This American Life
This American Life is Ira Glass’s weekly hour from WBEZ, built around a theme and then abandoned to whatever the tape does.
Acts are separate stories that share a word more than they share a thesis. A personal essay can sit next to an investigation. The host’s job is the handoff, not the moral.
The show is the template a lot of narrative audio is still answering. Glass’s interviews sound casual and are ruthlessly structured. A pause is usually a decision.
The episodes are an hour and they mean it. If you only have twenty minutes, pick a single act that the chapter list names, and save the theme music for a day when you can hear the turn.
Last episode listed in the official feed
898: An Argument
Read from the publisher’s RSS on Oct 3, 2026 · Sep 27, 2026 ET. Audio is not hosted here.
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