Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are?

The previous line was uttered by Summer on The O.C. in reference to the radio show This American Life. Last night I went to see the host, Ira Glass, give a talk at the U of Arizona. It was great...I am a long time fan of the show and have a long time what we now call a man-crush on Ira Glass.

I wish I were taking notes so I could give a more coherent picture of the ideas he expressed. One of the major themes was the difference between mainstream news vs shows such as The Daily Show, Colbert Report, O'Reilly Factor, etc. and how there is no chance of the personal and emotional side of the story coming through in mainstream news. They talk to you, give you some opinion and a more personal context for the story. An example he gave of the difference was a show they did on the USS Stennis, an aircraft carrier launching missions over Afghanistan. They interview the person who refills vending machines, pilots, and the on-ship bands. An aircraft carrier is frequently described as a city, but, with a median age of 21, he describes it as a nuclear powered dorm that can destroy a city. I remember listening to that episode when it first aired...a great show and you can listen to it streaming.

Another major theme was the writing style. At one point he said, "We must destroy the topic sentence". The way we are taught to write in middle school and must follow if we want to get a good score on the new PSA writing section, inhibits storytelling and aspiring journalists should forget all they learned. Well, okay, not quite to that extreme, but you get the picture.

Some of their better recent shows have focused on the economic crisis. They interviewed people in the financial sector who made loans, who are in the commercial paper business, and others closely involved. To the surprise of conservatives and the whining of liberals, they don't blame it all on George Bush (and to the relief of liberals and the spittle inducing rage of conservatives, they don't blame it all on the Democrats in Congress or Bill Clinton). The shows were really an amazing look at parts of the picture you never heard from the MSM.

They are doing a version of This American Life on Showtime (which I don't get) but now have to go out and get season one on DVD.

Check it out if you haven't...all the shows are available streaming. Current shows are released as podcasts (but only for one week after they air). It's a unique voice that tells compelling stories in a unique format.