Ira Glass broke a lot of newswriting rules when he first started the radio show that would become the wildly popular weekly series, “This American Life.”
His stories weren’t fact-supplemental fact-quote or soundbite from a source, but anecdotes told the way broadcast instructors always urge: like you were telling your friends something fascinating.
If you like the “This American Life” sound and story structure, here’s something you’ll enjoy: a four-part video interview with Ira on how to tell stories.
Earlier, I embedded the first video in the series. Then I realized that’s the one you’re most likely to watch. But the really good one, from a content maker’s perspective, is the third segment. So here it is.
For more about Ira and his show, read:
- “His American Life,” Chicago, March 2006
- “The Trouble With Birthdays,” Stop Smiling, Dec. 25, 2005
- A contrarian view, “This American Life and the Illusion of No Illusion,” Zeek, November 2007
Photo: Scott Beale/Laughing Squid/Flickr