Radio Archive by Tag

Writing

  • Just South of the Unicorns.

    470: Show Me The Way 07.27.2012

    A teenager runs away from home to move in with someone he's never met, his idol, the person he ...Family • Teenagers • Writing

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  • Troubled Bridge Over Water.

    407: The Bridge 05.07.2010

    There is a four mile long bridge in Naan-jing China, famous for how many people jump off to ...Death • Heroism • Journalism

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  • Mad Man.

    383: Origin Story 06.19.2009

    TAL producer Sarah Koenig tells the story of her father, Julian Koenig, the legendary ...Advertising/Marketing • Fathers • Writing

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  • Wait Wait...don’t Film Me.

    383: Origin Story 06.19.2009

    Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, tells Ira the origin story of one of the ...Film/Film Making • Writing

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  • The Fat Blue Line.

    362: Got You Pegged 08.22.2008

    While riding in a patrol car to research a novel, crime writer Richard Price witnessed a ...Live Performance • Police • Race

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  • Stereotypes Uber Alles.

    362: Got You Pegged 08.22.2008

    When writer Chuck Klosterman got back from a trip to Germany, friends asked him what Germans ...Travel • Writing

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  • Choosers, Not Beggars.

    358: Social Engineering 06.27.2008

    Gregory Deloatch and Daniel Canada dreamed of being writers, but normal life—marriage, jobs, ...Alcohol • Friendship • Homelessness

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  • Make 'em Laff.

    348: Tough Room 02.08.2008

    Host Ira Glass spends time in perhaps the toughest room on earth, the editorial meeting at the ...Funny • Jobs/Employment • Writing

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  • Prologue.

    342: How to Rest in Peace 11.02.2007

    Host Ira Glass talks to Rachel Howard, whose father, Stan, was murdered when she was 10 years ...Murder • Writing

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  • Prologue.

    328: What I Learned from Television 03.16.2007

    Host Ira Glass talks with Jane Espenson—who's written for the TV shows Battlestar Galactica and ...Television • Writing

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  • Super Duper.

    323: The Super 01.05.2007

    Josh Bearman's favorite story was told to him by his super. It involved these elements: A gas ...Funny • Housing • Writing

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  • One Word: Timing.

    314: It's Never Over 06.23.2006

    Television comedy writer Tami Sagher describes what can happen when you sit on a joke for years, ...Funny • Presidents • Writing

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  • The Grandma Letters.

    313: Parental Guidance Suggested 05.19.2006

    Will Seymour reads letters he and his grandmother exchanged when he was in high school. He was ...Divorce • Family • Funny

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  • Letters.

    312: How We Talked Back Then 05.12.2006

    Ira and playwright David Hauptschein took out advertisements in Chicago inviting people to come ...Live Performance • Writing

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  • Bad Morning America.

    306: Seemed Like A Good Idea at the Time 01.13.2006

    Davy Rothbart was on a 136-city tour appearing on morning TV talk shows to promote his book ...Live Performance • Writing

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  • Prologue.

    305: The This American Life Holiday Spectacular 12.23.2005

    Host Ira Glass hauls out Ye Olde Book of Christmas Stories, only to realize that everyone's ...Holidays • Writing

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  • Johnny Get Your Mouse.

    302: Strangers in a Strange Land 11.18.2005

    Lots of soldiers in Iraq are writing about their experiences online. Producer Amy O'Leary has ...Iraq • War • Writing

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  • The Art Of Adult Conversation.

    293: A Little Bit of Knowledge 07.22.2005

    Writer Alexa Junge tells about the time when she was thirteen and she decided to have a ...Teenagers • Writing

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  • Prologue.

    288: Not What I Meant 05.06.2005

    Host Ira Glass talks to film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader about an anonymous ...Romance • Writing

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  • Prologue And Act One.

    286: Mind Games 04.08.2005

    Host Ira Glass interviews Lori Gottlieb about the time she sent a letter to a writer in a ...Journalism • Writing

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  • Because I'm The Mommy, That's Why.

    284: Should I Stay or Should I Go? 03.11.2005

    One day Virginia Holman's mother announced she was taking Virginia and her little sister to ...Childhood • Mental Health • Writing

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  • Giving Up The Ghosts.

    283: Remember Me 02.25.2005

    Writer Shalom Auslander reads his short story about how he decided to start forgetting the dead, ...Death • History • Writing

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  • Oedipus Hex.

    281: My Big Break 01.21.2005

    Shalom Auslander reads his true story, "The Blessing Bee." It's about the time when, as a ...Children • Religion • Writing

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  • A Can Of Worms.

    257: What I Should've Said 01.16.2004

    David Sedaris wishes he could take back a wish. He's the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and ...Food/Drinks/Cooking • Live Performance • Writing

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  • The Journalism Of Deprivation.

    256: Living Without 01.09.2004

    Sarah Vowell introduces you to a magazine that—if you're lucky—you've never had to read. A ...Food/Drinks/Cooking • Writing

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  • Tin Man.

    256: Living Without 01.09.2004

    Sometimes it's hard to figure out if you're doing something of your own choice or because ...Family • Fiction • Writing

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  • A Christmas Memory.

    255: This American's Life's Holiday Gift-Giving Guide 12.19.2003

    We play a 1959 original recording of Truman Capote reading his holiday story A Christmas ...Holidays • Writing

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  • Whatever Happened To Baby Cain?

    251: Brother's Keeper 11.21.2003

    Jonathan Goldstein retells the story of Cain and Abel. Finally we get to hear Cain's side of ...Religion • Writing

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  • Except For The Smell, I Think I Have A Crush On You.

    249: Garbage 10.31.2003

    There are squatters who've built entire neighborhoods on top of rotting trash heaps in Mexico. ...Childhood • Family • Writing

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  • Inside The Romance Industry.

    247: What Is This Thing? 09.19.2003

    Robin Epstein visits people who define this thing called love—for a living. She attends the ...Romance • Writing

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  • Prologue.

    246: My Pen Pal 09.12.2003

    Ira talks to historian Ted Widmer about two of the first pen pals in the New World. John ...Friendship • History • Writing

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  • Who Put The "pistol" In "epistolary?"

    246: My Pen Pal 09.12.2003

    The story of a ten-year-old girl from small town Michigan named Sarah York, and how she became ...Children • Friendship • Politics

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  • Pen Pal Husband.

    246: My Pen Pal 09.12.2003

    When Janice Powell's husband went to prison, he wrote her a letter every day for eight years. ...Marriage • Writing

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  • Slingshot.

    243: Later That Same Day 07.25.2003

    A story by John Hodgman about returning to the beach after a very bad year. John Hodgman is the ...Gambling • Writing

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  • I Found Your Letter.

    239: Lost in America 06.06.2003

    Davy Rothbart reads from letters, notes, scraps of paper and school papers which have been lost ...Journalism • Live Performance • Writing

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  • The Heart Is A Lonely Junta.

    237: Regime Change 04.18.2003

    Jeffrey Brown wrote a comic novel called Clumsy, a beautiful and intimate account of his ...Romance • Writing

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  • A View From The Mop.

    236: My Two Cents 04.11.2003

    A guy who writes under the pen name Greg Tate wrote a book called 11 Years, 9 Months and 5 Days, ...Food/Drinks/Cooking • Writing

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  • Prologue.

    234: Say Anything 03.14.2003

    Host Ira Glass talks to Neil Chesanow, co-author of Please Read This for Me, a self-help book ...Writing

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  • The Battle Of Words Vs Fear.

    234: Say Anything 03.14.2003

    Michael Bernard Loggins, a developmentally disabled man in his forties, tried to battle his ...Writing

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  • Jarhead.

    232: The Real Story 02.14.2003

    Anthony Swofford reads an excerpt from his memoir, Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War ...Iraq • Military • Writing

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  • Letters To Home.

    195: War Stories 09.28.2001

    One way to understand what war will be like is to understand what past wars were like. Andrew ...Military • War • Writing

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  • The Disappearance.

    193: Stories of Loss 09.14.2001

    Genevieve Jurgensen and her husband Laurent lost their two daughters—Elise and Mathilde—at the ...Children • Death • Mothers

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  • Look For The Union Label.

    193: Stories of Loss 09.14.2001

    A father and daughter (Adrian LeBlanc and his daughter Adrian Le Blanc) decide to write his ...Children • Death • Fathers

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  • Agent To The Stars.

    190: Living the Dream 08.03.2001

    Writer John Hodgman in New York tells the story of how he dreamt of getting to know the B-movie ...Film/Film Making • Jobs/Employment • Writing

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  • You Know What Mr Bear Would Say.

    153: Dolls 03.03.2000

    A truly remarkable children's book just came back in print: The Lonely Doll, by Dare Wright. ...Childhood • Literature • Writing

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  • The Boy Who Would Be A Helicopter.

    153: Dolls 03.03.2000

    Kindergarten teacher and "Genius Grant" recipient Vivian Paley is the author of many books about ...Children • Education • Jobs/Employment

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  • Prologue.

    148: The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Suit 12.24.1999

    Host Ira Glass talks with Stephen Nissenbaum, author of a history called The Battle for ...City • History • Holidays

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  • Look For The Union Label.

    144: Where Words Fail 11.05.1999

    A father and daughter (Adrian LeBlank and his daughter Adrian Le Blank) decide to write his ...Death • Family • Fathers

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  • Able To Leap Tall Buildings.

    141: Invisible Worlds 10.01.1999

    The publisher of the zine Infiltration talks about the pleasure and importance of going behind ...City • Writing

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  • You Come And Go, The Waiters Remain.

    134: We Didn't 07.09.1999

    This story is part memoir, part philosophical inquiry into the nature of not doing things. ...Literature • Writing

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  • How To Be A Man.

    99: I Enjoy Being A Girl, Sort Of 04.10.1998

    Writer Sarah Miller attends a class on how to walk and talk and act like a man. It's not easy. ...Sexuality • Writing

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  • Self-made Wacky.

    97: Death to Wacky 03.20.1998

    Ira talks with Maria, who took out a personals ad in the Chicago Reader advertising herself as ...Romance • Writing

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  • Mama, Can You Hear Me?

    92: Leave the Mask On 02.06.1998

    In which Dan Savage, who makes his living writing a nationally syndicated sex advice column, ...Family • Funny • Sexuality

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  • Nom De Plume, Nom De Guerre.

    56: Name Change 03.07.1997

    How a guy named Tom became Camden Joy — and what he gained and what he lost. With Sarah Vowell. ...Jobs/Employment • Journalism • Music

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  • Prologue.

    51: Animals Die, People Ponder 01.24.1997

    Ira with an expert in medieval manuscripts, Sandy Hindman. (5 minutes)Animals • Art • History

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  • Dangerous Minds.

    43: Faustian Bargains 11.22.1996

    LuAnne Johnson is a teacher who sold her story to Hollywood and saw it made into the film and TV ...Education • Film/Film Making • Jobs/Employment

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  • Prologue.

    28: Detectives 07.12.1996

    Ira talks about one of the purest expressions of ordinary folks' desire to be detectives: a ...Childhood • Jobs/Employment • Writing

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  • Prologue.

    7: Quitting 12.29.1995

    Evan Harris was entrenched in her life, stalled and going nowhere both personally and ...Jobs/Employment • Writing

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  • Act Two.

    6: Christmas 12.22.1995

    A story about Christmas at Juvenile Court by Chicago novelist/editor Reginald Gibbons. (10 minutes)Criminal Justice • Fiction • Holidays

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