This American Life—the Blog

This blog has a simple purpose. I don’t intend to bring anyone to the point of any profound epiphany. Rather, this is a blog of personal discovery. My favorite program in any form of media is NPR’s This American Life hosted by Ira Glass. In fact, I have been known to say that Ira’s voice is so fantastic and so well suited for radio that I could listen to him read the nutrition facts label off a cereal box. I would be entertained and feel that there is something profoundly special about the 12 grams of carbohydrates in each serving.

So—with my devotion to TAL unwavering—I decided to see what it would be like to experience my favorite radio show from the beginning, episode one. I would start listening from the original episode—back when the show was called Your Radio Playhouse—and continue listening in order until I would finally listen to the final show in this pilgrimage live on the radio as opposed to the podcast form I usually experience it in.

This is a large undertaking. In fact, to call it such is to say it lightly. At this moment there are 433 unique episodes of This American Life, although some have been “reruns” with a new act or two swapped in. I have probably heard 75 or so already, if not more. However, this is not just about me, but also a journey to better understand the show as a living, breathing thing.

The show has certainly evolved since 1995, though many of the cornerstones are still intact. I intend to discover what they have done that worked, what didn’t. I will delve past whether I liked or didn’t like an episode to understand why I felt that way and why other would or would not be likely to feel the same. Moreover, I will try to understand what it is about our American lives—the very things that provide the subject matter for the show—that make them so engaging, interesting, provocative, evocative, and overall breathtakingly funny, charming, intriguing, and entertaining to listen to.

So, without further ado—consider this intro an homage to a fellow traveler, Mr. Ira Glass—this is this American Life the Blog, created by Robert Ivaniszyn, inspired by the NPR radio show This American Life (distributed by PRI), and distributed by keyboard to you and from you by word of mouth, e-mail, Tweet, Facebook and any other method you can find to anyone who might enjoy this journey along with me.
Thank you.