This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.
What it's like to be momentarily big on the small screen.
Stories of people standing up for themselves, shaking off their fear, bracing themselves, and doing what they’ve been scared to do.
We document one day in a Chicago diner called the Golden Apple, starting at 5 a.m. and going until 5 a.m. the next morning. We hear from the waitress who has worked the graveyard shift for over two decades, the regular customers who come every day, the couples working out their problems, assorted drunks, and, of course, cops.
Stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus.
Stories of very small injustices and also one very big one.
People connecting the dots that maybe should not be connected.
Stories from the upside-down world where conspiracy theorists dwell.
The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee may have to fight to protect Mueller's investigation and make his report public. Now that they’re in the majority, they have new tools they can use. Our producer Zoe Chace spent weeks behind the scenes with them as they tried out their new powers for the first time. This and other stories of people scrambling to get their footing on some challenging terrain.
People tossing words out into the world impulsively. And how they ignite and burn. Over decades.
Intimate and personal dispatches from two very different battlefields: A small town in the Syrian war. And the U.S. opioid epidemic. Each came from a DIY radio outfit. (Okay, one’s a podcast.)
