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This American Life on GLT

Time: Sunday, 9-10 AM
HD3 Times: Sat., 1 PM; Sun., 4 AM; Sun., 10 PM
NPR Hosts : Ira Glass

 

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has named Ira Glass, the host and executive producer of This American Life, the recipient of the 2009 Edward R. Murrow Award.

"This American Life has created a new aesthetic for public radio, now emulated by a new generation of producers and reporters," said Lori Gilbert, CPB board member who presented the award to Glass at the Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference in San Diego, California (07/08/09). "Congratulations to Ira for his remarkable contributions to public radio over the last thirty years."

Glass began his public radio career in 1978 with an internship at NPR in Washington, DC. Over the next 17 years, he worked on nearly every NPR news show and did nearly every production job they had: tape cutter, desk assistant, newscast writer, editor, producer, reporter and substitute host.

Glass left Washington for Chicago in 1989 and co-hosted The Wild Room on Chicago Public Radio. In 1995, Glass and Chicago Public Radio launched This American Life which Glass created, produced and hosted. The following year, the show became syndicated and distributed by Public Radio International. It is currently broadcast on over 500 public radio stations and has a loyal weekly audience of 1.8 million.

This American Life has won numerous awards including three Peabodys, a duPont-Columbia Award and a Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism.

About the Murrow Award: Since 1977, CPB has presented the Murrow Award to individuals who foster public radio's quality and service and shape its direction. The award is named for the legendary reporter, producer, executive and government official, who championed responsible, courageous and imaginative uses of electronic media during his distinguished 30- year career. It's the industry's most prestigious award.

About CPB: CPB, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,100 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services.

From ThisAmericanLife.org:

One of our problems from the start has been that when we try to describe This American Life in a sentence or two, it just sounds awful. For instance: each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme. That doesn't sound like something we'd want to listen to on the radio, and it's our show.

So usually we just say what we're not. We're not a news show or a talk show or a call-in show. We're not really formatted like other radio shows at all. Instead, we do these stories that are like movies for radio. There are people in dramatic situations. Things happen to them. There are funny moments and emotional moments and—hopefully—moments where the people in the story say interesting, surprising things about it all. It has to be surprising. It has to be fun.