Is This American Life the best podcast ever?
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There is one podcast that is compulsory listening to anyone with even a remote interest in the wacky US of A. This American Life is kind of like Australian Story, except with more original ideas, a fascinating and interesting host and all the crazy weirdos of the US. TAL is hosted by the slick Ira Glass and is made by Chicago Public Radio and played on NPR. It’s where my all-time favourite author, David Sedaris, got his big break and opened my eyes to writers like sex columnist Dan Savage and history buff Sarah Vowell. Basically, it’s a one hour-ish podcast focused around one particular topic. That topic can be anything from the story of two children accidentally swapped at birth to the clearest explanation I’ve ever heard about the roots of the global financial crisis. My favourite one ever is Break-up, in which the writer Starlee Kine becomes obsessed with listening to Phil Collins songs after a messy break up, decides to write her own break-up song and then actually chats to Collins, plays it to him and asks him for advice on her heartbreak. The first story on A Little bit of Knowledge had me giggling out loud as it recounts the childhood myths that somehow make it into adulthood, like the university student who was unaware that unicorns didn’t exist. Whenever I talk to my 11-year-old step-sister, I am always reminded of the How To Talk to Kids episode, where kids lament that adults always ask boring questions, like “how’s school?”. Another genius episode is called Special Ed, covering a few different aspects of people who suffer mental illness or disabilities. My favourite segment is the first one, which includes a heartfelt song by a group of young disabled journalists, singing about their trip to California to visit the set of General Hospital. I’ve laughed out loud to This American Life and bawled my eyes out to it too many times to remember. It is incredible. Start listening tonight and get swept up. The entire podcast archive can be streamed free from the website, or downloaded for a bargain US 99c.
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9 Comments
I have been a devoted listener of this podcast for a couple of years. It is brilliant!
By God, Amber, you’ve nailed it - but you forgot the recently replayed How to rest in peace http://thislife.org/radio-archives/episode/342/How-to-Rest-in-Peace. One of many fantabulous pieces of radio, I believe unmatched in Australia or anywhere else.
Big ups to Ira and the team, too often I rely on them to put some optimism back into life
Am I missing something?
The podcasts are through the US only iTunes store.
I could stream them but that reduces my multitasking options.
Hey Trash1, they are definitely available in the Australian iTunes store too.
To subscribe, go to: http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/this-american-life/id201671138?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Click through to iTunes. You can subscribe for the weekly podcast, or purchase them for AU $1.69 via the iTunes store.
Cheers.
Amber, by fault for being less than specific. Quite a few podcasts do seem to be available but I picked a couple of titles out of the article:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/293/A-Little-Bit-of-Knowledge
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/341/How-to-Talk-to-Kids
(search iTunes on #341 to find the 2nd example)
http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/293-a-little-bit-of-knowledge/id345330186?i=345332049
http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/341-how-to-talk-to-kids/id345929693?i=345930848
on clicking “view” I am advised that they are not available in the Australian store.
Hence my original observation.
A friend recently introduced me to This American Life and it’s certainly been essential listening once a week when the Podcast comes through. Thanks Amber for highlighting some of your favourite episodes though, look forward to listening to them.
Trash1, you’re absolutely right. My apologies, I hadn’t realised. I have emailed This American Life to ask if/how those other archived podcasts are available for Australian listeners. Unfortunately, I’ve so far heard nothing back.
They Probably want us to purchase their iPhone app to listen to the archived eps. But why can’t you just download them directly from the TAL website and just drag them into iTunes?
Amber, you have succeeded where other have failed and caused me to finally work out how to add credit to that US iTunes account I’ve been using to download the odd free app that is not worldwide. Not therefore a total loss, but they do not make it easy (or cheap)!