You might not know his face, but if you're one of the 2.1million listeners who tune into his weekly radio show, you definitely know his voice. Ira Glass is the host and producer of This American Life, a weekly radio show broadcast on 587 local radio stations in the US, the CBC in Canada, ABC in Australia, and as of Sunday, BBC Radio 4 Extra in the UK. As Glass prepares to take his show to another non-American audience, he discusses his feelings about becoming "the face of radio" in the US, and which stories have affected him the most.
This year, you had a cameo in the Veronica Mars movie and a shout-out on The Simpsons, but why didn't you play yourself on Orange is the New Black?
Well, I haven't seen it. It's no bearing on the quality of the show or my desire to see it – but just my utter lack of leisure time. Let's say I'm a little over-committed. I don't mean to sound super important, I'm not meeting with the secretary of state or ! anything. I do the show, I give talks, I walk my dog. Jenji [Kohan] wrote me to make the pitch, and I graciously declined and wished her the best.
Why did you graciously decline?
I thought it was well-written. I thought it was fine. I felt uncomfortable playing myself. It's flattering to be asked and included in such a great show, but it just made me feel strange. I did do a cameo in the Veronica Mars movie, but that just seemed so small and easy and fun, and the whole staff of This American Life was on that, not just me.
You've done 523 episodes now, over 19 years [the show began in 1995]. Of all those stories, which have meant the most to you personally?
There are stories that change the way I see stuff, like the Harper High School story. I didn't really understand what it was like to live in a neighborhood like that, or be a kid like that. One of the things we learned is that every kid in the school is in a gang. The nerd kids are ! in a gang. The drama kids are in a gang. Before I read that se! ries, and this is kind of ugly to say, but I would think, 'Well, if they got shot they're a gang kid ... that's a bad kid.' I don't feel that any more at all. Those of us who don't live in neighborhoods like that, we're so dumb.
And then occasionally there will be this moment in a show where I get to talk about my personal life. In this week's show, there's a moment in an interview that I do with Marc Maron. He was an addict, and he's talking about not regretting it. And then I told him a story about taking ecstasy. I really hope it stays in the show.
I am mostly a pretty worried person. In conversations, I am always worried about what to say. The first time I took ecstasy, all of that lifted away. All the anxiety, which is the baseline of my life in some way, and I had this moment of like, wait a second! Are there people who feel this way all the time? This is like a whole way to be, where you don't feel anxious? Oh my god! It was so amazing. In the months after that, it was a really helpful thing to have experienced. It remains to this day a feeling that is helpful to know about. If we could get that on the air it would mean a lot to me.
Do you feel like the face of! not only This American Life, but of public radio as a whole?
I only think I am representing This American Life. We are different enough from what is on public radio. Most people who discover it somehow feel like it's their secret. People have a relationship with it that's like 'it's just us'.
So you see This American Life as separate from public radio?
We are both very different and also quintessentially linked to public radio in the US. In terms of tone, we're different, and in terms of the conversational style of it and the subject matter we tackle, we're very different. But then something in the mission of the show is so quintessentially public radio. It's like we took the principles that everyone is working with, pushed them a little further, and morphed into something completely new.
What are those principles?
I mean there are a lot of super idealistic things that people try to do in public broadcasting that, when you ! say them out loud, sound so well-meaning, like something noone! would ever want to listen to. Those things are to provide a perspective on the world you can't hear elsewhere, to bring you voices you would never hear anywhere else, to provide an analysis of the world you wouldn't get anywhere else.
When I started in public broadcasting, the way we reported on "real people" would be with these quaint little stories about someone with a quaint little hobby like making hammered dulcimers or carving wooden ducks. Figuring out a way to do report on real people, in totally compelling and super fun ways, seemed like an interesting challenge. I figured out if you use plot -- and to get the person to tell a story -- it becomes less precious and way more enjoyable.
This American Life is about to start airing on British radio for the first time, on Radio 4 Extra. Will it translate?
The name is definitely a marketing problem. I think you can tell we had no intention of being an international show. And there's no one i! n Britain who's like, 'You know what I don't get enough of? American culture.'
The shows that the BBC chose are really traditional, documentary with a capital D, 'we-are-serious-journalist' stories. The first one includes a story about the Holocaust, because everybody knows that that's a classy story to put on the radio. They are feeling protective of us, [worrying] that their audience will notice that the tone is different and jauntier and more conversational, and not understand the seriousness of intent underneath it. I appreciate that whoever is programming for the BBC is trying to protect us.
I do worry that people will not understand why I'm talking the way I talk as the presenter of the show, and truthfully, when we went on the air in the United States, we would hear from program directors who would say, 'Ira was a great reporter when he was on NPR, but when are you going to get a real host? When is the adult gonna show up?'.
When you see show! s like 99% Invisible and Welcome to Night Vale becoming successful, do ! you worry about TAL getting old? Does it need to evolve to stay relevant?
Maybe I'd be a more canny producer if I did think that way. I don't need other shows to worry about that. For me, the only thing that makes the show interesting is if we're doing something new, and so that's a lot of what I'm thinking about all the time. What else should we do? What else should we do? It's constantly running through my brain.
Reader questions: Ira responds
Why don't you tweet?
I don't tweet because I don't need another creative venue. I don't need another form for self-expression. I don't need another way to get my thoughts out to people. I have one. I'm good. But I totally think it's wonderful for anyone who doesn't have their own national radio show. I think it's a fine alternative.
If This American Life were to go off the air, what show would you want it to take its place?
I love Radiolab and I feel like a lot of our audience is already listening to Radiolab ! but if we went off the air, I would love to give our audience to Radiolab. I think it's a really different, and beautiful, and inspiring show.
How many times does it take you to nail your opening?
We rewrite it usually three or four times. And then in the studio I will probably run through it, parts of it, twice and at the most three times.
How do you take care of your voice?
I don't take care of my voice at all, which is one reason that I sound as bad as I do.
How is your dog, Piney?
He's doing so well. Thanks for asking. We just reran the story that we did about him and I was so excited that we got excited by Cesar Millan's people. So apparently the Dog Whisperer would be willing to fix our whole situation but we graciously declined. For a while he was eating kangaroo and ostrich. And now we've cycled back and he's eating pork, which is amazing because you can buy it at the grocery store.
When do ! you listen to the radio?
In the morning, when I shav! e. And really, not for very long. I don't hear the radio that much. I don't own a radio. I listen to everything through apps, or on my iPhone. And then I download the shows I like. Shows like Fresh Air, Radiolab, Snap Judgement, all those shows.
Source : http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/03/ira-glass-the-first-time-i-took-ecstasy-my-anxiety-lifted-away
