely too serious...Above all, it is compelling." The program has received criticism as well. In 2020, author Andrew J Bottomley wrote that the show primarily represents the perspective of its "predominantly white, upper-middle-class, educated audience." He also said the show is "didactic ... extracting from the stories of others a lesson that is then instilled on the audience."


Listenership

In 1999, more than 800,000 people listened to ''This American Life'' each weekend on 332 public radio stations. By 2019, the show broadcast to 2.2 million listeners each week, with an additional podcast audience of 3.6 million.


Awards

WBEZ-FM received a Peabody Award in 1996 and again in 2006 for ''TAL'', for a show which "captures contemporary culture in fresh and inventive ways that mirror the diversity and eccentricities of its subjects" and "weav soriginal monologues, mini-dramas, original fiction, traditional radio documentaries and original radio dramas into an instructional and entertaining tapestry". In 2020, ''This American Life'' became the first news program to win the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting. The winning work was "The Out Crowd", the 688th episode with "revelatory, intimate journalism that illuminates the personal impact of the Trump Administration's '
Remain in Mexico Remain in Mexico (officially Migrant Protection Protocols) is a United States immigration policy originally implemented in January 2019 under the Presidency of Donald Trump, administration of President Donald Trump, affecting Immigration to the Uni ...
' policy". In March 2021, the May 9, 2008, episode, "The Giant Pool of Money", was selected by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
for preservation in the National Recording Registry as one of 25 works added to the registry for 2020. It was the first podcast episode ever chosen for inclusion in the registry.


Adaptations


Television

Discussions of a television adaptation of ''TAL'' date back to at least 1999. However, the show's creative team was unsure of what the show would "look like" and, with so much money on the line, turned down offers. In January 2006, Showtime announced it had
greenlit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
six episodes of a new series based on ''TAL''. The announcement noted that each half-hour episode would "be hosted by Ira Glass and ..explore a single theme or topic through the unique juxtaposition of first-person storytelling and whimsical narrative." For budgetary reasons, Glass and four of the radio show's producers left Chicago for New York City, where Showtime is headquartered. In January 2007, it was announced that Glass had completed production on the show's first season, with the first episode set to premiere on March 22. Originally the series had a contract for a total of 30 shows over the four years, but after two seasons Glass announced that he and the other creators of the show had "asked to be taken off TV", largely in part to the difficult schedule required to produce a television program. WBEZ official blog:
Exclusive: Ira Glass dishes on end of 'TAL' TV. Will he return to Chicago?
"
He went on to state that the show is officially "on hiatus", but would like to do a television special at some point in the future. The episode "The Anatomy of Doubt" based on reporting by
ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...
and The Marshall Project was adapted into the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
series '' Unbelievable''.


Film

Stories from ''TAL'' have been used as the basis of movie scripts. In 2002 the show signed a six-figure deal with
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
giving the studio two years of "first-look" rights to its hundreds of past and future stories. One film to have emerged from the deal is ''
Unaccompanied Minors ''Unaccompanied Minors'' (also known as ''Grounded'' in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a 2006 Christmas comedy film directed by Paul Feig and starring Lewis Black, Wilmer Valderrama, Tyler James Williams, Dyllan Christopher, ...
'', a 2006 film directed by
Paul Feig Paul Samuel Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for directing films starring frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy, including '' Bridesmaids'' (2011), '' The Heat'' (2013), '' Spy'' (20 ...
and based on "In The Event of An Emergency, Put Your Sister in an Upright Position" from "Babysitting". Ira Glass and longtime ''TAL'' producer Julie Snyder were both executive producers on the film. In June 2008, Spike Lee bought the movie rights to Ronald Mallett's memoir, whose story was featured in the episode "My Brilliant Plan". Potential Warner Bros films from ''TAL'' episodes include "Niagara", which explored the town of Niagara Falls, New York, after those who sought to exploit the
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
and hydroelectrical opportunities of the area left; "Wonder Woman" (from the episode "Superpowers"), the story of an adolescent who took steps to become the superhero she dreamed of being, well into adulthood; and "Act V", about the last act of ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' as staged by inmates from a maximum security prison as part of Prison Performing Arts Adult Theatre Projects. Paramount Pictures and
Broadway Video Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to ...
are in production on ''Curly Oxide and Vic Thrill'', a film based on the ''TAL'' story in the episode "My Experimental Phase". ''This American Life''s 168th episode, "The Fix Is In", inspired screenwriter Scott Burns to adapt Kurt Eichenwald's book about business executive and FBI informant Mark Whitacre, titled '' The Informant'', into a major motion picture. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...
. Glass has stated that the radio show has no financial stake in the film, but noted that he appreciated how well the movie stuck to the original facts. ''This American Life''s 361st episode's, "Fear of Sleep", section "Stranger in the Night" featured an excerpt from
Mike Birbiglia Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
's one-man show, "Sleepwalk with Me". This inspired Glass to work with Birbiglia for two years on a movie based on this segment. The film version of ''
Sleepwalk with Me ''Sleepwalk with Me'' is a 2012 American independent comedy film co-written by, directed by, and starring Mike Birbiglia. It also stars Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn, Carol Kane, and Cristin Milioti. Before making the film, Birbiglia had already ...
'' screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2012, to favorable reviews, winning the "Best of NEXT Audience Award". In May 2011,
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...
announced it was adapting a movie from a 2009 episode titled "The Girlfriend Equation". The 2018 film '' Come Sunday'' was based on a 2005 ''TAL'' story called "Heretics," about controversial Tulsa preacher Carlton Pearson. In 2019, Lulu Wang adapted her autobiographical story called "What You Don't Know" from the 2016 episode "In Defense of Ignorance" into '' The Farewell''. The 2019 film ''
Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...
'' was adapted from a ''TAL'' story by Chris Higgins called "I've Fallen in Love and I Can't Get Up."


Live tours

''This American Life'' has taken the radio show on the road three times since 2000; material recorded on each of the three tours has been edited into an episode which aired on the radio shortly after the tour. Other episodes include segments recorded live. * "Music Lessons", recorded at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco during the 1998 Public Radio Conference in San Francisco. Performers include
Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...
,
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 c ...
and Anne Lamott. Music includes elementary school students from the San Francisco Unified School District as well as "Eyes on the Sparrow" with Renola Garrison vocals and Anne Jefferson on piano. * "What Are You Looking At?," recorded in December 1998 at
The Town Hall (New York City) The Town Hall (also Town Hall) is a performance space at 123 West 43rd Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue near Times Square, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It was built from 1919 to 1921 and designed by ...
. Performers include
Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...
and David Rakoff, with music by They Might Be Giants. *"Advice", recorded in 1999 in Seattle and at HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. Performers include
Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...
,
Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes ''Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husba ...
, and Cheryl Trykv with music from the Black Cat Orchestra. * "Birthdays, Anniversaries and Milestones", recorded in December 2000 in Boston (Berklee Performance Center), New York, Chicago (Merle Reskin Theatre), and Los Angeles. Performers included
Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...
,
Russell Banks Russell Banks (born March 28, 1940) is an American writer of fiction and poetry. As a novelist, Banks is best known for his "detailed accounts of domestic strife and the daily struggles of ordinary often-marginalized characters". His stories usua ...
, David Rakoff, Ian Brown, and OK Go. * "Lost in America", recorded in May 2003 in Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland, Denver, and Chicago. Performers included
Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...
,
Davy Rothbart David Ira "Davy" Rothbart (born April 11, 1975) is a bestselling author, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, contributor to ''This American Life'', and the editor/publisher of '' Found Magazine''. Found Magazine Davy Rothbart's magazine ''Found'' is d ...
, and Jonathan Goldstein.
Jon Langford Jonathan Denis Langford (born 11 October 1957) is a Welsh musician and artist based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Langford is a founder member of the punk band The Mekons, the post-punk group The Three Johns, and the alternative count ...
of the Mekons led the "Lost in America House Band" during the show. * "What I Learned from Television", recorded in February and March 2007 in New York City (February 26 at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center); Boston (February 27 at the Boston Opera House); Minneapolis (February 28 at the Orpheum Theatre); Chicago (March 1 at the Chicago Theatre); Seattle (March 7 at the Paramount Theatre); and Los Angeles (March 12 at Royce Hall, UCLA). Directed by Jane Feltes, performers on this tour included David Rakoff,
Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...
, John Hodgman,
Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes ''Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husba ...
, Jonathan Goldstein, and Chris Wilcha. In New York, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and Minneapolis,
Mates of State Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group is the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner (born June 16, 1974) (vocals, organ, synthesizer, piano, electric piano, and occasional guitar and drums) and Jason Hammel ...
were the house band, while in Los Angeles, OK Go performed between acts.


Digital cinema

On May 1, 2008, ''This American Life'' was the first major public media program to use
digital cinema Digital cinema refers to adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be sh ...
, distributing a one-hour-long program titled ''This American Life – Live!'' to select cinemas. PRI originally conceived of the idea to serve stations around the country. ''This American Life Live!'' was presented exclusively in select theatres by National CineMedia's (NCM) Fathom, in partnership with BY Experience and Chicago Public Radio, and in association with Public Radio International. On April 23, 2009, ''This American Life'' broadcast a second theater event, titled ''This American Life – Live! Returning to the Scene of the Crime''. Contributors included Mike Birbiglia, Starlee Kine, Dan Savage, David Rakoff, and Joss Whedon. On May 10, 2012, ''This American Life'' broadcast a third theater event, titled ''Invisible Made Visible''. Contributors included David Sedaris, David Rakoff,
Tig Notaro Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, radio contributor, and actress. She is known for her deadpan comedy. Her acclaimed album ''Live'' was nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award for Be ...
, Ryan Knighton, and Mike Birbiglia, who made a short film with
Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining N ...
. On June 7, 2014, ''This American Life'' recorded a fourth live event titled ''The Radio Drama Episode''. Contributors included Carin Gilfry, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mike Birbiglia, Joshua Bearman, and Sasheer Zamata. The episode was broadcast on radio and the podcast on June 20, 2014.


Podcast

From 1998 to 2005, the program could be accessed online in two formats: a free RealAudio stream available from the official show website, and a DRM-encrypted download available through
Audible.com Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receiv ...
, which charged $4 per episode. In early 2006, the program began to offer
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
copies of each episode, which could be streamed from the show's website using a proprietary Flash player. Aware that more people were listening through headphones and so could hear mistakes more clearly, the production sought to improve the mixing and editing. Since October 2006, the program has offered a free podcast feed to the public. Under this arrangement, each show is made available to podcast feeds and aggregation programs Sunday evening at 8 p.m. ET, allowing radio stations a 43-hour window of exclusivity to carry the episode. After seven days, the link to the MP3 is removed from the podcast feed. Older shows can be streamed online via the show's website, or purchased from Apple's
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
for $0.95 per episode. Since the move to MP3 files in 2006, the show has relied on an extremely lightweight Digital Rights Management system, based on security through obscurity and legal threats. While the show episodes are removed from the podcast RSS feed after a week, they remain on ''This American Life''s server, accessible to anyone who knows the location. On at least three occasions, Internet users have created their own unofficial podcast feeds,
deep linking In the context of the World Wide Web, deep linking is the use of a hyperlink that links to a specific, generally searchable or indexed, piece of web content on a website (e.g. "http://example.com/path/page"), rather than the website's home page (e ...
to the MP3 files located on the ''This American Life'' webserver. In all three instances, the podcast feeds were removed from the Internet once representatives from Public Radio International contacted the individuals responsible for creating the feeds. , a typical podcast episode was downloaded 750,000 times.


Mobile apps

In February 2010, Public Radio Exchange launched a mobile app on
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
's iTunes Store. This app contains MP3 audio of the podcast. In October 2016, ''This American Life'' launched an app called Shortcut to allow listeners to share short audio clips on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
, similar to the way gifs allow social media users to share video clips. Stephanie Foo served as project lead, collaborating with developers Courtney Stanton and Darius Kazemi of Feel Train. In the app, listeners can select an audio clip of up to 30 seconds to post to social media, where the audio plays and displays a transcription of the clip. The app's initial iteration operates on ''This American Life'''s archives, but the project code will be released as
open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...
, available for other audio projects to adopt.


Other media

Some of the show's episodes are accompanied by multimedia downloads available on ''This American Lifes website. For example, a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the Elton John song " Rocket Man" was produced for episode 223, "Classifieds", and released as an MP3. Four two-disc CD sets collecting some of the producers' favorite acts have been released: '' Lies, Sissies, and Fiascoes: The Best of This American Life'' was released on May 4, 1999; '' Crimebusters + Crossed Wires: Stories from This American Life'' was released on November 11, 2003; ''Davy Rothbart: This American Life'' was released in 2004; and '' Stories of Hope and Fear'' was released on November 7, 2006. A 32-page
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
, ''Radio: An Illustrated Guide'' (), documents how an episode of ''TAL'' is put together. It was drawn by cartoonist
Jessica Abel Jessica Abel (born 1969) is an American comic book writer and artist, known as the creator of such works as ''Life Sucks'', ''Drawing Words & Writing Pictures'', ''Soundtrack'', ''La Perdida'', ''Mirror, Window'', ''Radio: An Illustrated Guide' ...
, written by Abel and Glass, and first published in 1999. The cover of "The Lives They Lived" edition of ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' published on December 25, 2011, read "These American Lives" after a special section of the magazine edited by Glass and other staff of the show.


Cultural impact

Marc Fisher with ''American Journalism Review'' wrote, in a 1999 article on the show, that "in ways small but clear, as inspiration if not direct model, ''This American Life'' is at the vanguard of a shift in American journalism." In the book ''Sound Streams—A Cultural History of Radio-Internet Convergence'', author Andrew Bottomley calls the show "the archetype of the modern US feature-documentary mode." ''This American Life'' was an early adopter to the podcast format and became a forerunner of the medium. Steph Harmon with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' remarked that the show is "often credited for ushering in not only a public radio revolution, but the rise of storytelling as an industry and
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
ing as a form."


Depictions in the media

Television shows and movies have made allusions to the program. ''This American Life'' was referenced in a 2018 episode of ''
The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on C ...
''.
Summer Roberts Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
, in ''
The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...
,'' asked of ''This American Life'', "Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are? Ekhh. God." Glass, a fan of the teen soap opera, played the line during an episode about ''TAL''s 2007 live tour. After hearing the line, he said, "I literally stood up and went like—like did that just happen? During a crowd interaction in
Mike Birbiglia Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
's 2017 standup special 'Thank God for Jokes', a frustrated Birbiglia exclaims "We don't all have to be Ira Glass here!" in response to the audience member. The show has also been the subject of parodies. The satirical newspaper ''
The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...
'' published a story on April 20, 2007, entitled "'This American Life' Completes Documentation Of Liberal, Upper-Middle-Class Existence." In 2011, comedy writer Julian Joslin (with Michael Grinspan) released a parody of ''TAL'' entitled "This American Laugh" on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, wherein a fictional Glass makes a sex tape with Fresh Air's Terry Gross. The spoof was viewed over 100,000 times in one week. In response, Glass said, "hearing his version of me, made what I do on the air seem kind of dumb. And the impersonation was so good ... I had to decide, 'Do I want to see myself as kind of trite and dumb?' Seemed better to stop." Fred Armisen parodied Ira Glass for a skit on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
''s "Weekend Update" in 2011. The skit was cut from the show on the grounds that Ira Glass was "not famous enough" to be parodied on ''Saturday Night Live''. Glass then invited Armisen to impersonate him as a guest co-host for an episode of ''TAL'' in January 2013. In 2013, Stanley Chase III, Mickey Dwyer, Ken Fletcher, and Matt Gifford launched the parody podcast ''That American Life'' on iTunes, which is hosted by "Ira Class". In two episodes of season one of '' Orange Is the New Black'', Robert Stanton portrays radio personality Maury Kind, an NPR host of a show called ''Urban Tales''. The show within a show is a fictional portrayal of ''TAL''. Glass has made appearances as himself in fictional works. In the 2014 film '' Veronica Mars,'' the character
Stosh "Piz" Piznarski ''Veronica Mars'' is an American television series created by Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during UPN's last two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Televisi ...
works at ''This American Life,'' and Glass and many ''TAL'' staffers appear in background roles. Glass also had a cameo appearance in the 22nd-season premiere of ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'', entitled " Elementary School Musical". Lisa plays ''This American Life'' on her iPod and Glass introduces the theme of the day's show, "Today in Five Acts: Condiments". In the '' American Dad!'' episode, "Honey, I'm Homeland", Glass plays himself in a voice-only role. Members of an " Occupy" group kidnap Stan after he tries to infiltrate their group. While he's in captivity, they try to brainwash him by playing an episode of ''This American Life'' in which Glass talks about a dog and his owner, who also happens to be a dog. Stan objects to Glass's pauses between lines, questioning why they are necessary if he already has them written down in front of him. When Stan has been fully brainwashed and is released, he continues to listen to Glass as he touts the benefits of paying for radio. In a season 6 episode of '' 30 Rock'' called " St. Patrick's Day," Glass's voice appears on the radio, apparently presenting ''TAL'', with his studio having been overrun by drunken thugs. In the 2014 episode of '' Bojack Horseman'', called "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen," Glass voices Diane's ring tone during a meeting with Bojack and his publisher, thanking her for being a sustaining member of public radio. Much of the ''TAL'' staff made a cameo on the season four opener of the HBO show '' High Maintenance'', in an episode that told the story of a fictional new reporter at the radio program.


References


Citations


Works cited

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General references

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External links

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SerialPodcast.org
''Serials official website
STownPodcast.org
the official website for the '' S Town'' podcast {{Authority control 1990s American radio programs 1995 establishments in the United States 1995 radio programme debuts 2000s American radio programs 2010s American radio programs American documentary radio programs Audio podcasts Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programmes CBC Radio One programs English-language radio programs James Beard Foundation Award winners Peabody Award-winning radio programs Chicago radio shows Radio in New York City Pulitzer Prize winners Shorty Award winners Public Radio International programs 2020s American radio programs Radio programs adapted into television shows Documentary podcasts