This American Life

Over on Carl’s blog, he waxes enthusiastic about some NPR shows including This American Life and asks, “Anyone else listen to these shows on the weekend?”

I’ll heartily second his endorsement of This American Life. In Seattle, they put it on at 7pm on Fridays, just in time to catch me on my way home. When I first heard it, I thought “what the hell is this weird show?” But then more and more often I would find myself sitting in my car outside of my house with the engine idling, listening to the end of some story or segment. I was hooked, and I highly recommend the show to anyone who’s never heard it before.

The best part about the show is that all the episodes are available on Audible.com for something like $3 apiece. Now when I’m going on a trip, I just buy 3-4 episodes I haven’t heard, burn them onto CD and I have something to listen to on the plane or in the car.

If you haven’t heard the show before, my suggestion is to buy the “Fiascos” episode from Audible and listen to it. The first segment on the Peter Pan production has got to be about the funniest damn story I’ve ever heard. Or buy “First Day” and listen to the “Squirrel Cop” segment. Or just about any episode with David Sedaris. Really, it’s great…

6 thoughts on “This American Life

  1. Pingback: Carl Franklin

  2. theCoach

    Best content anywhere: This American Life with Ira Glass. An incredible, eclectic mix of funny, honest poignant slices of life.

    Reply
  3. Scott Mitchell

    That show used to be on the radio here on Sundays 5-6pm, but not anymore… 🙁 I was hooked…

    David Sedaris is hilarious. Being an NBA fan I also really liked the interview with Colin Pine, Yao Ming’s translator.

    Reply
  4. alee@completeclicks.com

    I agree as well. Saturdays on my local Public Radio station is quite posibly some of the best programing on the radio. Starting at about 11 a.m. with "Car Talk", those two guys are hilarious. Then at 12 noon comes "Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me", which is a good way to keep up on some of the second page news. And finally at 1 p.m. comes TAL, as you have said, an unbelievable show. I recommend everyone listen to this show at least once.

    Reply

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