The other day, longtime This American Life staffer Seth Lind told Ira Glass something that blew his mind. So he took Seth into the studio.
Ira Glass talks to the graduating journalists about the challenges they and all journalists face these days, with fewer people believing fact-based reporting.
The film tells the real-life story of Carlton Pearson, who was a rising star in the Pentecostal church and Oral Roberts’s protégé.
Brian Reed, host of S-Town, talked to Jimmy Fallon about how a chance email sent by a fascinating Alabama antique clock restorer led to the podcast.
15 million people watched this on Facebook. Right before the 2016 election, we asked Sara Bareilles to imagine what President Obama might be thinking about Donald Trump, but couldn’t say publicly. Leslie Odom Jr. sang.
The third song we commissioned on the eve of the 2016 election. Broadway composer Michael Friedman imagined what RNC Chairman Reince Priebus might be thinking, but not expressing publicly. John Ellison Conlee sang.
Just before the 2016 election, we asked the Frozen songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez to imagine what Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was feeling, but couldn’t say publicly, about Donald Trump. Neil Patrick Harris sang the part of Paul Ryan.
Ira explains how to use our Shortcut app to share clips from This American Life on social media.
A hilarious and honest look at the lives of professional funny people.
Sarah Koenig, host of Serial, talked to Stephen Colbert about Season Two.
Our collaboration with The New Yorker. This was the cover of their Dec 7, 2015, issue. Everyone who got the digital version of that issue on this iPad or phone could push “play” and the cover would come to life as an animated short.
Episode 2 in our Videos 4 U series: We helped Maggie tell her parents that she had lots of tattoos, a fact she’d hidden for years.
Episode 1 in our Videos 4 U series: we helped Maia say three words to her boyfriend she’d never said before. This video won an Emmy!
Maia surprises Alex with her Videos 4 U short where she finally says, “I love you.”
Ira talks about tweeting and Shakespeare.
Ira recounts a time that bleeping a swear word on Minnesota Public Radio went horribly wrong.
When we launched Serial, we learned how many people still didn’t know how to hear a podcast. Ira asked an octogenarian friend, Mary Ahearn, to help him explain it.
S-Town host and This American Life Senior Producer Brian Reed spoke about the three key elements of a good story: action, reflection, and stakes.
Our most ambitious live show ever! Nearly 50 actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and comedians onstage including Sasheer Zamata, Stephin Merritt, Mike Birbiglia, and an original mini-musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
For our “Return to the Scene of the Crime” live show, Chris Ware and John Kuramoto created this animated short, about a mouse falling in love with a cat head. Set to a song by Andrew Bird.
Google sometimes invites people in to give little talks or Q&As. Ira was asked, while he was visiting California.
When the Academy of Arts and Letters gave Ira a medal for spoken language, he gave this speech.
