EDIT: Do you guys have any favorite episodes? I’ve listened to a little less than a hundred, so I’m always looking for recommendations.
I can’t believe I haven’t asked this yet – do any of your listen to it?! I’ve slowly been working my way through the archive the past year, some funny and powerful stuff in here.
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A Sunday evening staple for me. Checking out the archives sounds like a rewarding idea to me.
I got turned onto the show a little over a year ago, I never miss it now.
Oh and you might also like the Moth, some of their stories show up in this American Life episodes, but instead of an episode format its just a short 5-15 min monologue.
Thanks for the rec! I’ll check it out.
The Moth is also being turned into a full radio show in the near future, so if you like it tell them/ your local public radio station to support it.
One of my faves! I routinely ask my students if they’ve heard of it and woefully, hardly any of them have.
That’s a bummer! Are they high school, or college, if I may ask?
Just checked out your photography, beautiful stuff man.
GAH! Sorry. College, at VCU in Richmond.
Thanks for the kind words. If you two ever come this far south, lemme know — I’d love to shoot your picture. ;)
I love that show. Such great stories.
It’s trueeee.
It’s certainly one of the best! If you’re just getting into it, I recommend the episode . As Dave mentioned, is also awesome. I think they update Mondays.
I’ve listened to close to 100 or so, but it never occurred to me to talk about it. Oops!
Thanks for the heads up Emily! :D I’ll check out the Moth.
I believe the TV episodes of This American Life are available streaming on Netflix.
They are! They’re actually in my queue, although I’ve only watched two of them.
I absolutely adore TAL. I’ve burned most of the archive onto CD and I listen to them in the car when I’m driving around. It’s a great way to stay awake.
The TV show isn’t that bad either, but it’s not the same as the radio program.
I dont remember what the name of the episode was, but I really like the one about the girl who became pen pals with Manuel Noriaga (sp)
That was episode #246 “My Pen Pal”. The second story about a woman’s husband who is a much better spouse while writing her letters from jail is also great.
Great episode!
Generally I’d say anything with Sarah Vowell is well worth a listen, especially one episode called Guns which is flipping priceless. They also had one called Returning to the scene of the crime or something to that effect, I just remember it had Joss Whedon on it singing his commentary for Dr. Horrible
I think of all the other people they have on, David Sedaris is probably my favorite. His voice grated on me at first, but it became endearing, because his stories are so charming.
Big fan of This American Life. Used to listen to it all the time in Seattle, but it’s only on the air at strange times here, so I never hear it anymore.
thisamericanlife.org – You can stream episodes out of their archive! All is not lost.
I listen to it when I’m on the road and catch it, which isn’t that often. My dad and I would hear it a lot when he would take me to Nashville when I was in my early teens…
I also tend to listen to it on the road, whether it’s driving or on the bus. It’s good trip sound.
I find it good for car rides. Ira Glass can either captivate me, or he’ll send me to sleep. Since my PBS station usually airs it at night(or used to) I can’t recommend it for late night driving.
Favorite is probably the House on Loon Lake. It unfolds like a mystery little by little over the acts. It’s definitely one to listen to in a single sitting.
I also thought that Testosterone was pretty enlightening and quite entertaining. ^^
I just started listening a few months ago… I’ve gone though the entire archive.. and recently have been looking for new shows to listen to. Diana Knox (of Jinxville/GirlBox) suggested RadioLab, which is also a fun show to listen to. Highly recommended.
Loon Lake was great! I haven’t listened to Testosterone yet, I’ll check it out. Thanks!
I love the Break Up one where she calls up Phil Collins! Also the one where the guy comes back from Iraq and totally hates Muslims but then overcomes his “fear” and joins the Islamic Society at his College. I also love the one where they do loads and loads of little stories in 60 minutes.
This American Life is just such a great show, Ira Glass is a total legend and has THE nicest accent (I say this as an English girl- we like us some nice American accents!)
Break Up is the one where Ira Glass plays back all his old answering machine tapes? That one was tough to listen to in the beginning. I’d love to listen to the second one you mentioned …
Haha! Duly noted. ;)
I would have to recommend: Fiasco (04.25.1997), Conventions (09.18.1998) and Superpowers (03.17.2006)
I’ve listened to Conventions and Superpowers , but not Fiasco! Thank you!
Please support your local NPR station, those of you who like This American Life!
Couldn’t agree more!
There is a really funny episode about FIRST DAYS (of work, school etc) and there’s a wonderful story about a cop’s first day on the job and the squirrel that totally ruins it. Its from several years ago.
Oh wow, haven’t heard either of these! Thank you!
Squirrel Cop is absolutely fantastic. The one with the older brother who convinced his siblings he was a werewolf is also great.
First Day http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio_episode.aspx?episode=115
Babysitting http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=175
They’re called First Day and Babysitting.
Any of the Halloween episodes.
The few covering the financial meltdown.
The stories about the financial collapse have also morphed into an ongoing podcast called “Planet Money”.
Really! Thank you for the heads up!
The Halloween episodes are always good … they always throw in some real-life stuff to actually scare you, too.
Oh man, This American Life is one of those programs that is so well done and covers so many different topics that I can usually find some story they’ve done that relates to just about any situation that’s going on around me. I have to catch myself from saying “That’s like this story I heard on TAL about…” all the time.
While TAL already has a rather good list of their favorite episodes, some of mine include:
•”Garbage” (#249), which is an absolutely fascinating looking at how and what we dispose
•”Apocalypse” (#125), which is terrifying and funny in turns (like how Sarah Vowel has already lived through the Apocalypse three times before)
•”Americans in Paris” (#165), which includes a really interesting look at how differently race plays out in other countries.
Honestly, with the possible exception of the first dozen episodes before they were actually called This American Life, it’s pretty much impossible to go wrong. One way or another you’ll end up listening to all of them because the writers and producers have storytelling down to such an art that even the most seemingly banal tales are absolutely riveting.
Apocalypse is a good episode! I was on the road, somewhere in the mountains when I listened to it, so the ambience helped. Haven’t heard Garbage or Americans in Paris, thank you!
I love the one on Hamlet, Act V
Fascinating…
That was the first one I ever heard! Totally made me fall in love with the show.
I’ve been following This American Life for about 5 years now, and not one episode has let me down. But that also means that I can’t remember any specific episodes since I’ve listened to so many. I guess you can just listen to as many as you can and pick out your favorites. They’re all great, in my opinion.
If you can in any way, check out the second season of the live action This American Life show.
The episode called “John Smith” is just unbelievable. Hits me in the face with a sledgehammer everytime I see it.
Ooh, okay. I have the second season queued up, thanks for the recommendation!
I went through a lot of the archive a few months ago when I started playing WoW again. I think it was what actually kept me playing WoW.
Personally my favorites are fear of sleep, and return to the scene of the crime.
Both of those are great, thanks man!
did you by chance see return to the scene of the crime live? it was amazing!
The series of shows they did on the economy are pretty amazing:
(#355) The Giant Pool of Money
(#365) Another Frightening Show About the Economy
(#382) The Watchmen
But I’ve become kind of an economics nerd lately, so I’m a little biased. Anyways, if you like those episodes, the guys who made them have their own blog/podcast co-produced with TAL, which is also excellent:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/
My father is actually an economist. XD
I didn’t know about the other two economy episodes – I’ll have to check them out! Thanks!
My favorites include:
#347 Matchmakers: One of my favorite stories from This American Life is when the girl who works at a toy store sells out of all of the white baby dolls of a popular brand, and wonders which will sell first: a black baby doll, or “Nubbins,” a defective doll with flippers for hands and a five-pound head.
#352 “The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar”: I cried when I first heard this story. It’s about a boy who went missing in the 30s and then was found by his family, but years later his granddaughter wonders if it really was his family, or if he was mistaken for another child.
#328: “What I learned from Television”: Sarah Vowell’s essay on Thanksgiving specials on TV sitcoms is priceless.
#241 “20 acts in 60 minutes”: I must have listened to this one six or seven times already. It’s perfect for introducing your friends to the show.
Thanks for introducing this conversation! I will have to check out some of the episodes mentioned here, since I’ve only been into NPR for about a year.
Oh also, if you like TAL, you might also like Radiolab. It has a sort of where-science-and-philosophy-meet theme, and it’s very slickly produced.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/
A #87 Very Special Sedaris Christmas
For the most part, I enjoy This American Life, all the presenters execute quite well, I think. Two of my favorites are the one where John Hodgman talks about being Bruce Campbell’s literary agent, and the one about the Cryogenics. Both of those are quite good.
the best episode is “my brilliant plan (1/28/08)” followed by “the super (1/14/08)”
“The Devil Inside Me” is by far my favorite episode of this show. It’s intriguing the thoughts and struggles that people have. I Podcast this show and listen to it in my car whenever I get the chance.
Anything with David Sedaris. Or Sarah Vowel. Simply Amazing.
After listening to the episode about a woman who wouldn’t let anyone take a video or photograph of her, I now always agree to be in any photo or video my kids request!