Like the big news shows on public radio, the mission of This American Life is to document and describe life in these United States. But it uses a much wider range of contributors and storytelling styles than the news shows use. And it's a lot looser. It's the sound of live radio, adapted to do the heavy lifting of hardcore documentary production.
The program is hosted by veteran NPR reporter and producer Ira Glass. Glass is best known for his documentary stories on Chicago public schools which aired on NPR's All Things Considered and Morning Edition from 1990 through 1995.
Each week, This American Life chooses a theme - immigrant parents, animals, people who lead double lives. Glass does a story or two. And he invites a variety of writers and performers to take a whack at the theme, with stories, monologues, short radio plays, miniature documentaries, "found recordings" and original works for radio.
To do a story about the large number of temporary workers in the economy now, the producers simply hired two temps, young men who normally do manual labor, and had them prepare stories about their jobs. For a show about poultry, radio legend Dick Orkin created a new episode of his beloved "Chickenman" radio serial, the first full episode created in three decades.
A show about high school plays included a documentary about a suburban school putting on a production of Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers," and a long comic memoir from David Sedaris about getting the "drama bug" when he was in high school. As a teenager, mesmerized by the sound of Shakespeare, Sedaris resolved to re-introduce Elizabethan English to daily life in Raleigh, North Carolina. It didn't catch on.
In fact, David Sedaris, one of the most popular commentators on NPR's Morning Edition and author of the book Barrel Fever, is a regular contributor to This American Life.
"The longest David's work can run on NPR is eight minutes," says Glass. "So for years, he's had these great stories that need twenty minutes, or thirty, and there's been no national program that can accomodate them. That's one of the ideas behind this new show. To create a home for these longer stories which now have no place in the public radio system."
In his work on NPR, and on the local show on WBEZ he co-hosted for five years, Glass has shown an unusual knack for finding writers and performers whose work hasn't been heard on radio, but should be, and producing them in a way that charms radio audiences. From the first day he put David Sedaris onto NPR's Morning Edition, (telling the story of working as an elf at Macy's Department Store at Christmas), Sedaris generated more listener response than any story in years.
This American Life airs Sunday mornings at 11:00am on AM640.
This American Life is produced by WBEZ Chicago, with major funding from the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation and the listeners of WBEZ Chicago.
By the way... host Ira
Glass answers all email! Don't be
alarmed if it takes him a couple days to respond.
TAPES OF THIS AMERICAN
LIFE
Tapes cost $10.00 each.
You can order them immediately...
by phone: 312-832-3380.
by mail:
Cassettes
This American Life
848 E. Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
or by e-mail.
In every case make sure to leave the following information:
1. The name of the tape or tapes you want. All of our shows have names. If you know the name, that alone will suffice. If not, as long as you describe what was on the show, or even which piece you remember in particular, we can usually figure it out.
2. Your credit card name, number and expiration date, (or a check, if ordering by mail.)
3. The address where you want your order sent.