This American Life

For the television adaptation of the same name, see This American Life (TV series).

This American Life
Other namesYour Radio Playhouse
GenreRadio short stories and essays
Running timec. 60 minutes
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
Home stationWBEZ
SyndicatesPublic Radio Exchange,[1] CBC Radio One (Canada), ABC Radio National (Australia)
TV adaptationsThis American Life
Hosted byIra Glass
Created byIra Glass
Torey Malatia
Produced by
Executive producer(s)Ira Glass
Edited by
Senior editor(s)Emanuele Berry
Recording studioChicago, Illinois (1995–2007)
New York City, New York (2007–present)
Original releaseNovember 17, 1995 (1995-11-17) –
present (present)
No. of episodes844[2] (as of October 18, 2024)
Audio formatStereo, iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts (defunct)
Websitewww.thisamericanlife.org
Podcastfeeds.thisamericanlife.org/talpodcast

This American Life (TAL) is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass.[3] It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays, memoirs, field recordings, short fiction, and found footage. The first episode aired on November 17, 1995,[4] under the show's original title, Your Radio Playhouse. The series was distributed by Public Radio International[5] until June 2014, when the program became self-distributed with Public Radio Exchange delivering new episodes to public radio stations.[6]

A television adaptation of the show ran for two seasons on the Showtime cable network[7] between June 2007 and May 2008.

  1. ^ Public Radio Exchange only handles the delivery of the program to public radio stations. Radio Distribution Announcement Archived July 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Archive". This American Life.
  3. ^ Abel, Jessica; Glass, Ira (1999). Radio: An Illustrated Guide. WBEZ Alliance Inc. ISBN 0-9679671-0-4.
  4. ^ "This American Life: The Television Show!". This American Life. Retrieved March 3, 2007.[dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Public Radio International Dropping 'This American Life'". Deadline. March 21, 2014. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  6. ^ Jensen, Elizabeth (May 28, 2014). "Spurning Suitors, 'This American Life' Opts for Self-Distribution". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 4, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  7. ^ Torey Malatia (January 2, 2006). "This American Life Radio Program To Air Television Series on Showtime" (PDF) (Press release). WBEZ Chicago Public Radio. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2007.