As I sit at work every weeknight fumbling around aimlessly at my cubicle, trying to kill the almost countless hours of my mundane job; there is one single shining moment that happens to come around every Monday night. That being the weekly episodes of the public radio show This American Life. I’m sure most everyone already knows about this, considering it’s been on since 1995 and attracts something like 1.7 million listeners a week, but I didn’t start listening to this until March of this year after a friend of mine wouldn’t stop talking about it. For those that have never listened yet, this is for you.
Basically, each show revolves around a simple theme; the theme is than laid out through short stories or “acts” stemming from first-person narratives by the likes of people ranging from staff and production, to regular people like you and I. It functions under the belief that everyone has some sort of story to tell. These “true stories of everyday people” exude moods that range from sadness and heartbreak to happiness and hilarity. It’s just so compelling to listen to each person’s story as each individual has something unique and intriguing to say. Maybe it’s because for the most part, these are just regular folks just like myself and that everyday some new interesting story is waiting to be told. That coupled with the subtle way that the show utilizes music, as it seems to always choose the perfect songs to help convey a mood or to add filler in between acts.
What makes each of these shows work or the glue so to speak, is the host Ira Glass. His role is to introduce the theme and fill in the narrative gaps and transitions each story, while also contributing some of his own stories and experiences. Anyways, it’s such a delightful show and if you’re not listening, well, you should be. You can listen to a new episode every Monday on Itunes or the This American Life website. Here are a couple of older episodes that I have come to really enjoy and to give you an idea of what this show is about.
“#245: Allure of the Mean Friend”
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aren’t you glad i ‘wouldn’t stop talking about it’ ?