This American Life

This American Life
  • 4.2 (137)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
This American Life
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Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.

  1. The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale

    5 DAYS AGO

    The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale

    Keiko was a hugely beloved adventure park attraction. He was also captured in the wild and taken away from his mother when he was just a calf. When Hollywood learned about him, a colossal effort began to un-tame him and send him back to the ocean. Prologue: Ira introduces a new series from Serial Productions and The New York Times. "The Good Whale" is about the killer whale Keiko and is reported by Daniel Alarcón. (2 minutes) Act One: Daniel Alarcón takes us back to the early 90’s when Keiko lived in an adventure park in Mexico City, swimming with human friends. (43 minutes) Act Two: Producer Diane Wu travels to Minnesota, where the turkey set to be pardoned by The President of the United States later this month is having the turkiness trained out of him. (10 minutes)

    1h 2m
  2. Top of the Tops with Zoe

    15 NOV · BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Top of the Tops with Zoe

    In this Life Partners bonus episode, producer Zoe Chace sits down with Ira to talk about the stories that made her want to make radio in the first place: the opening anecdotes that start most episodes of our show.

    46 min
  3. This Is the Cake We Baked

    10 NOV

    This Is the Cake We Baked

    With Donald Trump’s victory this week, many people looked at the election results and thought, yeah, this is the country I thought it was. For some people, that was a hopeful thing. For others, kind of the opposite. This week, we talked with people who helped make it happen and some who are looking to what’s next. Prologue: Ira talks with Zoe Chace about watching Trump’s victory from an ecstatic room in Michigan. Then he checks in with a DC cop who was injured at the Capitol on January 6. (7 minutes) Act One: Trump has claimed that he will be able to deport between 15 and 20 million people. But neither he nor his team have spelled out exactly how they’d do it. Producer Nadia Reiman looked into what mass deportation could actually look like on the ground if and when it comes to pass. (17 minutes) Act Two: Trump won record numbers of Latino voters this year. Ike Sriskandarajah spent the day with a guy in Pennsylvania who's been working to bring Latino voters to Trump for years. (15 minutes) Act Three: Ira talks with two of Trump’s “political enemies” about their post-election plans. (8 minutes) Act Four: Ten different states had abortion rights measures on their ballots this election. Producer Miki Meek got curious about a particular kind of political ad that aired in many of those states and called up a few of the women whose stories were featured in them. (9 minutes)

    1h 3m
  4. A Small Thing That Gives Me a Tiny Shred of Hope

    3 NOV

    A Small Thing That Gives Me a Tiny Shred of Hope

    A wee flame, flickering in the dark. Prologue: Who’s trying to bridge the gap between Blue America and Red America? Ira gets a glimpse of one guy who might be able to do just that. (3 minutes) Act One: A politically divided couple searches for a news source they both can trust. (26 minutes) Act Two: "June" is making a tactical decision about her vote this election. (13 minutes) Act Three: Frank Filocomo thinks people care too much about politics when it comes to dating. His dates don’t necessarily agree. (10 minutes)

    1h 1m
  5. Nancy's Deep Cuts (Part Two)

    30 OCT · BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Nancy's Deep Cuts (Part Two)

    Nancy Updike and Ira Glass head back into the studio, where they listen to two more very personal stories — one by Ira, and one by Nancy about Ira. Thank you for supporting the show as our Life Partner!

    50 min
  6. Hoaxing Yourself

    27 OCT

    Hoaxing Yourself

    People who tell a lie and then believe the lie more than anyone else.  Prologue: Sean Cole explains why he decided that he would speak with a British accent—morning, noon and night—from the age of fourteen until he was sixteen, and how he believed the lie that he was British must be true. (3 minutes) Act One: The story of two young people who, in their search to figure out who they were, pretended to be people they weren't. Both were from small towns; both took on false identities. For two years in high school, producer Sean Cole spoke with a British accent. As a freshman in college, Joel Lovell told lies about his own diet and about his parents. (15 minutes) Act Two: The story of a con man, one of the most successful salesmen in a long-running multimillion-dollar telemarketing scam, who finally got caught when he was conned himself. Producer Nancy Updike talks about the case with Dale Sekovich, Federal Trade Commission investigator. (16 minutes) Act Three: Shalom Auslander reads his true story, "The Blessing Bee." It's about the time when, as a third-grader at an Orthodox Jewish school, Shalom saw his chance to both make his mom proud, and push his drunken father out of the picture. Part of his scheme involved winning the school's bee on the complicated Hebrew blessings you say before eating certain foods. The other part of the scheme: Sinning.  (19 minutes)

    59 min
  7. This Is the Case of Henry Dee

    20 OCT

    This Is the Case of Henry Dee

    Thirteen parole board members decide whether or not one man should be released from prison. Prologue: Henry Dee has been locked up for most of his life, nearly 50 years. Now, he’s up for parole. Reporter Ben Austen tells the story. (19 minutes) Part 1: The parole board members puzzle through the pros and cons of releasing Henry Dee from prison and cast their votes. (26 minutes) Part 2: Reporter Ben Austen continues the story. (8 minutes)

    59 min
  8. Ira Glass on Wild Card

    15 OCT · BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Ira Glass on Wild Card

    EXCLUSIVE EARLY RELEASE FOR LIFE PARTNERS. Our second bonus episode! There’ll be more every couple weeks! NPR’s Wild Card uses a breezy game show format as cover for host Rachel Martin to ask super-personal questions. Rachel and Ira recorded this episode live onstage in Washington DC. NPR was nice enough to let us release this early to our Life Partners before it's released publicly.

    35 min
See All (437)

Hosts & Guests

4.2
out of 5
137 Ratings

About

Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.

Information

  • Creator
    This American Life
  • Years Active
    2006 - 2024
  • Episodes
    437
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 1995-2024 This American Life
  • Show Website
    This American Life
  • Provider
    AMERICAN WHATEVER LLC

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