This American Life
Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.
Episodes
Labels are powerful. They can distill you down to a single word. They can get stuck on you without your permission. And sometimes, when they get taken away, they can upend your entire life. On this episode: labels and the havoc they wreak.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Sara and Ethan have been dating for 10 months. They see each other at least once a week, text...
We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks! Ira Glass takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the young staff – coached by a funny, fun-loving boss just a little older than they are – truly seem to love their jobs.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Host Ira Glass walks through a Kansas City, Mi...
People dealing with new, glaring, massive changes happening right where they live.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Rick Cole, a city councilmember in Pasadena, CA, talks to Ira about how he responded to a surprise nighttime military exercise in his neighborhood this June – complete with helicopters, gunfire, and flash bangs. (5 minutes)
(00:05:30) Act One: A...
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered everyone over 30 in the military to have their testosterone tested. That inspired us to rerun this classic episode where everyone at This American Life tested their testosterone and compared results. It did not lead to workplace harmony.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks with producer Alex Blumberg, w...
People on journeys they did not intend — or agree to.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: A woman on a nighttime bus ride wakes up to discover the bus driver is taking the passengers somewhere none of them want to go. (8 minutes)
(00:08:11) Act One: Ayman Oghanna was reporting in Syria when he got a surprising call from home: one of his neighbors had been ...
Some people in this country think Antifa is a dangerous domestic terror organization. Some think that’s a complete myth. This week, we go to the federal trial where, for the first time, the government sets out to prove that Antifa is real. Zoe Chace reports.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Host Ira Glass tells the story of what happened at the Prairieland D...
On this country's 250th birthday, we bring you stories about the most American people, places, objects, and social norms that make this country what it is.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Ira talks to Pablo Torre about Major League Baseball’s new challenge system, and how it’s been optimized for maximum drama. (10 minutes)
(00:11:10) Act One: Writer Ji...
We spend an hour in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, behind and desperate, with people trying any damn thing they can think of.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Five years after Ora first started experiencing mysterious and debilitating health problems, she decides to try a treatment that she knows very well might kill her. Host Ira Glass talks to her a...
Regular people trapped inside Greek myths.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: When a mysterious, ripped-open package arrives on Pablo's doorstep, he takes it as a sign. (4 minutes)
(00:04:47) Act One: Pablo flies closer to the sun. (14 minutes)
(00:18:29) Act Two: In Greek mythology, a three-headed dog named Cerberus guards the gates to Hades, making sure on...
One family faces the Trump administration’s ban on trans people serving in the military, and responds with a surprising secret weapon.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Geirid and Chrissy are extreme planners. But about a year ago, they were confronted with a situation that even they had no idea how to plan for. (4 minutes)
(00:04:20) Act One: Geirid and ...
Ira always hated commencement speeches. Then he felt like he had to give this one.
People discovering information about their own lives that they did not know and suddenly everything looks very different.
Ira Glass shares some news about This American Life
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Ira Glass talks with longtime producer Nancy Updike about the most personal stories they have put on the radio. This is a sample of the bonus episodes we regularly release to our This American Life Partners.
To gain access to all the bonus episodes AND help us keep making This American Life, join at thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners.
Ira Glass has news to share about some things happening here at This American Life.
To sign up as a Life Partner, visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners.
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