IAm Ira Glass, back for another AMA! With something new to promote! It's at http://live.thisamericanlife.org/

[deleted]

This is horrifying(ly amazing) in its accuracy but I'm sorry to say that you're just not quite handsome enough.

To be fair, no one is really handsome enough

I of course am very handsome but I think you have me beat, from sheer youth if nothing else. That is a remarkable likeness.

To izuhhbel who just deleted his/her comment: Tho you deleted your comment, I appreciated what you said about David Rakoff. Thanks. At Rakoff's memorial, I met a man whose son died I think of cancer as a teenager. Rakoff had gotten to know the son. Because David first got his cancer in his early 20s, he knew what it felt like to get so sick so young. He gave him all sorts of advice on how to handle it. The man told me some of it. The one that stands out most is that when you're the sick person, you shouldn't be a dick to all the people who are reaching out to you with love, even though that's hard sometimes. I'm not saying this as well as David could. He felt like even when you're horribly ill you have a responsibility to be a mensch. The man said these talks were hugely comforting to his son. And helpful. Nobody usually gives you a playbook for dealing with your own untimely terminal or near-terminal illness. It touches me to hear that someone as far away from David as you are could get comfort from him as well.

Hey Ira! I have a fun This American Life related story.

Six years ago, I came home after a nighttime serving shift at a restaurant and found my roommate was throwing a party. I hung out for a bit, and found myself having a somewhat awkward conversation with this girl I had just met, but was very attracted to. Our small talk carried on for a bit, until she started explaining this radio show that she liked a lot. It went something like this:

Her: Yeah, they do a different show each week, and each week has a theme. And they stories aren't fantastical - they are usually true stories - but they are told amazingly well.

Me: Oh, are you talking about This American Life?

Her: Yes! I can't believe you've heard of it!

We went on to talk about your show for few minutes, and the ice was completely broken. Long story short, we're married now, and This American Life provided the ice breaker to get us started.

You, Ira Glass, are in no small way responsible for me marrying the girl of my dreams. Thank you!

That's awesome and I wish you guys the best and hope you pledge to your local public radio station.

You, Peter Sagal, Garrison Keillor, Terry Gross, and Diane Rehm. One 20-foot-tall steel cage. Who wins, how does it play out, and how many incredibly-literate blog posts does it generate?

Keillor. For one thing, he's huge! You ever seen him? He's like seven feet tall. Also, though he's old, he's incredibly scrappy. That guy has the will to win.

In a fight, Rehm is a known biter. Ears, fingers, whatever. Just vicious.

Don't forget - Sagal's got those marathon legs of his.

Sagal's too fit to be a proper public radio host. We are totally drubbing him out of the union with his low body fat and his lung capacity.

At least he's still bald. That's a comfort.

Has Torey Malatia ever gotten angry or upset because of one of the tags at the end of the show?

Also, I am a student radio host and you are definitely my biggest inspiration.

If Torey's gotten mad, he hasn't said anything. He's not that type. I think he's happy we accidentally made him famous, and famous in the most peculiar way. He meets people and tells them his name and they say "Wait! You're REAL?"

When did you first start giving him those little nods? I was listening to some early shows a few weeks ago and noticed a lot of them didn't have them.

I get asked this about once a month and I really should get off my ass and just listen to the endings to the early shows to figure out what was the first time we did it. It happened spontaneously. Like, in the middle of the live broadcast we thought "wouldn't it be funny to pretend Torey said that" and someone went and dubbed the clip to add to the end. Once we did it one time, we knew we had to do it every week. It's totally sophomoric and indefensible, but hard to let go of.

Hey Ira. I posted this on this last AMA. Sorry I'm posting again.

Dear Ira, First of all, I love the show and I’ve been a big fan of TAL/NPR ever since middle school. Thanks so much for doing what you do. I also wanted to let you know that your show has really helped me get through a hard time in my life. When I was 16, one of my best friends died of brain cancer. He died towards the end of his senior year in high school. I was always bitter about the timing of his death. He missed out on such an important part of his adolescence, nevermind the time after adolescence he will never experience.

This made me an angry person. Angry at the universe, angry at others, and probably angry at things that shouldn’t have made me feel that way. Every time I accomplished something, I felt guilty that he was never able to experience what I had experienced. I had a cloud hanging over my head everywhere I went. My friends and family would tell me to remember the times I spent with him, but I could not think of any good memories without having an overwhelming feeling of sadness, A couple of months ago, you had a show honoring David Rakoff’s memory. (I’m sorry for your loss.) He remains one of my favorite contributors to your show. I really admired his personableness (word? I dunno). After I listened to the show, I was filled with a peace I have not experienced since my friend died. David Rakoff’s memory lives on even after his passing. And hearing him on my radio, just as before, made me realize how I cannot be angry at the sickness who killed my friend anymore. When I heard David’s stories, I did not hear pain. I heard happiness.

I am sorry that I am not eloquent, but I just wanted let you know that you have made a profound difference in my life. Thank so you much for that. It has really made me a better person. You do a great thing.

Replied to this above. It vanished. Then came back.

Have you listened to or watched the sex tape parody between you and Terry Gross? It's pretty amazing.

Link here

Watched? There's video now?

Thanks all for the many questions. I should get back to my job. I am proud that you chose me for a second time to hang with here on an AMA. The video download thing is as good as anything we've ever made, plus super-visual so I hope you at least go to the site and look at the trailer (which is free): http://live.thisamericanlife.org/ Making that episode took over my life for six months and was as hard to do as anything I've ever done and of course in retrospect I'm so glad it happened. The Rakoff and Tig Notaro stories are two of the best things we've ever put out there. And there are these dancers who were the reason I decided to do the show at all - you couldn't get them in the radio version of this episode but you'll see what all the fuss was about if you see the show. Okay, shutting up now. Thank you all again. I wish I could read and write more quickly to talk to more of you this way.

Hey person who posted her tattoo ... (and then deleted the post) ... OMG that's amazing. And humbling. The only one I saw was, um, my face on someone's calf. That was also a strange thing. I talked to the woman about it. She understood it was strange for me, but explained, the tattoo wasn't for me. Which made sense.

Hi Ira, thanks so much for doing this again! The show is a wonderful part of my weekly existence, thanks so much for the incredible work you all do!

I tried asking one of these questions last time but I think got in too late for a response. Maybe I’ll have better luck this time:

1) Do you consider This American Life to be a “brand” that you have to steward carefully? Do you make decisions about what subject matter to include versus not include because of how well they fit with the brand or image of the show?

2) Somewhat related – what do you think is the biggest risk you all have taken with the show (besides making a movie)? Did it pay off?

1) The only time we worry about the brand is when there's something kind of dirty we want to put on the show. We know lots of kids are listening. 2) The biggest risk ... ugh ... we almost did a musical documentary for the election show but ran out of time. We had a great composer who put together a song based on our material. But since we killed it, maybe that doesn't count. There've been tons of stories we took on that I wasn't sure if we'd pull off. Lemme try to think of a better example as I answer other Q's.

Ha - I love the "this segment will acknowledge the existence of sex" disclaimer.

Looking forward to hearing about other risky moves!

What's weird is that that sentence both reassures our member stations and acts like a beacon for anyone under 18. Teenage me would totally perk up if I heard that.

FCC law on indecency is so moronic. It's based on the premise that it will "harm" a child if they hear curse words. Totally unproven. In fact, kids as young as five mostly know all the words and grow up just fine.

A few weeks ago, we were informed that it's okay to have someone say "I feel like a dick" on the radio in America but if he repeats it, then it gets into dicey legal territory. As if the repetition of the word will harm you.

I just wanted to say I think you guys do a great job with the background/transition music, BUT you should change it up more often. A bit of recurrence is cool, it creates continuity in the whole series, but I think you used up your limit of how many times you can use that one Boards of Canada song.

Yeah, we all agree. We could do a better job finding new instrumental music. If there are bands you guys think we should audition, please post names and tracks to look for!

Hi Ira Glass! I only found out about This American Life from your last AMA and I thank you so much for doing that! My GF and I live an hour apart from each other so I drive quite a bit and your podcasts are the perfect length. I'm Canadian, so my question to you is: What is your favorite story involving Canada or a Canadian, either from TAL or any other anecdote you wish to tell!

We did a whole Canadian show that we'd never air today because so much of it is "Can you believe all these people we thought were Americans are actually Canadian?" which was a totally fresh thought back in 1997 when we did that ep, but kind of tired today.

That said, it's an incredibly fun show to listen to, and one of my favorite bits with David Rakoff is in it, as he talks about how, as a Canadian, he knows - he's not sure how - when any famous person is Canadian.

I'm a writer, and attended your talk in Toronto a few weeks ago with a writer/director friend. You opened a lot of creative doors in our brains, and we walked away totally energized and inspired to create MORE. When you do these talks, do you aim to provide an equally valuable takeaway for the average TAL fan, who may not have creative urges?

Not really. I just want them to be amused and to stay fans of the show. Also to worship me.

Ira, in your opinion what impact has the post-Daisey introduction of fact-checkers had on This American Life? Has it been stifling or has it improved the process of making the show?

Improved it. Slowed it but improved it, no question.

Did that Middle School episode of this American Life drudge up any bad memories for you? It certainly did for me...

I thought a lot about when Gary Decklebaum beat me up, sat on my chest, and held my eyelids open, sure.

Hey Ira, I love the show and always seem to come away with something meaningful from each episode, which unfortunately seems to be becoming a rare phenomenon with modern entertainment. Why do you think "candy floss" tv like Housewives or Honey Boo Boo have become so popular when they reflect our society so negatively? I think we are all very grateful to have This American Life as the antithesis to this dumbed down misrepresentation of our culture.

Oh, I don't dislike those shows! I'm not saying this to be provocative or anything, but I think people like those shows because it's interesting to dive into other people's lives. The place I differ with those shows is that they can be so mean to the interviewees/subjects. That's not my taste so much.

But I think people are unnecessarily snotty about Honey Boo Boo. I like her.

Firstly, my household is a huge fan of your show. Keep up the good work.

I saw Sleepwalk with Me after your last iama and was pleasantly delighted. It was a good/humorous/sad portrayal of a very unique personal story. Props.

At the end of your last post you said,

"now that I've been on Reddit, I'm going to look around. Hope I see you in other discussions ..."

Did you ever come back and "look around?" Your comment history says otherwise.

Is your dog still eating Ostrich?

Random: Not sure how or why but my office is littered w/ Ira Glass mugs so I drink out of your head on occasion. Don't judge me.

I cook ostrich for my dog. Shouldn't you be the one judging me?

One of our producers is doing a story about my dog that'll be on the air the week after Thanksgiving. I've learned that my entire staff is both alarmed and confused by how much work and trouble my dog gives. They tell me this in the story. It's not quite an intervention but it's as close as I hope to get.

I did come back to Reddit and look around but never went further than lurking.

Is it weird that I read all of your responses in your voice?

It would be weird if you did it out loud. And are working in an office surrounded by other people.

Just in case that's the situation, here, try this: Hello beautiful people I work with. I am online doing life-affirming things that have nothing to do with my job.

I'm going to a David Sedaris lecture/signing tonight! What should I bring him?

Money. He used to have an actual tip jar at his readings and signings.

Are there any podcasts other than TAL that you recommend?

I agree with gamgeester! #1 is Radiolab. I'm jealous of that show so hard that I wrote a whole analysis of what makes it so much better than anything else.

I just recorded an episode of Tig Notaro's podcast Professor Blastoff which I found to be a terrifying gig in exactly the same way I felt when I was on Adam Carolla's podcast: when you're onstage with a genius comedian, it's easy to feel like you cannot keep up.

Soon as they brought me on, Kyle (one of Tig's co-hosts) asked me what characters I do. I totally froze inside and nervously said of course none, that I can barely play myself on the radio each week. I've gone over that moment twenty times since then. Why wasn't I calm enough to just say yes, which I've been told is the key to all improv? I've been composing answers in my head for days. "Yes Kyle, there's this racist character I do who uses the N-word all the time and hates Jews. Also I do this drug-addled stripper. Also the first governor of Minnesota Henry Sibley and his nemeses Little Crow. Also that cat who's the mayor of Talkeetna Alaska." Not that I'd perform any of these characters. It would just be nice to have a list of them.

I know you're a big Howard Stern fan and you've worked with Terry Gross. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with your show. What is it about Howard Stern and Terry Gross (and I'm only guessing you) that people are so willing to talk about very personal issues in their lives that they wouldn't be with other interviewers?

Honestly the biggest trick to getting someone to open up is to be actually interested in what they have to say and what happened to them. Think about how rare it is that anyone gives a damn to listen to you? That's a hugely powerful magnetic force.

Also, as an interviewer, you can't be a stiff. An interview is a party you're throwing. Your guests will act like you act. If you're a real person, they will be too.

Howard's got other tricks besides these. He's incredible at deploying his whole crew against an interviewee. They create a reality of consensus that says "of course you'll tell us this, of course anyone would."

TIL: Being a good interviewer = being a good date. - Ask questions. - Be Interested. - Act like it's a party. You'd prefer to be nowhere else. - Be real. - Don't let your crew work against you.

Have you noticed that parallel, Ira?

(And may I add I am staring intently at you waiting with anticipation for your answer. I'm not glancing around the room or checking my facebook feed, just focused on your bound-to-be-interesting response.)

Never put that together but it's true. Good interview = good date. I fall in love when the interview goes well, no kidding. Not in some creepy worry-about-my-marriage-vows way but more in a I-see-you-for-who-are-and-love-you way. It feels big and important and makes the job worth doing.

Hi Ira. What advice would you give to an aspiring radio producer?

Posted this before by try here: http://transom.org/?p=6978

We also put out a comic book, full of advice.

I didn't see this on the last AMA, but I was wondering, did you guys follow up on that kid that didn't want to fall in love? (Episode 2 of the TV show)

He has a GF! Or did when I last checked. Very happy. Parents are unsurprised.

what is your favorite establishment in which to eat around chicago?

Lula Cafe. A neighborhood place but a great one.

Howdy I don't really have a question, but I didn't really have one the last time I saw you.

Kind of a story. You did a show up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin a week or so prior to your show about things that happen that week (you actually asked people to pitch ideas since you guys didn't have enough stories so far.) The in person show was fantastic, and if anyone is wondering what he is like in person. He was great, after the show there was a small line to meet him and with every person he would hold a genuine conversation, albeit short, but it was very cool. Every person he would answer questions, ask about their thoughts and get to know them. I was expecting a very run of the mill thing, but he really was thoughtful about it all.

Then it was my turn and I didn't have a wonderful question, or anything but I just wanted to tell you how great and amazing your show is. TAL really has changed my life. I started listening to it in my early 20's and it help me start to see the world outside my own perspective. TAL was and still is really important to me because it illuminated my world in ways in which allowed me to mature and become more emphatic to the world around me.

What was funny was that I had this whole idea in my head of how I wanted to communicate that to you. I've done stand-up, I'm fine with public speaking but my god I couldn't get the words out of my mouth other then "I really like the show, it's really important to me." Before I was on the edge of tearing up and I literally couldn't find the words to say to you.

We talked about how I listen to you while I do programming and that was surprising to you and got your signature. I walked away from that very happy to finally meet you, though sad knowing I never was able to express how big of a role TAL started me on this journey of becoming a better, more well rounded person.

I'm sorry again that I don't have a question, but at least over text I can find my words. So, thank you. Thank you for this wonderful work you've done, thank you for the wonderful show that you and your work mates put together. All I wanted was to thank you properly.

TL:DR; Thank you.

Hey thanks for this nice note. Unrelated or okay maybe slightly related fact: I got a story from that Stevens Point crowd that ended up in that episode!

We're doing another ep like that in a few weeks, with stories from people around the country that happened that week. Excited to try it again.

To get back to your post: meeting someone you've seen on TV or heard on the radio is so strange. It's hard to know what to say. I shook hands with Paul Rudd at a thing last Tuesday and it was hard not to say "I've spent so much time watching you in the movies I feel like I know you already" which of course is both true and what every single person he ever meets feels and I knew to shut my piehole about that but it's an overwhelming feeling. The very first time I was on TV was to promote something and it was the Letterman show. I'd never been on TV and now I was on with David Letterman. And when you're sitting in that chair, he's like, no kidding, inches away, and all I could think is OMG HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE DAVID LETTERMAN and also "He's so close, I could touch him." Though nobody has to tell you it's not a good idea to just, yknow, reach over and jab a finger at Mr Letterman's lapel - I kept that thought in check.

All of which to say: it's never pleasant meeting someone more famous than oneself, and particularly someone you admire.

I haven't had a chance to see sleepwalk with me yet, when can we expect it to be on DVD/blu-ray? Thanks for the doing another AMA.

December 18. And on iTunes a week or two before that!

Would you consider it improper use of your show that I make my ESL students listen to segments every now and then? We all know school ruins all art... I can't help it, though, some episodes just cry out to be taught.

Sure! Though don't I mumble too much to be useful for ESL class? Or is that the point? "Listen to THIS guy! The slurred words! The inability to pronounce the letter L! This is the kind of BS you're going to have to put up if you want to understand English speakers."

I'm really interested in interning for This American Life once I graduate in May, any advice?

Learn Pro Tools. Make something that'll remind us of our show.

You guys shoul do a show about crazy things that happen online (like meeting people from 4chan or reddit)

We did ... in 1997 - which seems now like the very early days of people getting on the Internet. It's a show that's fantastically anachronistic; it seemed so incredible back then that people would meet in the Internet world and only later meet in person.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/66/tales-from-the-net

Thing is, to do a show like that today, we'd need SPECTACULAR stories of stuff happening online that never would happen elsewhere. We've all heard so many stories like that at this point. Got anything? Is that why you're suggesting this?

What is your favorite novel? What are you currently reading?

I guess I don't read enough novels that I ever ranked them to have a favorite but I enjoyed the hell out of Michael Chabon's Yiddish Policeman's Union. I loved the world he invented for it, and how we get to poke around that world.

I just finished Chris Ware's Building Stories. It's a "graphic novel" aka a comic book but the sheer ambition and scale of it is amazing. You open the box and it's over a dozen brightly colored books and booklets, in various sizes, like I'd imagine Christmas morning is like. What I find amazing about it is the minuteness of his observations. Reading it made me feel like a hack to rely on PLOT as much as I do. There definitely is plot in his book, things happen, events unfold. But those aren't really the point. Somehow they're just one element and not the central one, which usually is terrible but in this case opens the world up to all sorts of tiny moments and feelings.

He's telling the story of the people in three apartments in a Chicago three-flat and does it with such rigor and precision, honestly, it created the feeling of living through a normal average day in this way that felt utterly real and human scale. Yet super-interesting. Hard to pull something like that off without overselling the little moments and making them seem more precious than they really are.

And gorgeous. He's invented his own comix-y form that's really all his own. Amazing. It's a years-in-the-making, lonely gorgeous masterpiece.

Hey, I love This American Life. I also love another NPR program SnapJudgement. There seems to be a lot of people who perform stories for both shows, any chance you'll do a hybrid show? Better yet, a live one?

I love Snap Judgement too. Glynn is in the live show you can download, which is probably as close as we'll get to a hybrid. Yes I will plug again, that is just how professional I am: http://live.thisamericanlife.org/.

I'd love it if Glynn would let me come onto his show and do a story at one of their live audience video things. Seems only fair, since he came onto our show.

Hi Ira! I love TAL, and, as a teenage girl, when I saw your Rookie segment I was belly-laughing so hard my stomach ached. Giving sex advice over the squeak of balloon animals...classic. Your straightforward style never fails to amaze me with its simplicity.

I have been thinking of submitting an experience of mine to TAL, would you recommend submitting it at a specific time/for a specific theme or episode? Any tips for writing an effective proposal (other than what I've pored over on the website)?

I am very proud of that video. http://rookiemag.com/2012/10/ira-glass-balloon-animals/

The website covers it. Send! Or send something to Rookie, which my wife helps edit. Or both!

What was your favorite class at Brown?

I think my very favorite was one everyone loved on Constitutional law for undergrads. The guy taught in the Socratic style of the old Paper Chase movie. It was a HUGE class, one that everybody took. JFK Jr was in it the semester I took it. Not that I ever spoke to him. The teacher would call on him now and then. As I recall, he would get very nervous.

In one of your first interviews, a M.A.S.H actor (I think) said you have the "perfect voice for radio." I was wondering if you agree with this assessment? And is this why lots of the male contributors on This American Life have a similar vocal aesthetic? I often find it difficult to tell you, Alex Blumberg, and Jonathan Goldstein apart.

I do not have a perfect voice for radio or even an especially good one. I have a normal voice. If it seems good for radio to you, well, that's the power of repetition.

Ira, you are one of my 3 heroes. The other two are Kurt Vonnegut and Bill Hicks, so you're the only one still living. Thanks for all of your wonderful shows. My question is, when you're interviewing people, what would you say is more important... staying on topic or listening and allowing the interview to take another path which might be more interesting? Do you ever start with one topic, but then get completely off topic onto another story that's even better than what you were there for in the first place?

It's always a balance, knowing when to let someone digress and there's no hard or fast rule to it. Terry Gross says that when she's interviewing them, she's also editing the interview in her head and I'm that way too.

I know that's not a helpful answer but really, it's a judgment call....

Could you possibly, maybe, make a UK show. Just once, I'm not talking about a British remake I'm talking about your producers doing your...thing...to our stories. I think it would be interesting, do you know what I mean? If you got stuck for ideas you could make fun of our accents and stuff, it would be fine.

We've done a few stories in the UK of course, mostly thanks to the hilarious brilliant Jon Ronson. Are you pitching this because you've got a great story?

For an aspiring storyteller/journalist, why would you champion getting into radio over other media like blogs, magazines, books, etc?

Easy! You can reach a huge audience. It has immediacy and intimacy (not that blogs don't). Also, compared to magazines, there's a business model to it that's not, you know, collapsing. Public radio grows in audience and revenue continuously. Podcasts now go onto kickstarter (like Roman Mars did with his 99% Invisible podcast) and become financially sustainable projects.

Tho if you love writing books, you should probably just write a book.

Where do you see This American Life going in the future? I've seen Radiolab's format and subjects change dramatically over the course of its 4 or so years on air (I could be totally wrong about that time figure). Do you see yourself changing formats, running times, or broadening themes to either avoid staleness or simply find enough material?

We've been doing tons more news-related stories than we used to, for sure. That's a big change.

Hi Ira! I too was here for your last AMA - and unfortunately my question didn't get answered - so I am back! 1. Will Sleepwalk with Me ever be available in international theaters? I live abroad, but because I have heard such great thing, I'm dying to see it. 2. I just wanted to say that like many others here, TAL has changed my life for the better. In fact, I just wrote my college essay on your podcast. Not sure how TAL as a college essay topic will be perceived, but hey. 3. Lastly, what's up with your tour stop in Paris?

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!

Trying to get Sleepwalk into the UK and Canada and Australia. It may be on iTunes before then (in December).

What inspired you to do a rap battle with Dan Savage?

Heh. Rap battle. That would be hilarious. It was a DJ battle.