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This American Life Profile
This American Life

@ThisAmerLife

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A weekly public radio show and podcast hosted by @iraglass , and produced in collaboration with @WBEZ .

New York, NY
Joined May 2010
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
We asked @SaraBareilles to imagine what Obama might be thinking about this election and Trump. She wrote this song. @leslieodomjr sings.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
We're thrilled to announce that we just won the very first Pulitzer Prize ever given for audio journalism for our show “The Out Crowd,” on the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Watch @leslieodomjr sing "Seriously," a song by @SaraBareilles imagining what @POTUS might be thinking about the current election and Trump.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
See @lin_manuel and @ARamosofficial in the musical they did before they starred in Hamilton: 21 Chump Street. Full show here:
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
An Argentinian talk show that usually treats women as objects suddenly takes on a new subject: feminism.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
You can now download—for free!—all of our election songs, including "Seriously" from @SaraBareilles & @leslieodomjr .
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
2 years
Ten people were killed at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY. Their stories, as you’ve never heard them.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
“For years now, we’ve been doing serious reporting, including investigative stories. It’s gratifying to be recognized by the Pulitzers for that side of our work.” A note from @iraglass on the award.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
In case you haven't yet seen this photo of 13-year-old @iraglass (left) doing a magic trick for Michael Jackson.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
We’re looking for real-life stories where someone does the thing that happens in movies: they have to RUN—through an airport, to a wedding, whatever—to win someone back, stop them from being with someone else, or any other romantic mission. Email callforstories @thislife .org.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
Not long before @iraglass was an NPR intern, he had another career performing magic at kid's birthday parties.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Introducing Shortcut: Now you can clip your favorite moments from our show to share.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
5 years
A bunch of 22-year-olds from Hong Kong explain why they are cursed and what that means for their and Hong Kong’s future.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 months
The Never Use Alone hotline exists so drug users can call if they are using by themselves. Someone will stay on the line in case they overdose. We hear the recording of one such call, and everything that followed.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
The school reform that has actually been proven to work is the one we've given up on: desegregation.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
5 years
Our show this week is about libraries, "one of the last places you can go that you don't have to buy or believe in anything to come in."
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
Hello! We’re excited to introduce you to our new logo and website.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
For our election series, @SaraBareilles and @leslieodomjr put to song what we imagine Obama might be thinking about this election and Trump.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
3 years
We're thrilled to announce that @Starecheski and @tobinlow will be joining our team.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
From our live show: @birbigs , his wife, and his cat take a trip together and meet some zombie mice. Watch all the way to the end for the final gag. It’s good.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
On this week's show, Ira paid tribute to his late friend Mary. Here’s the video of them teaching people how to listen to podcasts. #trypod
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
3 years
Grief gets a bad rap as something to avoid. But what happens when you confront it? At this moment of unimaginable loss, stories of people reckoning with grief, and what they learn.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
3 years
For new fans of Anthony Ramos ( @ARamosofficial ), star of @intheheights , who want to see more of him: He starred in a mini-musical written by @Lin_Manuel that ran on our show. Watch the full 21 CHUMP STREET here:
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
Years ago, @chanajoffewalt started reporting a story that she thought was about school segregation. But the more she looked into it, the more she realized it was actually about the inordinate power of white parents.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
"There’s a war in this country over facts and truth, and it’s not clear how it’s gonna play out. And congratulations—you’re heading to the front lines." @iraglass to the @columbiajourn graduating class
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
. @iraglass with our show's co-founder, Mr. Torey Malatia.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
A phone booth in Japan invites people to talk to loved ones they lost in the tsunami.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Neil Patrick Harris channels Speaker Paul Ryan's 2016 sadness in song.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
We released this week's show early. It's a different kind of #MeToo story, about several women who worked for the same man.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
Update from Greece, Ep 593: Nasem Alsayed Ali, a refugee in a high-risk pregnancy, had her baby. Both are healthy.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
We're pleased to announce that a group of our education stories, reported by @chanajoffewalt and @nhannahjones , have won a Peabody Award.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
A Chinese man decides to go to Wuhan to document the coronavirus outbreak. He takes videos and shares stories of a city on the edge of a breakdown, and then he disappears.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
This week, it's our pleasure to bring you an hour of stories by our friend, David Rakoff.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
3 years
Our show is turning 25! To kick off our 25th anniversary celebration, we’ve released some of our favorite episodes for binge-listening over the holidays. Hear them on @ApplePodcasts now.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
5 years
Congrats to @thumbelulu on @thefarewell . You may have heard her story in our “Defense of Ignorance” show.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
3 years
We were thrilled to learn that our show "The Giant Pool of Money" will be among the audio recordings added to @librarycongress this year. It's the first podcast ever named to the #NatRecRegistry !
@librarycongress
Library of Congress
3 years
NEWS: @LibnOfCongress Carla Hayden today named 25 recordings as audio treasures worthy of preservation based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation's sound heritage. View the 2020 selections to the #NatRecRegistry :
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Did a beloved family doctor strangle his own father? Hear the story Sarah Koenig investigated before @serial :
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Our show this weekend: After the election, people across the country talk about what they are feeling and thinking.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
"With Serial, we were experimenting with using television as a model. With this one, we looked to novels.” #STown
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
Afrofuturism is more than sci-fi. It’s a way of looking at black culture that’s fantastic, creative, and hopeful.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 months
. @AtsukoComedy moved suddenly from Japan to the U.S. when she was eight years old, and has long joked that it was because her grandmother kidnapped her from her dad. But she'd never talked to anyone in her family about what had actually happened.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
New video: @ActuallyNPH sings the part of Paul Ryan in our election song written by 'Frozen' songwriters @lopezbobby and @Lyrikris10 .
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
. @serial Season Two starts... now.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
Laci Green ( @gogreen18 ), a famous YouTuber and sex educator, gets harassed on the internet. No surprise there. What is surprising is who winds up harassing her, and what she does about it.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Trailer for @birbigs ' new movie "Don't Think Twice," produced by @iraglass !
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
We’re excited to be working with @nytimes . It’ll help us reach more listeners. And The Times will be the new home for @serial .
@NYTimesPR
NYTimes Communications
4 years
🎧 We're excited to announce that the @nytimes Company will acquire @serial Productions and form a strategic alliance with @ThisAmerLife .
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
2 years
Ohio Republicans drew electoral maps that violated their own constitutional amendment, and those are the ones they’re using in this year’s elections.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
2 years
On the radio this weekend: Ten people were killed at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY. Their stories, as you’ve never heard them.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
When a monkey takes a selfie, who owns the copyright?
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
3 years
For our show this week, @benccalhoun talked to @not_lindsay 's neighbor to find out why he was playing this song over and over and over again every day. 🎷
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
A JFK Airport security guard tries everything she can think of to make the company she works for a better place to work.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
A security guard at the airport notices something going wrong on the tarmac, and takes it upon herself to fix it.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
Want to take a break and immerse yourself in a story? Here's a list of hour-long shows from our archive that might take your mind off things.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
10 years
@ConanOBrien Don't be weird, Conan.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
2 years
In this moment of racial backlash, what's it like to be a kid — a kid of color, especially — in one of these towns where some adults are saying racism is a problem, and other adults are saying it's not one at all?
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
2 years
Ten people were killed at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY. They were specific people living their lives, and on our show this week, we remember them.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
Any ideas? What kind of stories would you want to hear in our 666th show? It's coming up in a few months.
@teearetwotr2
Robert Robinson
6 years
@ThisAmerLife any plans for #666 episode? 👹
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
On the radio this weekend: Former kid magicians @iraglass and @dkestenbaum dive back into the world of magic.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
@Serial Season Two starts... now.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
Today's the day! Watch our new movie #ComeSunday on @netflix . Based on our "Heretics" episode, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Carlton Pearson, an evangelical pastor who cast aside the idea of hell.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
5 years
David Sedaris's true account of two Christmas seasons he spent working as an elf at Macy's department store in New York.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
“It’s gratifying for the Pulitzer committee to recognize that this medium does have particular strengths, and that it can do some things better than other media can.” — @iraglass
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
5 years
Sarah Koenig tells the story of the rise and fall of a school maintenance man who terrorized his staff and got away with it for decades.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
Camp people vs. non-camp people—this week, we attempt to bridge the gap of misunderstanding between the two.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
"Anyone interested in audio journalism’s potential as art will marvel at what [S-Town] accomplishes."
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
Afrofuturism is more than sci-fi. It’s a way of looking at black culture that’s fantastic, creative, and hopeful.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
David Sedaris describes how a Great Dane completely replaced him and his sisters when they grew up and moved out of their parents' house.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
9 years
A puppies & kittens popup store just opened below our office. Apologies if there is no episode today.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
This phone booth in Japan invites people to talk to loved ones they lost in the tsunami.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
"I don't know how you can understand what happened without speaking to the people who are saying: Something happened to me."
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
Our story "Anatomy of Doubt," about a rape investigation gone undeniably wrong, is a #Peabody76 finalist.
@PeabodyAwards
Peabody Awards
7 years
Announcing the 76th Annual Peabody Awards Finalists:
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Ira talks to @jaketapper about what it was like to be on live TV when Trump tried to pass an obvious lie as truth.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
5 years
Lenny Pozner's son, Noah, was killed at Sandy Hook. In the years since, Lenny's family has been harassed by people who believe Sandy Hook didn't happen. Until one day, Lenny decided to fight back.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Teachers, police officers, immigration lawyers, and others tell us what they’re feeling after Trump's election.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
What's it like being labeled a heretic? #ComeSunday , starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Bishop Carlton Pearson, premieres April 13th on @Netflix .
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
9 years
Ira is presently singing Dream Weaver and eating Girl Scout Cookies. Should be a good episode this weekend.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
This week we talk to people whose lives were affected by the president’s executive order on immigration.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
3 years
For Thanksgiving listening in a year when so many of us are not with our families, @iraglass recommends some of his favorite episodes from our archives — from family mysteries and Native American history to stories that delight.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
4 years
Scaachi Koul is trying to learn a language native to her parents, and heads back to Calgary to ask why they never taught it to her in the first place.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
One night in 1971, a man called into Bob Fass's radio show to say that he wanted to die. Bob kept him on the line.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 months
This week, we devote our entire show to a story from @marysdesk , about one call to a very unusual hotline.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
We went all out on a snack spread to celebrate our 600th episode. (Airing this weekend!) 🍪🎉
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Ira on the blog: "Our show is 20 years old today!" #20yearsofTAL
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
Psssst....
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
5 months
Our producer, @chanajoffewalt , had a series of conversations with a man in Gaza over the course of one week. They're so immediate – and particular to this moment in the war in Gaza – that we're bringing them to you now, outside of our regular schedule.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
From the ages of 12 to 27, Elna Baker was supposed to confess to male clergy anytime she did anything sexual. It was so routine for her that she barely thought to talk about it. Until recently... when she started calling other women who did the same thing.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
In 1967, black students were chosen to integrate elite Southern prep schools, for the benefit of the white kids.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
Some kids broke into an abandoned house in New Hampshire and found a mystery that took decades to uncover.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
8 years
RARE TOREY MALATIA SIGHTING!
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
We released our show early this week, you can listen online today.
@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
7 years
In 1967, black students were chosen to integrate elite Southern prep schools, for the benefit of the white kids.
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
9 years
Just realized that our first show aired on this day in 1995. http://t.co/tdnsCKDPXe
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@ThisAmerLife
This American Life
6 years
It’s here! The new season of @serial is ambitious and full of great stories. Listen now.
@serial
Serial
6 years
This season, we’re holding open the courthouse door, inviting you inside. There are shocking, fascinating things happening in plain sight. Hear episodes 1 and 2 today.
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