This American Life

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This American Life

Other names Your Radio Playhouse
Genre Radio short stories and essays
Running time ca. 60 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Languages English
Home station WBEZ
Syndicates Public Radio International, Showtime
Hosts Ira Glass
Creators Ira Glass
Torey Malatia
Writers Various
Producers Julie Snyder
Jane Feltes
Sarah Koenig
Lisa Pollak
Alissa Shipp
Nancy Updike
Alex Blumberg
Executive producers Ira Glass
Narrated by Ira Glass
Recording studio Chicago, Illinois
Air dates 17 November 1995 to present
Audio format Stereophonic
Website
www.thisamericanlife.org
 Podcast
TAL Podcast

This American Life (TAL) is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by Chicago Public Radio. It is distributed by Public Radio International on PRI affiliate stations and is also available as a free weekly podcast. TAL, hosted by Ira Glass, is primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, although it has also featured essays, memoirs, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage. The first episode aired on November 17, 1995.[1] The show was originally titled "Your Radio Playhouse".

A television program of the same name and basic structure of the radio program airs on the Showtime cable network, and features Ira Glass as the host and executive producer.

Contents

[edit] Format

Each week's show loosely centers on a particular theme. The theme of the show is explored in several "acts", usually two to five. On occasion, an entire program will consist of a single act. A notable exception was the show "20 Acts in 60 Minutes", which broke the normal convention by presenting twenty acts in one hour. Each act is produced using a combination of staff and freelance contributors.

Content varies widely by episode, and stories are often told as first-person narratives. The mood of the show ranges from gloomy to ironic, from thought-provoking to hilarious. The show often addresses current events, such as Hurricane Katrina in "After the Flood". Listeners may be introduced to novel subjects and issues as well, since the program covers fringe groups within the USA as well as international matters. Often This American Life features stories which explore aspects of human nature, such as "Kid Logic", which presented pieces on reasoning of children.

The end credits of each show are read by Ira Glass, and include a quotation extracted from some portion of that show, which Glass attributes out of context to WBEZ general manager Torey Malatia.

[edit] History

[edit] Radio

Ira Glass, the creator of This American Life, has served as producer and host since its November 17, 1995 debut. The show's first year was produced on a budget that was tight even by U.S. public radio standards: US$243,000 outfitted a studio, covered marketing costs, purchased satellite time, and paid for four full-time staffers and various freelance writers and reporters.[2] National syndication began in June 1996 when Public Radio International formed a distribution partnership with the program. It now airs on 509 PRI affiliate stations in the United States reaching an estimated 1.7 million listeners each week.[3] The show is also carried on XM Satellite Radio over the Public Radio International block on the XM Public Radio channel.

Originally titled Your Radio Playhouse, the show's name was changed beginning with the March 21, 1996 episode. The reference to each segment of the show as an "act" is a holdover from its original "playhouse theme". TAL helped launch the literary careers of many including contributing editor Sarah Vowell and essayists David Rakoff and David Sedaris.[3]

[edit] Television

Main article: This American Life (TV series)

Discussions of a television adaptation of TAL date back to at least 1999.[2] In January 2006, Showtime announced it had greenlighted six episodes of a new series based on TAL.[4] The announcement noted that each half-hour episode "will be hosted by Ira Glass and will explore a single theme or topic through the unique juxtaposition of first-person storytelling and whimsical narrative."[4]

For budgetary reasons, Ira Glass and four of the radio show's producers left Chicago for New York, where Showtime is headquartered.[3] In January 2007, it was announced that Glass had completed production on the show's first season, with the first episode set to premiere on March 22. TAL has a contract for a total of 30 shows over the next four years.[5]

[edit] Film

Stories from TAL have been used as the basis of movie scripts. In 2002 the show signed a six-figure deal with Warner Bros. giving the studio two years of "first-look" rights to its hundreds of past and future stories.[6] One film to have apparently emerged from the deal is Unaccompanied Minors, a 2006 film directed by Paul Feig and reportedly based on "In The Event of An Emergency, Put Your Sister in an Upright Position" from "Babysitting".[7] In June 2008, Spike Lee bought the movie rights to the Ronald Mallett's memoir, whose story was featured in the episode "My Brilliant Plan".[8]

Potential Warner Bros films:[9]

Paramount Pictures and Broadway Video are in production on Curly Oxide and Vic Thrill, a film based on the TAL story in the episode "My Experimental Phase".[10]

[edit] Live tours

This American Life has taken the radio show on the road three times since 2000; material recorded on each of the three tours has been edited into an episode which aired on the radio shortly after the tour.

  • "Birthdays, Anniversaries and Milestones", recorded in December 2000 in Boston (Berklee Performance Center), New York, Chicago (Merle Reskin Theatre), and Los Angeles. Performers included Sarah Vowell, Russell Banks, David Rakoff, Ian Brown, and OK Go.
  • "Lost in America", recorded in May 2003 in Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland, Denver, and Chicago. Performers included Sarah Vowell, Davy Rothbart, and Jonathan Goldstein. Jon Langford of the Mekons led the "Lost in America House Band" during the show.
  • "What I Learned from Television", recorded in February and March, 2007 in New York City (February 26 at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center); Boston (February 27 at the Boston Opera House); Minneapolis (February 28 at the Orpheum Theatre); Chicago (March 1 at the Chicago Theatre); Seattle (March 7 at the Paramount Theatre); and Los Angeles (March 12 at Royce Hall, UCLA). Directed by Jane Feltes, performers on this tour included David Rakoff, Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, Dan Savage, Jonathan Goldstein, and Chris Wilcha. In New York, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and Minneapolis, Mates of State were the house band, while in Los Angeles, OK Go performed between acts.

[edit] Digital Cinema

On May 1st 2008, This American Life was the first major public media program to use Digital cinema, This American Life Live!. PRI originally conceived of the idea to serve stations around the country [11]. This American Life Live! was presented exclusively in select theatres by National CineMedia's (NCM) Fathom, in partnership with BY Experience and Chicago Public Radio, and in association with Public Radio International [12].

[edit] Awards

WBEZ-FM received a Peabody Award in 1996 and again in 2006 for TAL, for a show which "captures contemporary culture in fresh and inventive ways that mirror the diversity and eccentricities of its subjects" and "weav[es] original monologues, mini-dramas, original fiction, traditional radio documentaries and original radio dramas into an instructional and entertaining tapestry."[13]

George Foster Peabody Award

  • 2006 WBEZ-FM Chicago
  • 1996 Ira Glass, Peter Clowney, Alix Spiegel, Nancy Updike, and Dolores Wilber, WBEZ-FM Chicago, for This American Life.

Third Coast International Audio Festival

  • 2001 Susan Burton Best New Artist award for act 1, Tornado Prom from episode 186, "Prom".
  • 2002 Jonathan Goldstein, Alex Blumberg and Ira Glass: Best Documentary Gold Award for act 3, Yes, There is a Baby from episode 175, "Babysitting".
  • 2003, Susan Burton and Hyder Akbar, Best Documentary Silver Award for episode 230, "Come Back to Afghanistan".

Livingston Award

  • 2002 Alix Spiegel: National Reporting for episode 204, "81 Words".

Scripps Howard Foundation

  • 2004 Nancy Updike: Jack R. Howard Award for episode 266, "I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to Help".

Edward R. Murrow Award

  • 2005 Nancy Updike: for News Documentary for episode 266, "I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to Help".

Dupont Award

  • 2007 Alix Spiegel: for "Which One of These is Not Like the Others?" for episode 322, "Shouting Across the Divide".

New York Festivals Award

  • 2007 Trey Kay & Lu Olkowski: "Best Human Interest Story" for act 2, "I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One at the Holiday Inn" from episode 321, "Sink or Swim".

[edit] Music

Episodes of TAL are accompanied by music, in the form of interludes between acts (credited in the episode guide for each show), and incidental background music during acts. Background music is typically not credited, but provides important thematic emphasis.

Some songs and artists that have played a role in TAL background music include the following.

[edit] Key themes

[edit] Recurring themes

[edit] Other artists

[edit] Other media

Some of the show's episodes are accompanied by multimedia downloads available on This American Life's website. One notable mention is a remake of the Elton John song "Rocket Man" that was produced for episode 223, "Classifieds", and released as an MP3. The song was performed by a "one day band" composed of musicians looking for work in the classifieds. The band, consisting of various performers (one played a Theremin), met and practiced for only one day before recording the song.

Three 2-disc CD sets collecting some of the producers' favorite acts have been released: Lies, Sissies, and Fiascoes: The Best of This American Life was released on May 4, 1999; Crimebusters + Crossed Wires: Stories from This American Life was released on November 11, 2003; and Stories of Hope and Fear was released on November 7, 2006.

A 32-page comic book, Radio: An Illustrated Guide (ISBN 0-9679671-0-4), documents how an episode of TAL is put together. It was drawn by cartoonist Jessica Abel, written by Abel and Glass, and first published in 1999.

[edit] Staff

[edit] Current production staff

Host

Senior Producer

  • Julie Snyder

Producers

  • Alex Blumberg
  • Jane Feltes
  • Sarah Koenig
  • Lisa Pollak
  • Robyn Semien
  • Alissa Shipp
  • Nancy Updike

Contributing editors

Production Manager

  • Seth Lind

Music Supervisor

  • Jane Feltes

Music Consultant

  • Jessica Hopper

Web Manager

  • Adrianne Mathiowetz

Intern

  • Emily Youssef

[edit] Former production staff members

  • Todd Bachmann (production assistant)
  • Annie Baxter (intern)
  • Blue Chevigny (producer)
  • Peter Clowney (producer)
  • Diane Cook (producer)
  • Wendy Dorr (producer)
  • Hillary Frank (intern)
  • Jack Hitt (contributing editor)
  • Catherine Hoang (intern)
  • Jorge Just (intern)
  • Starlee Kine (producer)
  • Sylvia Lemus (production assistant)
  • Elizabeth Meister (web manager)
  • Amy O'Leary (producer)
  • Margy Rochlin (contributing editor)
  • Alix Spiegel (producer)
  • Paul Tough (contributing editor)
  • Dolores Wilbur (producer)
  • Mary Wiltenburg (intern)

[edit] Other contributors

[edit] In popular culture

This American Life was referenced in the television series The O.C., prompting the character Summer to respond, "Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are?" and, with a dismissive snort, "Gawd!" This reference was itself repeated in a segment of the 2007 Live Tour episode, when Glass, a self-confessed shameless fan of the teen soap opera, described his experience responding to the aforementioned line.

The Onion, a parody newspaper, published a satirical story on April 20, 2007, entitled "This American Life Completes Documentation Of Liberal, Upper-Middle-Class Existence".[14]

The average age of This American Life listeners is 47.[15]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ This American Life: the television show!. This American Life. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  2. ^ a b Ira Glass (June 1999). A weeklong electronic journal. Slate. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  3. ^ a b c Chris Ladd. "A Chicago Radio Hit Moves to New York, and TV", New York Magazine, 1 May 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-03. 
  4. ^ a b Showtime (19 Jan 2006). "Showtime greenlights TV Adaptation of This American Life". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  5. ^ Michael Miner. "Going Coastal", Chicago Reader, 3 Feb 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-03. 
  6. ^ Mike Janssen (2 Sep 2002). This American Life negotiates 'first-look' deal with Warner Bros.. Current. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  7. ^ Peter Sciretta (23 Nov 2006). Six Minutes of Paul Feig's Unaccompanied Minors. /Film. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  8. ^ Wenn.com (18 Jun 2008). Lee To Make Movie About Black "Time Traveler". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 19 Jun 2008.
  9. ^ Mike Janssen (22 Sep 2003). Hollywood finds kernels for movies in This American Life. current. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  10. ^ Curly Oxide and Vic Thrill at the Internet Movie Database
  11. ^ http://www.current.org/radio/radio0806thisamericanlife.shtml
  12. ^ http://www.pri.org/About/press-releases/tal-live-release.html
  13. ^ Peabody Award Archive of Winners. Peabody Awards (1996). Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  14. ^ This American Life Completes Documentation Of Liberal, Upper-Middle-Class Existence | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
  15. ^ Fisher, Marc. Something in the Air. Random House, 266. ISBN 978-0-375-50907-0. 

[edit] External links

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