Editing This American Life (section)

==History==
In the early 1990s, Glass co-hosted, with Gary Covino, a Friday-night show in Chicago called ''The Wild Room.'' However, he was looking for new opportunities in radio,<ref name="Miner"/> and had been sending grant proposals to the [[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]] for two years when, in 1995, the [[MacArthur Foundation]] approached Torey Malatia, general manager of Chicago Public Radio. They offered him {{US$|150,000}} to make a show featuring local Chicago writers and performance artists.{{sfn|Coburn|2007|p=2}} Malatia approached Glass with the idea, who countered that he wanted to do a weekly program, but with a different premise, a budget of {{US$|300,000}}, and sights on taking it national. In a 1998 article in the ''[[Chicago Reader]]'', Michael Miner quoted Covino as saying, "The show [Glass] proposed was ''The Wild Room''. He just didn't call it ''The Wild Room''."<ref name="Miner"/> Glass, however, did not include his co-host in his plans and assured him that the deal was unlikely to happen. When the show went on without him, Covino says he felt "betrayed".<ref name=Miner>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/what-becomes-of-the-brokenhearted/Content?oid=897809 |title=Ira Glass's Messy Divorce: What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? |work=[[Chicago Reader]] |first=Michael |last=Miner |date=November 20, 1998|access-date=January 27, 2017}}</ref> While Glass admits he wasn't transparent about his plans, in that same article, he explained, "Every week on ''The Wild Room'' we came to the show with two independent sensibilities. I love Gary. I loved Gary. But I didn't want to keep doing that show...and the notion that everything I brought to ''The Wild Room'' I got from him I find completely infuriating...I didn't want to do free-form radio anymore. I have no interest in improvisation. It might have been possible to design a show with him that he would have felt comfortable with and I would have felt comfortable with. But at that point—I was in my late 30s—I just wanted to do the thing I wanted to do."<ref name="Miner"/>

{{quote box |width=310px |quoted = 1 |quote=We always saw the show as an entertainment. We saw ourselves as designing a format in opposition to the way stories were structured on NPR. We talked about it as a public radio show for people who didn't necessarily like public radio. |align=left |source=Glass to ''The New York Review of Books'', August 2019<ref name="Dreifus"/>}}

The show debuted on [[WBEZ]] in Chicago as ''Your Radio Playhouse'' on November 17, 1995.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=1995-11-17 |title=New Beginnings |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/1/new-beginnings |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=This American Life}}</ref> Glass conceived a format where each segment of the show would be an "act,"<ref name=":2" /> and at the beginning of each episode, would explain that show consisted of "documentaries, monologues, overheard conversations, found tapes, [and] anything we can think of." Glass also served as executive producer.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} The program's name was changed beginning with the March 21, 1996, episode,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/17/name-change-no-theme|title=This American Life: 17 – Name Change / No Theme |work=This American Life |date=March 21, 1996 |access-date=October 16, 2013|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016214158/http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/17/name-change-no-theme |archive-date=October 16, 2013}}</ref> and was picked up nationally by PRI the following June.<ref>{{cite news|title=Is PBS Still Necessary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/arts/television/17mcgr.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 17, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2008 |first=Charles |last=McGrath |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008041242/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/arts/television/17mcgr.html|archive-date=October 8, 2012}}</ref> [[Chicago Public Media]] (then called the WBEZ Alliance) produced.<ref name="Buckley">{{cite journal |last1=Buckley |first1=Cara |title=Ira Glass's 'This American Life' Leaves PRI |journal=The New York Times |date=July 2, 2014 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/arts/ira-glasss-this-american-life-leaves-pri.html |access-date=April 9, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The program's first year was produced on a budget that was tight even by US public-radio standards. A budget of $243,000 covered an outfitted studio, marketing costs, satellite time, four full-time staffers, and various freelance writers and reporters.<ref name="slate" /> The station was located at Chicago's [[Navy Pier]].<ref name="Johnson">{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Steve |title=IRA GLASS AND 'THIS AMERICAN LIFE': PUTTING THE PUBLIC BACK IN PUBLIC RADIO |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-10-18-9810180472-story.html |access-date=August 12, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=October 18, 1998}}</ref> Early on, Glass commissioned stories from artists, writers, theater people, and journalists.<ref name="Dreifus"/> National [[radio syndication|syndication]] began in June 1996 when [[Public Radio International]] formed a distribution partnership with the program,<ref name="nymag" /> and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting awarded the show a three-year grant for $350,000, double what Glass applied for.<ref name=Fisher/> As time went on, the staff was drawn more to journalistic stories that were, as Glass puts it, "in a style where there were characters and scenes and plot and funny moments."<ref name="nymag" /> The show is also carried on [[Sirius XM Satellite Radio]] over the Public Radio International block on the XM Public Radio channel. In the early 2010's, the program consistently rated as the first- or second-most downloaded podcast on [[iTunes]] for each week.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/podcasts/top10podcasts.html |title=iTunes Store Top 10 Podcasts |work=Top 10 Podcasts Chart – US |publisher=Apple Inc. |access-date=December 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214020656/http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/podcasts/top10podcasts.html |archive-date=December 14, 2012 }}</ref>

Early response to the program was largely positive. In 1998, ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' magazine called it "hip{{spaced ndash}} as well as intensely literary and surprisingly irreverent."<ref>Cox, Ana Marie; Dionis, Joanna (September/October 1998). "Ira Glass Radio Turn-On". ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]].'' '''23''' (5):83.</ref> Glass used a unique strategy to promote the show to stations by giving away pledge drive ads he developed himself.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gimletmedia.com/without-fail/ira-glass#episode-player|title=Ira Glass: The Man Who Launched a Thousand Podcasts by Without Fail|website=Gimlet Media|access-date=January 28, 2019}}</ref> By the end of 1999, TAL aired on 325 public radio stations;<ref name="Stewart">{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=David |title=This American Life: The pimp show turned out to be rare error, thank God |url=https://current.org/1999/11/the-pimp-show-turned-out-to-be-rare-error-thank-god/ |website=Current |access-date=November 7, 2020 |date=November 29, 1999}}</ref> also around that time, Rhino Records released a "[[greatest hits]]" CD of ''TAL'' episodes.<ref name="Cox">{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Ana Marie |last2=Dionis |first2=Joanna |title=Ira Glass radio turn-on |journal=Mother Jones |date=September–October 1998 |volume=23 |issue=5 |page=83}}</ref>

In January 2011, the series was picked up by [[CBC Radio One]] in [[Canada]].<ref>{{Cite news|first=John C. P. |last=King |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/article/916213--cbc-radio-one-to-air-this-american-life|title=CBC Radio One to air This American Life|work=[[Toronto Star]] |date=January 4, 2011|access-date=September 8, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117141422/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/article/916213--cbc-radio-one-to-air-this-american-life |archive-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref> The program is shortened slightly for the Canadian broadcast to allow for a five-minute newscast at the top of the hour, although this is partly made up for by the removal of mid-program breaks, most of the production credits (apart from that of Malatia), and underwriting announcements (CBC's radio services being fully commercial-free, except when [[Saturday Afternoon at the Opera|contractually]] or [[Canada Elections Act|legally]] required).

In January 2012, ''This American Life'' presented excerpts from a one-man theater show ''The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs'' by [[Mike Daisey]] as an exposé of conditions at a [[Foxconn]] factory in China.<ref name="Daisey">{{cite web |last1=Glass |first1=Ira |title=Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory |website=This American Life |access-date=July 12, 2020 |date=January 6, 2012}}</ref> The episode was entitled "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory" and became one of the show's most popular episodes at that time, with 888,000 downloads and 206,000 streams.<ref name="blog" /> WBEZ planned to host a live showing and a Q+A of "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" in Chicago on April 7, 2012.<ref name="blog">{{cite web |last1=Glass |first1=Ira |title=Retracting "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory" |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/extras/retracting-mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory |website=This American Life |access-date=July 12, 2020 |date=December 12, 2017}}</ref> On March 16, 2012, ''This American Life'' officially retracted the episode after learning that several events recounted both in the radio story and the monologue were fabrications.<ref name="blog" /> WBEZ canceled the planned live performance and refunded all ticket purchases.<ref name="blog" /> Airing that day, ''This American Life'' devoted the week's show (titled "Retraction") to detailing the inconsistencies in "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs".<ref name="retraction">{{cite web|url=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction|title=Retraction|date=March 16, 2012 |work=This American Life|access-date=March 17, 2012|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316224913/http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction|archive-date=March 16, 2012}}</ref> The show includes interviews between Rob Schmitz, the reporter who discovered the discrepancies, and Daisey's translator in China, Cathy Lee, as well as an interview between host Glass and Daisey.<ref name="retraction"/> Daisey apologized for presenting his work as journalism, saying "It's not journalism. It's theater," but refused to acknowledge that he had lied—even in the face of obvious discrepancies.<ref name="blog" /> The podcast of this episode became the most downloaded until February 2013.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Two weeks later, the show also reiterated that they had previously removed three stories by [[Stephen Glass]] due to dubious content, namely episode 57, "Delivery", episode 79, " Stuck in the Wrong Decade", and episode 86, "How to Take Money from Strangers." The episodes including the segments had inadvertently resurfaced in episode streams due to a website redesign.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Judkis |first=Maura |date=2023-06-29 |title='This American Life' pulls three 90s-era Stephen Glass episodes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/this-american-life-pulls-three-90s-era-stephen-glass-episodes/2012/03/29/gIQAoSwWjS_blog.html |access-date=2024-01-18 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US}}</ref> Though the segments were cut from podcast streams, the transcript of the contents have been kept accessible on the show's official website.<ref name=Spector >{{cite web |first=Dina |last=Spector |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/this-american-life-pulls-three-stephen-glass-episodes-2012-3|title='This American Life' Pulls Three Stephen Glass Episodes – Business Insider |date=March 29, 2012 |work=Business Insider|access-date=October 13, 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021024517/http://www.businessinsider.com/this-american-life-pulls-three-stephen-glass-episodes-2012-3 |archive-date=October 21, 2014}}</ref>

In 2015, the show retracted a story about canvassers who tried to change people's political opinions.  The story was based on an article in ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' that was also retracted.<ref name="Canvassers retraction">{{cite web |last1=Glass |first1=Ira |title=Canvassers Study Has Been Retracted |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/extras/canvassers-study-in-episode-555-has-been-retracted |website=This American Life |access-date=July 12, 2020 |date=December 12, 2017}}</ref>

In March  2014, the program announced that PRI would stop distributing the show in July, and that May, Glass announced that the staff would be distributing the show themselves, with [[Public Radio Exchange]] doing the technical legwork to deliver the audio to the radio stations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2014/05/radio-distribution-announcement |title=Radio Distribution Announcement |publisher=This American Life |access-date=August 13, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703153351/http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2014/05/radio-distribution-announcement |archive-date=July 3, 2014 }}</ref>

On October 1, 2014, the show produced a spinoff, ''[[Serial (podcast)|Serial]]'', a season-long exploration delivered as a podcast series.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url = https://www.newyorker.com/culture/sarah-larson/serial-podcast-weve-waiting|title = "Serial": The Podcast We've Been Waiting For|date = October 9, 2014|access-date = October 12, 2014 |magazine = The New Yorker|last = Larson|first = Sarah|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141011221411/http://www.newyorker.com/culture/sarah-larson/serial-podcast-weve-waiting|archive-date = October 11, 2014|df = mdy-all}}</ref> In 2015, Glass became the sole owner of ''This American Life''; WBEZ continued as a production partner on the show and on ''Serial'' with future shows to be independent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertfeder.com/2015/07/09/ira-glass-gains-sole-ownership-of-this-american-life/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305092348/http://www.robertfeder.com/2015/07/09/ira-glass-gains-sole-ownership-of-this-american-life/|url-status=dead|title=Ira Glass now owns all of 'This American Life'|archivedate=March 5, 2017|website=www.robertfeder.com}}</ref> In 2017, ''This American Life'' launched the podcast ''[[S-Town]]'' through the spinoff company Serial Productions. Serial Productions was bought by [[The New York Times Company]] in 2020. The ''Times'' and Serial jointly produced the podcasts ''[[Nice White Parents]]'', hosted by [[Chana Joffe-Walt]], which debuted in July 2020; and ''[[The Improvement Association]]'', hosted by Zoe Chace, which debuted in April 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytco.com/press/the-improvement-association-a-new-podcast-from-the-makers-of-serial-launches-april-13/|title="The Improvement Association," A New Podcast From The Makers of "Serial," Launches April 13|website=The New York Times|date=March 30, 2021|accessdate=December 7, 2021}}</ref>