This American Life

See Also: Gambit Archives

As you might know, I'm a fan of NPR. Particularly, I'm a fan of their Saturday programming. This includes Prairie Home Companion, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Car Talk, and others. Great stuff, and if you haven't tried it, I recommend it. Very good road-trip radio.

Recently, I've started listening to This American Life, on at 3 p.m. Hosted by uber-hip Ira Glass, the purpose of Life is this: pick a theme, then have 3 to 5 "acts" featuring this theme. These involve actors reading portions of their books, or staff members interviewing celebrities or experts or real people appropriate to the theme.

Although some shows work better than others, I really like this show. And even cooler-- the show's website (thislife.org) serves up most of the eight years of history of the show via streaming audio. That makes for great background sound at work. It's easy to get distracted from your day-to-day tasks, which I don't necessarily mind.

If you have the time, the motiviation, and the ability to get Real Audio at work, I'd recommend giving it a shot. My personal favorites:

• Reruns. Why some of us like reruns.
• Sinatra. A look into the life of Ol' Blue Eyes.
• Music Lessons. The joys of high school band.

These are just a few of the shows I've found entertaining over the last few weeks. Incidentally, I've also discovered authors David Sedaris, Michael Rakoff, and Sarah Vowell through this show. I've become particularly enamored with Vowell, a former Salon columnist. If you're interested in the commentary found on This American Life, check out a sample of Sarah's work here.

Laters.

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