This American Life

This American Life•www.thisamericanlife.org

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.

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Episodes

638: Rom-Com

The one thing you know for sure when you're watching a romantic comedy is that it's going to turn out okay in the end. When you're living one? Not so much. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Romantic comedies usually don’t get much respect. Producer Neil Drumming explains what’s so great about them. (5 minutes) Act One: Actor Daniel Radcliffe reads a short piece of fiction, “The Present,” from Simon Rich’s book of short stories, “The Last G...

May 04, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 638

859: Chaos Graph

People immersed in chaos try to solve for what it all adds up to. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: A scientist who is used to organizing data starts tracking scientific meetings that seem to exist only on paper—meetings that might decide the fate of years of research. The NIH website shows one reality; the empty conference rooms tell another story. She graphs the chaos. (9 minutes) Act One: American doctors returning from Gaza compare not...

Apr 27, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 859

332: The Ten Commandments

For Easter weekend — and the end of Passover! — stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Host Ira Glass reads from the Ten Commandments. Not the original Ten Commandments, but some of the newer, lesser-known ones. There's the Miner's Ten Commandments of 1853, the Ten Commandments of Umpiring, and the Ten Commandments for Math Teachers — just to name a few. (4 minutes) Commandments One, Two and Th...

Apr 20, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 332

858: How to Tell a Dumb American Story

A couple devises a strategy to get their daughter's killer prosecuted and to get attention for other Native families. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Mika Westwolf was killed in a hit-and-run on a Montana highway. Her parents thought the driver might get away with it. The driver was white. Mika was a citizen of the Blackfeet Nation. (1 minute) Act One: Mika’s parents, Carissa Heavy Runner and Kevin Howard, share recordings of their inter...

Apr 13, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 858

857: Museum of Now

Artifacts and exhibits of this particular moment we are living through. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Exhibit One: Ira talks to producer Emmanuel Dzotsi, who brings the first exhibit into the studio with him: a chunk of concrete with some yellow paint on it. He got it from the demolition site in Washington, DC, where the giant Black Lives Matter letters are being dug out of the street with heavy equipment. (8 minutes) Exhibit Two: Producer Aviva...

Mar 30, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 857

856: You’ve Come to the Right Person

Sometimes, life’s biggest mysteries require one very specific person to answer them. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: 7-year-old Miles has lots of questions. More specifically, he has questions about the famous car chase from “The Blues Brothers” movie. We arrange for him to talk to stunt coordinator Gary Powell so he can get the answers he so desperately wants. (9 minutes) Act One: Producer Aviva DeKornfeld looks into why comedian Daniel...

Mar 16, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 856

855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About

Unnecessary and outrageous lies that make you wonder — why lie about that in the first place? Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Kasey, a woman who prides herself on her truthfulness, tries to help host Ira Glass figure out how to stop lying about one specific thing. (10 minutes) Act One: Producer Dana Chivvis talks to reporter Liz Flock about a strange experience she had in 2011. (21 minutes) Act Two: Host Ira Glass talks with M. Gessen ab...

Mar 02, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 855

854: Ten Things I Don't Want to Hate About You

Zach Mack and his dad try to mend a rift between them in a very unusual way. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Ira Glass introduces Zach Mack’s story. (1 minute) Part One: Zach and his father enter into an agreement that could change their entire relationship. (9 minutes) Part Two: Zach’s mother and sister weigh in on the agreement. (28 minutes) Part Three: With the year coming to an end, someone is going to have to say, “You were right, a...

Feb 23, 2025•59 min•Ep. 854

853: Groundhog Day

People stuck in a loop, trying to find their way out. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks to B.A. Parker about her birthday tradition. (6 minutes) Act One: Producer Aviva DeKornfeld speaks with a father and daughter who have been playing the same game for 25 years. (9 minutes) Act Two: Talia Augustidis asks a single question over and over. (5 minutes) Act Three: Editor David Kestenbaum speaks with Jeff Permar, who is tra...

Feb 02, 2025•56 min•Ep. 853

852: Pivot Point

People living in that in-between moment before everything changes. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Kirk Johnson tells Ira about a strange choice he made during his family’s evacuation from the Sunset Fire in Los Angeles. (5 minutes) Act One: Editor Nancy Updike tries to make sense of this current moment by talking to a master of dark comedy, Armando Ianucci. (19 minutes) Act Two: As President Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office, ...

Jan 19, 2025•58 min•Ep. 852

A Big Announcement

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 .

Oct 16, 2024•5 min

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