This American Life

By: This American Life
  • Summary

  • 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.
    Copyright 1995-2025 This American Life
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Episodes
  • 332: The Ten Commandments
    Apr 20 2025

    For Easter weekend — and the end of Passover! — stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments.

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    • Host Ira Glass reads from the Ten Commandments. Not the original Ten Commandments, but some of the newer, lesser-known ones. There's the Miner's Ten Commandments of 1853, the Ten Commandments of Umpiring, and the Ten Commandments for Math Teachers — just to name a few. (4 minutes)
    • Commandments One, Two and Three: As a boy in religious school, Shalom Auslander is informed that his name, Shalom, is one of the names of God, and so he must be very careful not to take his own name in vain. (9 minutes)
    • Commandment Four: Six houses of worship in six different cities, each with its own way of honoring the Sabbath. (3 minutes)
    • Commandment Five: When Jack Hitt was 11, he did the worst thing his father could have imagined. Neither Jack nor his four siblings will ever forget the punishment. (6 minutes)
    • Commandment Six: Alex Blumberg talks to Lt. Col. Lyn Brown, an Army Reserve chaplain who served two tours in Iraq. Brown talks about what "thou shalt not kill" means to soldiers on the battlefield. (6 minutes)
    • Commandment Seven: In the book of Matthew, Jesus says that looking lustfully at a woman is like committing adultery in your heart. Contributor David Dickerson was raised as an evangelical Christian, and for many years tried not to have a single lustful thought. (9 minutes)
    • Commandment Eight: Ira talks to a waiter named Hassan at Liebman's Deli in the Bronx about some audacious thefts he's witnessed in his years in the restaurant business. (3 minutes)
    • Commandment Nine: Chaya Lipschutz wanted to donate one of her kidneys to a stranger. But to save a stranger's life, she had to break the commandment against lying. And the person she had to lie to was her mother. Chaya talked to Sarah Koenig. (8 minutes)
    • Commandment Ten: Ira talks to seventh-graders about the things they covet most. (4 minutes)

    Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

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    1 hr
  • 858: How to Tell a Dumb American Story
    Apr 13 2025

    A couple devises a strategy to get their daughter's killer prosecuted and to get attention for other Native families.

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    • Prologue: Mika Westwolf was killed in a hit-and-run on a Montana highway. Her parents thought the driver might get away with it. The driver was white. Mika was a citizen of the Blackfeet Nation. (1 minute)
    • Act One: Mika’s parents, Carissa Heavy Runner and Kevin Howard, share recordings of their interactions with law enforcement. (8 minutes)
    • Act Two: Carissa and Kevin take matters into their own hands. (20 minutes)
    • Act Three: The county prosecutor explains why he let Mika’s killer out of jail. Will Carissa and Kevin's efforts pay off? Sierra follows them to court. (33 minutes)

    Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • 668: The Long Fuse
    Apr 6 2025

    People tossing words out into the world impulsively to ignite and burn over decades.

    Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.

    • Prologue: Host Ira Glass plays a strange voicemail left by a 96-year-old surgeon about a letter that was written five decades ago. (6 minutes)
    • Act One: Producer Lilly Sullivan reports out that voicemail. (13 minutes)
    • Act Two: On his deathbed, a wealthy man in Toronto decides to make some trouble. Hundreds of babies are involved. Stephanie Foo tells the story. (25 minutes)
    • Act Three: Cyclist Mike Friedman said something to cyclist Ian Dille in the middle of a race that ate at both of them for years. Jared Marcelle tells the story. (12 minutes)

    Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

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    1 hr and 6 mins
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What listeners say about This American Life

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Life changing, life defining

I’m nowhere near the age to have kids but if I were a parent I’d share and bond over this podcast and the truly life changing impact it’s had on my life and I. My favorite hour each week is spent on the edge of a metaphorical seat with Ira’s sultry whispering caressing my earbuds. 😅😘

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fantastic

Absolutely one of my favourite episodes, thank you! Would love it if you were able to do another such mystery episode regarding old houses or belongings and the search for the person's who owned them.

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Ira, you are the bezt

I hope you read these personally because I want you to know that I love these stories. I tell everyone I know to listen. Thank you for all that you think of, find and share.

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Absolutely fascinating...

TAL was the first "podcast" before the term existed.i am so glad to have rediscovered it.

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1 person found this helpful

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Help Center
Redeem a Promo Code
Gifts
Audible on Alexa
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Business Inquiries
Audible in the News
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Help Center
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Audible on Alexa
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About Audible
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Audible in the News
Contact Us

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

I loved Act 1 (Pirates of the Carib-Bean Town)

I couldn't stop laughing af the image the storyteller painted....and what happened when they revisited the story.

....act 2, not so much

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Great Podcast

I love the stories that they pick and choose and their discussion is very well done I have learned a lot in a lot in these podcasts good job!

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loved this

just the absolute best podcast. I'm continually learning and just feel better having such rich content to absorb. Thank you Ira Glass!

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My favorite PODCAST by far!

Wish I could download more than just the ten episodes at a time! I love listening in my car.

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A wonderful tribute

Beautiful and Moving stories throughout the episode, I couldn't stop listening. Thank you for sharing this again.

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