This American Life

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Biography

This American Life (TAL) is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by Chicago Public Radio. It is distributed by Public Radio International and is also available as a free weekly . TAL, hosted by Ira Glass, is primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, although it has also featured essays, memoirs, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage.

Each week’s show loosely centers on a particular theme. The theme of the show is explored in several “acts,” usually two to five. On occasion, an entire program will consist of a single act. A notable exception was the show “20 Acts in 60 Minutes”, which broke the normal convention by presenting twenty acts in one hour. Each act is produced using a combination of staff and freelance contributors.

Content varies widely by episode, and stories are often told as first-person narratives. The mood of the show ranges from gloomy to ironic, from thought-provoking to hilarious. The show often addresses current events, such as Hurricane Katrina in “After the Flood.” Listeners are just as likely to be introduced to subjects and or issues completely new to them as the island nation of Nauru in the story, “The Middle of Nowhere”. Often This American Life features stories which explore aspects of human nature, such as “Kid Logic”, which presented pieces on the reasoning of children.
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  • FreakFire74

    Fantastic podcast! My absolute favorite!

    10 Dec 2011 Reply

  • froggyman230

    go to the newest show and click free mp3 then change the number in thee url for diffirent episodes to save to your computer

    25 Nov 2011 Reply

  • MajorOrgan

    NPR PUNX [3]

    30 Sep 2011 Reply

  • golfmade

    Great show, love that even though I live halfway around the world can easily listen to TAL podcasts.

    29 Jul 2011 Reply

  • tom_dissonance

    70 episodes a week? i call bullshit

    13 Feb 2011 Reply

  • DeoDeath

    NPR PUNX [2]

    27 Dec 2010 Reply

  • eternalcowboy2

    im getting married to ira glass

    11 Sep 2010 Reply

  • brrrclaw

    NPR PUNX

    25 Apr 2010 Reply

  • narhasan

    I highly recommend WNYC Radiolab as well for anyone who enjoys TAL and is looking for a science/philosophy theme focus. Both shows are aural delights.

    13 Apr 2010 Reply

  • pillowpantzzz

    can't stop

    14 Mar 2010 Reply

  • jkdeadite

    OMG... I've listened to 70 episodes of This American Life in the past week alone...

    3 Mar 2010 Reply

  • everything

    Seconding the Moth recommendation from below. Love listening to both.

    3 Mar 2010 Reply

  • lizvelrene

    I only just realized that I can listen to episodes of this online. My workday just got a whole lot better.

    23 Feb 2010 Reply

  • jackattack83

    I think I look forward to each new TAL radio show more than the weekend. I guess that just makes me saaad.

    17 Feb 2010 Reply

  • updownleftright

    i just got every one of your episodes.. maybe someday when i'm 100 i'll finally be able to listen to them all.

    28 Dec 2009 Reply

  • kickingthumb

    So who is planning an improve "mission" in his or her respective city? What are you doing and where are you doing it? I'm thinking about it myself...

    9 Dec 2009 Reply

  • Eatyobrains

    How wonderful.

    7 Dec 2009 Reply

  • itsarno

    American life is the best show on radio. Thanks Ira. If you like the show then you will like the book The New Kings of Nonfiction.

    19 Nov 2009 Reply

  • BlueSiren

    This radio show helps me get through my work day. Thank you.

    29 Sep 2009 Reply

  • jaggers304

    I remember at my last job, I had to sit around in a filing room for hours alone, sorting through records of dead patients. I couldn't stand it, so I would sit around instead and listen to This American Life, passed the hours by really quickly. Sometimes I would laugh out loud and sometimes I would feel horribly depressed, but sure as hell, each story was memorable.

    11 Sep 2009 Reply
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