Posted on February 14, 2014 at 8:13 am
Be sure to check out Google’s home page today — each Valentine’s Day candy heart has a different love story from Ira Glass and “This American Life,” which has a chocolate box of love stories on its own home page today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o59sAakI28o
Posted on July 13, 2013 at 3:01 pm
I love “This American Life.” For 17 years, Ira Glass has been sharing our stories, funny, wrenching, scary, romantic, always engaging and illuminating. He tells Buzzfeed how he feels 500 episodes later. Definitely worth a look, especially at the list of his favorite episodes and the memo with some of the other titles for the show that they considered and rejected. And here’s a good list of some of the best episodes to get started or to find gems you might have missed.
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Radio you can watch – that’s the idea.
On November 15th, 2012, the public radio show This American Life will release a video of a two-hour episode entitled “The Invisible Made Visible.” Fans can download or stream the video for $5. It will also be released on DVD, exclusively via the show’s web store.
“The Invisible Made Visible” was originally performed onstage and broadcast live into movie theaters in May, 2012, to over 70,000 people across the U.S., Canada and Australia. Host Ira Glass personally curated the show. “The whole point,” he says “was to do stories that are far too visual to ever be on the radio.”
The result is a mix of animation, live dance from Monica Bill Barnes & Company, a wildly funny short film by Mike Birbiglia starring Fresh Air’s Terry Gross (I promise, you will not guess the ending), a classic This American Life story (told by Glass) about the brilliant street photographer Vivian Meier, a Chicago nanny who never showed anyone the pictures she took over decades on her days off. They were discovered almost by accident after her death. The show also has comic monologues by David Sedaris, Glynn Washington, and Ryan Knighton. My favorite is the story by comedian Tig Notaro (recently in the news for her monologue about cancer) about repeatedly running into 80’s pop star Taylor Dayne. There is music from OK Go. It’s all performed in front of changing illustrated backgrounds.
Probably the most memorable moment in the episode comes during a story by longtime This American Life contributor David Rakoff. He talks about the abilities he’s lost during his fight with cancer, and then, gracefully, beautifully, does a solo dance onstage. It was the last story Rakoff ever wrote for the radio show. He died three months later, in August.
Posted on August 9, 2012 at 7:20 am
I’m a huge fan of NPR’s “This American Life” and very pleased that they have produced their first film, “Sleepwalk With Me,” based on comedian Mike Birbiglia’s story about a rare sleep disorder that nearly cost him his life. My interview with Birbiglia is coming soon — stay tuned. If you are in New York, Chicago, or LA you can see Ira Glass and/or Birbiglia at a screening of the film. Here are the details:
Posted on May 8, 2012 at 3:38 pm
This week’s big release from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp is a tribute and an update to the cult favorite vampire soap opera that ran from 1966-71. Before I post my review on Thursday night, here’s a quick reminder of the original version. And you’ll enjoy this amazing “This American Life” episode about a convention of “Dark Shadows” fans.
