logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2020
1h 3m

This American Life host Ira Glass on sto...

Financial Times
About this episode

Lilah chats with Ira Glass, the host of This American Life, the long running, seminal and wildly popular radio show that launched a genre of podcasting. But what does its name really mean? And what does American life look like today? They discuss reporting during a pandemic, whether the show has spurred or stifled creativity in audio, how having a more diverse staff has changed their stories — and why Ira is so often name-checked on online dating sites.

 

We’d love to hear what's keeping you centered and whose work you're turning to in these uncertain times. Let us know here: ft.com/culturecallout

 

You can also tweet us at @FTCultureCall. Stay safe, and stay in touch.

 

Links from the episode

Tell us what you think of Culture Call (and be entered to win a pair of Bose wireless headphones): ft.com/culturecallsurvey 

A great example of New Journalism: Frank Sinatra Has a Cold, by Gay Talese https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/ 

FT piece on gardening as ‘weeding the psyche’ (paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/2ce783ba-6944-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75 

DJ D-Nice, who hosts Club Quarantine funk and hip hop dance parties on Instagram Live: https://www.instagram.com/dnice

The Salt Drop, Lilah’s workout recommendation: https://www.instagram.com/thesaltdrop

FT piece on the rise the lockdown celebrity (paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/a51fa513-423e-4e93-9097-bef36129d0a4

Gris’ film recommendation, Honeyland, is on Hulu

Lilah’s TV recommendation, Unorthodox, is on Netflix

--- 

Recommended This American Life episodes

'The Test', a recent episode about coronavirus: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/698/the-test 

'We Come from Small Places', about Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/685/we-come-from-small-places 

'Are We There Yet', about the refugee crisis in Greece: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/592/are-we-there-yet 

'Tell Me I'm Fat', one of Gris' favourite episodes of TAL: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/589/tell-me-im-fat 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jan 2025
Our final episode: thank you
This is it. Today we present you a massive special episode full of wisdom, which answers your final pressing questions. Listeners wrote in from around the world — from Perth to Virginia to Prague — asking about music, cooking, careers, home, fashion and how to live a good life. L ... Show More
59m 39s
Dec 2024
Cultural predictions for 2025: the year we accept the chaos
It’s a time-honored tradition: for the third year in a row, FT Weekend editor-at-large Matt Vella joins Lilah to reflect on this past year, and muse on the coming one. We’ve asked listeners to send their predictions and wishes for 2025, and today we’re talking through them! Will ... Show More
34m 37s
Dec 2024
The perfect winter survival guide
Today we are bringing you a winter survival guide, full of deceptively small tips that will make winter unmeasurably better. How do we best appreciate these cold, dark months? How do we stay stimulated, but also reject the grind? Our FT Weekend Magazine’s resident “winter goddess ... Show More
29m 50s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2020
Jameela Jamil (REPLAY): 'I Weigh' & Cancel Culture
Hello and welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete! I'm replaying some old favourite episodes this week while I am on holiday. This episode was recorded in March 2019. Since then Jameela's 'i Weigh' movement has blossomed and grown - it originally started as a hashtag and has now turned i ... Show More
42m 27s
Mar 2022
263: How to Move Towards the Good | A Podcast Swap with The Skinny Confidential
This episode has been such a treat to put together for y'all to experience something a little different. I did a podcast swap with Lauryn and Michael from The Skinny Confidential, a blog, brand, podcast, and YouTube channel that reaches millions of women and men trying to live th ... Show More
48m 49s
Nov 2021
EP120: Lavagirl: Why She Quit Childhood Acting, Killed On Independence Day and They're One of the Youngest Couples in Their Community and Doing Aerobics... at 90?!
On this episode of Our American Stories, actress Taylor Dooley shares the story of when she played the role of Lavagirl and how now 15 years later, she has returned to acting to play the same role in the Netflix Film We Can Be Heroes; Joy Neal Kidney, the recipient of our 2021 Gr ... Show More
38m 16s
May 2021
Celebs who moonlight as trolls
Well hello there lovely people!!! On today’s show: The messiest social media breakup we’ve seen in, well, just about ever. Then, Ariana Grande gets married, our thoughts on *that* Craig McLachlan interview, and finally! The Chrissy Teigen bullying claims that are so bad, they cou ... Show More
48m 49s
Dec 2022
A Special ‘Ask Us Anything’ Episode (Including Worst Celebrity Interviews)
On the show today… It’s our last daily show of 2022 and to celebrate, we’re doing things a little differently today. We put the call out to Spillers to send in their juiciest questions for us to answer and they did not disappoint. On today’s show, we talk through our best and wor ... Show More
22m 7s
Nov 2023
Ep463 - Society and Culture Podcasts
We're trying something new this week. We chose a podcast category, society and culture, and we each brought in what we're presenting as the worst of the worst. I really thought these shows would have more to do with society and culture but then again how many shows in the comedy ... Show More
2h 50m
Feb 2024
Say More - Ira Glass on Is This It?
Ira Glass has created over 800 episodes of the genre-defining radio show and podcast This American Life. Each week on the show he weaves together stories around a central narrative theme and he never shies away from the big hard questions. But after almost 30 years of producing t ... Show More
49m 16s
Sep 2023
Soledad O'Brien
Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien joins the show. Over burgers and shakes, we discuss her impressive reporting career, earning accolades for her coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Plus, we get her take on why cases of B ... Show More
41m 55s
Jan 2021
Drivers licenses and 'the Baldwinitos'
HELLO! MAN OH MAN ARE WE HAPPY TO BE BACK! And HELLOOOO to Thursday, you fresh, sexy day! So glad we could make it! What a delight! What a time! What a year! On today’s show: A big ‘ol recap of the stories that dominated this summer and boy do we have a show for you. From Hilaria ... Show More
50m 41s
Jun 2024
The Sisters Reunion Part 3: Top Culture & Beyond
Join the sisters as they discuss Columbia’s People’s Graduation, the new Keith Haring exhibit, Lovecraft Country, Charlotte Day Wilson, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Cowboy Carter, claiming space in the historic, moving slowly as an artist, social media as activism or not, drama ... Show More
1 h