This American Life
Comedy
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...
Location:
United States
Genres:
Comedy
Description:
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.
Language:
English
Website:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org
Episodes
885: Bless This Mess
4/12/2026
At a time when the U.S. government is trying to make American history tidier, we try to learn from the mess. Including the untold, messy story of Paul and Essie Robeson.
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Duration:01:01:38
212: The Other Man
4/5/2026
What happens when a new guy comes on the scene and changes the way everyone relates to each other?
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Duration:01:02:33
884: The Idiot
3/29/2026
M. Gessen returns to our show with a true-crime story that takes place entirely within their own family. This story comes to us from the producers at Serial Productions—who invented the true-crime podcast more than a decade ago—and from The New York Times.
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Duration:00:59:50
883: Call Your Parents
3/22/2026
In the early days of the radio show, Ira did a series of interviews with his parents that completely changed his relationship with them. This week, he returns to those interviews.
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Duration:01:00:19
628: In the Shadow of the City
3/15/2026
Stories that take place on the edge of civilization, just out of sight.
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Duration:00:57:02
882: Give a Little Whistle
3/8/2026
Two lawyers who work for ICE step forward and lift the curtain on what is really happening inside our immigration system right now.
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Duration:01:02:04
881: I Want What I Want
2/22/2026
People deciding to do things that most of us do NOT choose to do.
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Duration:01:01:14
880: What Is Your Emergency?
2/1/2026
911 calls unlike any we’ve heard before, and other stories about immigration agents sweeping through America.
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Duration:00:59:16
879: A Christian and a Muslim Walk Into a Bar
1/18/2026
When a joke could get you killed, should you say it anyway? A group of Syrian comedians test the limits of their newfound freedom, a year after the fall of the brutal Assad regime.
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Duration:01:00:37
The Americans Outside My Window
1/12/2026
In this special mini-episode, we hear from someone in Venezuela with a very specific take on last week's U.S. attack.
Duration:00:19:20
878: New Lore Drop
1/11/2026
People discovering information about their own lives that they did not know, and suddenly everything looks very different.
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Duration:00:59:29
877: The Making Of
12/21/2025
How one block in Portland, Oregon became a movie-set war zone that lots of people think is a real war zone.
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Duration:01:00:39
An Update from Ira
10/16/2025
Ira Glass shares some news about This American Life
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Duration:00:05:18
Bonus: Nancy's Deep Cuts
7/18/2025
Ira Glass talks with longtime producer Nancy Updike about the most personal stories they have put on the radio. This is a sample of the bonus episodes we regularly release to our This American Life Partners.
To gain access to all the bonus episodes AND help us keep making This American Life, join at thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners.
Duration:00:26:44
A Big Announcement
10/16/2024
Ira Glass has news to share about some things happening here at This American Life.
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Duration:00:04:56