This American Life
 |
|
| Other names | Your Radio Playhouse |
|---|---|
| Genre | Radio short stories and essays |
| Running time | c. 60 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | WBEZ |
| Syndicates | Public Radio Exchange,CBC Radio One (Canada), ABC Radio National (Australia) |
| TV adaptations | This American Life |
| Hosted by | Ira Glass |
| Created by |
Ira Glass Torey Malatia |
| Written by | Various |
| Senior editor(s) | Julie Snyder |
| Produced by |
|
| Executive producer(s) | Ira Glass |
| Narrated by | Ira Glass |
| Recording studio | Chicago, Illinois (1995–2007) New York City, New York (2007–present) |
| Air dates | since November 17, 1995 |
| No. of episodes | 601 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Other themes | "Rumble" |
| Website | www.thisamericanlife.org |
| Podcast | TAL Podcast |
This American Life (TAL) is an American weekly hour-long radio program produced by WBEZ and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays, memoirs, 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 delivering new episodes to public radio stations.
A television program of the same name ran for two seasons on the Showtime cable network between June 2007 and May 2008.
Each week's show has a theme, explored in several "acts." On occasion, an entire program will consist of a single act. The most acts were in the episode "20 Acts in 60 Minutes." Each act is produced by a combination of staff and freelance contributors. Programs usually begin with a short station identification by Glass who then introduces a segment related to the theme which precedes act one. The segment will then lead into the presentation of the theme for that week's show.
Content varies widely by episode. Stories are often told as first-person narratives. 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 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, who co-founded the show with Ira Glass in 1995.
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