Nothing complements a weekend like finding time to relax and listen to This American Life, the salted rim on the soothing audio margarita of narrative storytelling. Each week, the show produces stories in a multiple-act format that resonate for days, a pleasant hangover. Interesting. Enlightening. Most of all, it’s entertaining. The show consistently ranks as the most popular program on radio per iTunes charts, kicked out only for outstanding events like when the President takes the hot seat across Marc Maron or the incredible and This American Life alum Starlee Kine releases a new episode of her pod . Millions of listeners across American can’t be wrong.
- Podcast: This American Life
- Host: Ira Glass
- Episode frequency: Weekly
- Episode length: 60 minutes
- Podcast category: Personal Journals
- Podcast website: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/
- Episode to start with: Any episode. Seriously. A show featuring the narrative power of people like Sarah Vowell, Sean Cole, Nancy Updike…this show collects stellar radio producers.
- Favorite episodes:
#464 Invisible Made Visible, featuring writer Ryan Knighton, “a blind guy who had a very peculiar experience with a hotel room telephone.”
#330 Break-Up, featuring aforementioned producer Starlee Kine who turns to music for solace after the end of a relationship and, “she goes to a rather surprising expert on the subject: Phil Collins.
#475 Send a Message, featuring the tale of the family who predicts with accuracy the gender of their unborn children thru the mail.
And yes, yes. I know the program featured a story with Daniel Kish. But it was really a promoted episode of the NPR podcast Invisibilia called How to Become Batman. I reviewed it already, see my post It’s Not About the Bike: Expectations and Blindness if you desire.
Podcast Week has started. Do you listen to podcasts? Have you heard This American Life? Are you so informed you can perform a believable Ira Glass impersonation? Tell me about it.
Adventures in Low Vision 
I do like TAL but I don’t listen to it weekly. I like to check out the lineup and see if it will appeal to me that week. Some of the most memorable shows that they have done stay with me for days after. It is an extremely well produced show. Ira Glass has influenced so many podcast host that some of the beginners imitate him before they settle in to their own style. He is not a bad host to imitate though. 🙂
So true Casee.