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.
66 episodes transcribedWhat’s great about living in a family is that everyone sees everything differently. Also, that’s what’s awful about living in a family. We go behind c...
Shalom Auslander goes on vacation with his family, and suspects the beloved, chatty old man in the room next door is an imposter—and sets out to prove...
America loves winners—now more than ever. But how do you get to a win in 2025 America? We get up close and follow someone trying to build a big win fo...
Three stories about the strange power inanimate objects can hold over us. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscrip...
Ira Glass shares some news about This American Life To sign up as a Life Partner, visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners
What happens when people create alternate versions of themselves and release them into the wild? Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up f...
When Zohran Mamdani won the primary race for New York mayor, the Democratic establishment's lukewarm response echoed the treatment of another charisma...
Stories of people who try simple mind games on others, and then find themselves way in over their heads. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to s...
A group of immigration judges, who almost never speak to the press, describes the dismantling of our immigration court system from the inside. Visit...
Things are different on college campuses this year. We see inside the drama, with students and staff. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign...
Small human plans that run into much larger obstacles. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ange...
People starting over—sometimes because they want to, other times because they have to. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our pre...
Since October 7th, while the world has focused its attention on Gaza, the Israeli government has tightened the screws on the three million Palestinian...
How they organize the chaos of the world, for good and for bad. Prologue: Ira interviews David Wallechinsky, who wrote a wildly popular book in the 1...
What is it about them, our mean friends? They treat us poorly, they don't call us back, they cancel plans at the last minute, and yet we keep coming b...
The story of the most commonly performed surgery, and what goes wrong with it – terribly wrong – 100,000 times a year in the United States. We’re exci...
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...
When you’re the only one who can see something, sometimes it feels like you’re in on a special secret. The hard part is getting anyone to believe your...
Summer is a time when change seems more possible than ever. But is that really how it happens? Can people actually reinvent themselves in the warmer m...
People on a mission to achieve their goals before their window of opportunity closes. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our prem...
