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This American Life

Chicago Public Media

This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.

This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.

Location:

Chicago, IL

Description:

This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.

Language:

English

Episodes

203: Recordings for Someone

10/10/2021
Personal recordings one person made for just one other person, including what some have called the greatest phone message ever.

Duration:00:59:42

749: My Bad

10/3/2021
An hour devoted to embarrassing stories. They’re not always just little moments – funny, daily stuff that we laugh about later. Some can change you for the rest of your life.

Duration:01:02:53

553: Stuck in the Middle

9/26/2021
People caught in limbo, using ingenuity and guile to try to get themselves out.

Duration:00:59:43

748: The End of the World as We Know It

9/19/2021
What happens when one family goes all in on fighting climate change.

Duration:01:05:09

747: Suitable for Children

9/12/2021
Who thought that would be good for a kid?

Duration:01:00:23

746: This Is Just Some Songs

9/5/2021
We made you a mixtape. Don't make a big deal out of it or anything.

Duration:01:02:20

745: Getting Out

8/29/2021
People trying to escape all kinds of seemingly impossible situations.

Duration:01:02:53

218: Act V

8/22/2021
A group of inmates at a high-security prison rehearse and stage a production of the last act—Act V—of Hamlet.

Duration:00:58:11

744: Essential

8/15/2021
The pandemic forced jobs to change, but then the workers changed, too.

Duration:01:08:46

582: When the Beasts Come Marching In

8/8/2021
We human beings think we run the world, that we’ve got things under control. Then an animal shows up, and things don’t go as planned. This week, seals, wolves, and a moose drop in and show us who isn't boss.

Duration:01:01:36

743: Don't You Be My Neighbor

8/1/2021
Bad neighbors. What can you do about them?

Duration:00:59:24

742: The Thing I'm Getting Over

7/25/2021
What’s recovery mean, anyway?

Duration:01:00:35

436: The Psychopath Test

7/18/2021
We heard about a test that could determine if someone was a psychopath. So, naturally, our staff decided to take it.

Duration:01:02:27

741: The Weight of Words

7/11/2021
Words mean things, but some words are especially meaningful.

Duration:01:00:51

740: There. I Fixed It.

7/4/2021
Solving problems using very extreme measures.

Duration:01:06:11

539: The Leap

6/27/2021
Most of us go from day to day just coasting on the status quo. If it ain’t broke, why fix it—right? But when routines just get too mundane or systems stop making sense, sometimes you just have to hold your breath and jump. People who leap from their lives, their comfort zones, even through time.

Duration:01:00:29

506: Secret Identity

6/20/2021
A bank robber on an undercover mission. A teenage girl with the powers of a tiger. A vigilante seeking vengeance in Ciudad Juarez. All have secret identities. But not all of them chose those identities for themselves.

Duration:01:00:54

739: Sisters

6/13/2021
Sisters build worlds together, worlds that are just for them. Stories about the bonds between sisters and how they get broken and fixed—or not.

Duration:01:00:01

74: Conventions

6/6/2021
Remember conventions, before the pandemic? When people with one common interest gather in monstrous, fluorescent-lit halls for the weekend. Sometimes they drive each other crazy, sometimes they fall in love.

Duration:01:00:26

738: Good Grief!

5/30/2021
So many of us, we don’t want to think about death. We avoid grieving when we lose someone, distract ourselves, look away. In this episode, at a moment when so many families are mourning, we have stories of people figuring out how they’ll grieve, and doing a pretty good job of it.

Duration:00:59:44

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