Thirty years. Over 850 episodes. Nine Peabodys. One Pulitzer. And yet somehow, three decades in, This American Life (and its creator, Ira Glass) remains as innovative and timely as ever.

We begin with a week in the life of Ira: a typical Monday at This American Life (4:52), the rigorous notes process(6:05), and how the team selects the stories it wants to tell that Sunday (8:23). Then, we unpack Trump’s ongoing threats to slash government funding for public media (14:14), Glass’ formative days as a teenage intern at NPR (19:06), and the radio mentors who shaped his ideas around narrative (27:18).

On the back-half, we discuss how his taste and talent eventually converged (42:03), what makes a good interview (45:36), the guest he most identifies with (1:00:25), the episode he’s most proud of (1:15:31), and, naturally, the future of This American Life (1:20:07).

We’re now on YouTube! Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

Learn more at talkeasypod.com.

Thirty years. Over 850 <a href="https://www.thisamericanlife.org/archive">episodes</a>. Nine <a href="https://www.thisamericanlife.org/about/announcements/peabody-gaza">Peabodys</a>. One <a href="https://www.thisamericanlife.org/704/transcript">Pulitzer</a>. And yet somehow, three decades in, This American Life (and its creator, Ira Glass) remains as innovative and timely as ever.
We begin with a week in the life of Ira: a typical Monday at This American Life (4:52), the rigorous notes process (6:05), and how the team selects the stories it wants to tell that Sunday (8:23). Then, we unpack Trump&rsquo;s ongoing threats to slash government funding for public media (14:14), Glass&rsquo; formative days as a teenage intern at NPR (19:06), and the radio mentors who shaped his ideas around narrative (27:18).
On the back-half, we discuss how his taste and talent eventually converged (42:03), what makes a good interview (45:36), the guest he most identifies with (1:00:25), the episode he&rsquo;s most proud of (1:15:31), and, naturally, the future of&nbsp;This American Life (1:20:07).
We&rsquo;re now on<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@talkeasypod"> YouTube</a>!&nbsp;Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mail@talkeasypod.com">mail@talkeasypod.com</a>.
Learn more at <a href="https://talkeasypod.com/">talkeasypod.com</a>.

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly series of intimate conversations with artists, activists, and politicians. Where people sound like people. Hosted by Sam Fragoso. New episodes every Sunday.

Where people sound like people, since 2016.

Advertisement