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cbirdsong
Sep 8, 2004

Commodore of the Apocalypso
Lipstick Apathy
This show needs its own thread.



For new listeners, I am going to steal some of the about us text from their web site:

quote:

If you've never heard This American Life, our staff's favorites page provides a great introduction to what we do. You might want to start there. After a few episodes, we're sure you'll figure it out. Or, if you're looking for a written introduction, here goes: One of our problems from the start has been that when we try to describe This American Life in a sentence or two, it just sounds awful. For instance: each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme. That doesn't sound like something we'd want to listen to on the radio, and it's our show.

So usually we just say what we're not. We're not a news show or a talk show or a call-in show. We're not really formatted like other radio shows at all. Instead, we do these stories that are like movies for radio. There are people in dramatic situations. Things happen to them. There are funny moments and emotional moments and—hopefully—moments where the people in the story say interesting, surprising things about it all. It has to be surprising. It has to be fun.

Each episode has a theme. That's mostly because a theme makes it seem like there's a reason to sit and listen to a story about a contest where everyone stands around a truck for days until only one person is left on their feet...or a grown man trying to convince a skeptical friend that not only has he heard the world's greatest phone message, but that it's about the Little Mermaid...or a man who's obsessed with Niagara Falls, lives minutes from the Falls, writes and thinks about the Falls all the time, but can't bring himself to actually visit the Falls because, as he says, "they've ruined the Falls." If you're not doing stories about the news, or celebrities, or things people have ever heard of elsewhere, you have to give people a reason to keep listening. The themes make it seem like you should.



quote:

Episode 447: The Incredible Case of the P.I. Moms - What do you get when you take a P.I. firm, then add in a bunch of sexy soccer moms, official sponsorship from Glock, a lying boss, and delusions of grandeur?

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Kill Dozed
Feb 13, 2008
I was just coming here to make a post about This American Life. I'd heard about the show for awhile, but it actually too me a bit to get around to listening to it. I now listen to the show every week, and often stream a few episodes from the website. If you are into This American Life, another show to give a shot is Radiolab. It takes the same format as TAL, but focuses more on philosophical/scientific issues.

Kill Dozed fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Sep 26, 2011

Jibo
May 22, 2007

Bear Witness
College Slice
This American Life is a great show, unfortunately I don't get to hear it as often as I'd like because of my schedule, but it's one of my favorites all the same.

Anyway, my dad passed away unexpectedly at the end of May and since his wife had died a couple years before and I was the oldest son I had a lot of crap to take care of. This involved a lot of driving around, which is when I tend to listen public radio. I had just gotten done meeting with my grandmother and my brother for a kind of mutual depression lunch thing on Fathers Day and on the way back home This American Life was on and they were having people come on and talk about their dads and Fathers Day and whatnot. So Michael Ian Black comes on and is talking about his dad and how he died in an accident out of nowhere. It was nice because a lot of what he was talking about going through with his brother and the general reaction all around was exactly like what my brother and I were going through, even though he was a kid when it happened.

So anyway, I guess my point is that This American Life is awesome and can pretty much always put me in a good mood. You can hear Michael Ian Black's segment from the Fathers Day show here.

Vertigus
Jan 8, 2011

My favorite episode is "Mistakes Were Made" http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/354/mistakes-were-made/ , about a man who ran a cryogenic freezing company. It's such a bizarre story and ranges from illuminating and hilarious to pathetic and depressing.

RustyTrombone
Oct 23, 2007

by zen death robot
I like the one with the crazy rear end guy running himself into debt trying to become a famous talk show host. He got a small cult following locally and then his finances and family went to poo poo. I highly recommend.

The mall santa alliance one was interesting too.

Mrens
Feb 21, 2004

Petty Tyrant is one of my favorites.

Story about a janitor that finagles himself to a supervisor position through fraud and deception then moves on to arson, vandalism, and terrorism .


I also get to see Ira Glass live in November :)

Mrens fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Oct 1, 2011

danifestmestny
Jun 11, 2003

Lincecum, Cain, and pray for rain

RustyTrombone posted:

I like the one with the crazy rear end guy running himself into debt trying to become a famous talk show host. He got a small cult following locally and then his finances and family went to poo poo. I highly recommend.

The mall santa alliance one was interesting too.

Do you recall what episode numbers those were?

Nadine Hauklund
May 17, 2002

A boy's best friend is his mother.
This podcast is so fabulous. It's my first Monday morning download, even before Comedy Bang Bang. I wish it was easier to get older episodes; I have only been listening for about six months and haven't heard any that you have referenced so far, save the Father's Day one, which was rad. Oh, the prom tornado one was so great. And the 30 Stories in 60 Minutes, too. That was only a few weeks ago.

Spatula City
Oct 21, 2010

LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING
Being a regular NPR listener, I catch this whenever I can, and it never ceases to surprise me with weirdness, sadness, hilarity, darkness, or whatever else. The P.I. Moms case ranks among my absolute favorites already. It just gets so much weirder than you ever could have expected it to,

yes
Aug 26, 2004

House on Loon Lake is one of the rare episodes with only one story arc and is pretty much what got me into This American Life

Mrens
Feb 21, 2004

danifestmestny posted:

Do you recall what episode numbers those were?

The talk show one is Last Man Standing

kuddles
Jul 16, 2006

Like a fist wrapped in blood...
This week's episode about the P.I. Mom's thing was really good. I appreciate the theme thing, but I find the episodes where only one story is told tends to be my favourite.

It also shows how unbelievably good their journalism is. The guy who ran the P.I. agency? Refuses to talk to anyone about it. Every single one of the moms also won't even give a statement. The channel that bought the show refuses to talk about it and won't allow any access to the television material shot for it. But the guy still manages to do enough research to get an hour's worth of content about it anyways.

Some of my other favourite episodes include:

The Super, about an apartment superintendent who had a bunch of crazy stories and half of them turned out to be true, and a guy who made a promise to himself to not be a cold, emotionless person his father was at the job, until he encounters renters who put his bleeding heart persona to the test.

Origin Story, which details how a famous copywriter in the 50s feels screwed over most of his ideas being claimed by someone else, how the controversial precendent regarding how the U.S. government can throw lawsuits out of court if they feel it could compromise national security is based on a complete lie, and how a screenplay written by the host of "Wait, wait, don't tell me" made the transition from a gritty political drama set in Cuba to a brainless romance.

kuddles fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Sep 28, 2011

Lady Gaza
Nov 20, 2008

I don't have a link but the episode on patent law is very good.

Farts Domino
May 8, 2004

Lady Gaza posted:

I don't have a link but the episode on patent law is very good.
Definitely, that was sort of my introduction to the whole patent law fiasco, then I saw it mentioned everywhere. I really love the episodes that are borderline muckraking journalism. The Coke Recipe episode was sort of like that too

eleven extra elephants
Feb 16, 2007

Menschliches! Allzumenschliches!!
I really enjoyed "The Super" episode with ex Brazilian Death Squad leader Bob.

see you tomorrow
Jun 27, 2009

Farts Domino posted:

Definitely, that was sort of my introduction to the whole patent law fiasco, then I saw it mentioned everywhere. I really love the episodes that are borderline muckraking journalism. The Coke Recipe episode was sort of like that too

Noticed the same thing. It was like everyone heard that episode and suddenly patent law was a thing. This week's P.I. moms show was super entertaining. I always really enjoy the shows where they dig deep into and investigate a topic.

Mrens
Feb 21, 2004

tooooooo bad posted:

I always really enjoy the shows where they dig deep into and investigate a topic.

They have two good episodes like that on the mortgage crisis Giant Pool of Money and Toxie

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
The "Patents" episode was one of those TAL's where I'm half gobstruck and half enraged by what I'm hearing. loving amazing radio/reporting.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack

cioxx
Jul 14, 2001

Vertigus posted:

My favorite episode is "Mistakes Were Made" http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/354/mistakes-were-made/ , about a man who ran a cryogenic freezing company. It's such a bizarre story and ranges from illuminating and hilarious to pathetic and depressing.

Definitely one of my favorites. I must have forwarded that episode to 50 people. Followed by "The Super" and "Toxie"

Sparrow
Sep 19, 2003
Don't Panic
One of my favorite episodes is In Dog We Trust, about pets. The David Sedaris story, The Youth in Asia, has some of the funniest moments in all of TAL-dom, and the Armadillo story is good as well.

Another favorite is Fred and Barney, structured as a series of answering machine messages and phone calls. Jonathan Goldstein's retelling of Adam and Eve is pretty great also (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/233/starting-from-scratch?act=3).

Mogambo
Jan 6, 2011

:hurr:
This has been a public service announcement to put me on ignore.
I'm curious if there are any episodes that people really don't like. I've been listening to TAL for a few years now, and without fail it's always been fascinating and great.

I have to really try hard to think of one, but the only episode I thought was bad was the one where they had an office contest to do stories pitched by their parents; they were all pretty terrible, if I recall. And even then, they admitted it was just a little experiment to try something new. I've heard some people don't like the Christmas/Holiday episodes, but they were fine to me.

(Also, I hope I'm not the only one who gets super annoyed when they do a story set entirely in another country. It's called This American Life for a reason. :911:)

maxnmona
Mar 16, 2005

if you start with drums, you have to end with dynamite.

Mogambo posted:

I'm curious if there are any episodes that people really don't like. I've been listening to TAL for a few years now, and without fail it's always been fascinating and great.

I've been spending the last couple years going through This American Life in order from the beginning (I'm still only up to 2001. There are a lot of episodes), and there are some pretty weak ones now and then, especially towards the start.

One I heard recently that might be the most boring episode they've ever done is Return to Childhood. You want to hear a bunch of middle-aged white guys talk about how things were different when they were a kid for an hour? Oh, no actually you're a sane person?

Mrens
Feb 21, 2004

It's been a while since David Sedaris has been on I forgot he used to be much more regular.

He has always been one of my favorites, the story Cry me a Liver hit's particularly close to home and is one I adore.

PI Moms is fantastic, I highly recommend it.

That episode was a roller coaster of crazy, can anyone recommend stories about criminals conspiracies?

Not just criminal governmental and corporate grand schemes are also welcome.

Mrens fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Oct 1, 2011

sexpig by night
Sep 8, 2011

by Azathoth

maxnmona posted:

I've been spending the last couple years going through This American Life in order from the beginning (I'm still only up to 2001. There are a lot of episodes), and there are some pretty weak ones now and then, especially towards the start.

One I heard recently that might be the most boring episode they've ever done is Return to Childhood. You want to hear a bunch of middle-aged white guys talk about how things were different when they were a kid for an hour? Oh, no actually you're a sane person?

Yea that one was a snooze for me too. I'm trying to remember any others where I didn't like ANYTHING in them and can't. Usually there's at least one gem to make me go 'ok, worth it'.

For the favorite stuff, I'm a whore for Sedaris, I own all his books and adore any story he has to tell, so basically any episode he's in becomes my favorite. Also I remember very distinctly there was one This American Life about a mall santa union and some insane drama there? That was pretty loving excellent all around.

soggybagel
Aug 6, 2006
The official account of NFL Tackle Phil Loadholt.

Let's talk Football.
I like Sedaris in writing but I really don't like when they play him on This American Life for two reasons. I'm not the biggest fan of his voice, which is one thing...but I can get past that since hell, he can't control how he talks. What I dislike is they're always just playing live recordings of him at some event/show and it does bother me how the crowd just is ridiculously enthusiastic about everything he says. This is admittedly a petty thing but it does get a bit grating for me.

I can't think of any weak episodes off the top of my head but I do know they happen as there are some that just are hard to get through.

One thing that annoys me slightly is that they'll sometimes have a repeat episode on the itunes list and they don't really let you know that all the stories have aired already so I'll get 15 minutes in and think "wait...this seems familiar." I know i know hard to complain when its free but it would be nice if they just put THIS IS A REPEAT

Tambreet
Nov 28, 2006

Ninja Platypus
Muldoon

Mrens posted:

It's been a while since David Sedaris has been on I forgot he used to be much more regular.

It's funny that someone asked if there are episodes people don't like and you mention Sedaris. I can't stand him and usually skip his bits. I can never come up with a good reason for it, but I think his voice just grates on me. That and many of his segments are live and I also don't like the audience reactions.

One of my favorites is Matchmakers, which ends with a story by a woman who works in an FAO Scwartz store where parents only wants to "adopt" the white dolls. A more recent favorite was the war episode based on David Finkel's The Good Soldiers. I heard that and went out and bought the book, which was also excellent.

X-Ray Pecs
May 11, 2008

New York
Ice Cream
TV
Travel
~Good Times~

Glitterbomber posted:

For the favorite stuff, I'm a whore for Sedaris, I own all his books and adore any story he has to tell, so basically any episode he's in becomes my favorite. Also I remember very distinctly there was one This American Life about a mall santa union and some insane drama there? That was pretty loving excellent all around.

This episode was #371, Scenes From a Mall. The other stories are okay, but the mall Santa thing is brilliant.

sexpig by night
Sep 8, 2011

by Azathoth

X-Ray Pecs posted:

This episode was #371, Scenes From a Mall. The other stories are okay, but the mall Santa thing is brilliant.

Thank you. I always love when they focus on just one, loving insane, thing for just one story in a sea of relative normal stories around it. Is this also the one with the doll store, where the woman had a 'deformed' doll with flippers she used as a floor model, and when it basically came down to either buying a black doll or a 'deformed' white one, people wanted the flipper-baby one?

Hoops
Aug 19, 2005


A Black Mark For Retarded Posting

kuddles posted:

The Super, about an apartment superintendent who had a bunch of crazy stories and half of them turned out to be true, and a guy who made a promise to himself to not be a cold, emotionless person his father was at the job, until he encounters renters who put his bleeding heart persona to the test.
I think it's this one with the guy who tells a story about his friend who beat cancer, who meets a woman who invites him into a fantastic investment opportunity....

Anyone who listened to it knows what I mean. I was in tears laughing at that. Thinking about it now, still smiling.

Haerc
Jan 2, 2011
Great show suggestions so far!

One of my favourites is The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar, http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/352/the-ghost-of-bobby-dunbar

From the site: In 1912 a four year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing in a swamp in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found in the hands of a wandering handyman in Mississippi. In 2004, his granddaughter discovered a secret beneath the legend of her grandfather's kidnapping, a secret whose revelation would divide her own family, bring redemption to another, and become the answer to a third family's century-old prayer.

Strange Matter
Oct 6, 2009

Ask me about Genocide

Haerc posted:

Great show suggestions so far!

One of my favourites is The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar, http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/352/the-ghost-of-bobby-dunbar

From the site: In 1912 a four year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing in a swamp in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found in the hands of a wandering handyman in Mississippi. In 2004, his granddaughter discovered a secret beneath the legend of her grandfather's kidnapping, a secret whose revelation would divide her own family, bring redemption to another, and become the answer to a third family's century-old prayer.
Ah! This is the episode I've been trying to remember since this thread was posted. It's easily my favorite episode as it plays out like a movie in real life.

The patent law episode that was posted further up the page was good but infuriating. If you want to feel the need to punch these people square the nose for a solid hour, then go hog wild.

ninjoatse.cx
Apr 9, 2005

Fun Shoe
I agree. Especially since there is no political will in Washington to fix the mess.

Alfajor
Jun 10, 2005

The delicious snack cake.
This is seriously THE best podcast. The production is top-notch, but the content is what makes it. Every episode is rich, independent from each other, and will entertain for an hour and then some more, as you think about things long after the episode has ended.
I've been listening to all episodes for only a few months, but I'm going to try to go back and listen to all of them, starting with everyone's favorite posts here. So, thank you all for sharing! :)

see you tomorrow
Jun 27, 2009

Speaking of frustrating shows, anyone remember which episode was about the woman judge who ran the totally crazy, super-harsh jail thing for kids? Only episode I can think of that left me actually furious when I had finished it.

maxnmona
Mar 16, 2005

if you start with drums, you have to end with dynamite.

tooooooo bad posted:

Speaking of frustrating shows, anyone remember which episode was about the woman judge who ran the totally crazy, super-harsh jail thing for kids? Only episode I can think of that left me actually furious when I had finished it.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/430/very-tough-love

Yeah, occasionally they do an episode that just gets you angry at the ridiculous injustice of it.

Another one is this one http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/163/can-you-fight-city-hall%E2%80%A6if-you-are-city-hall

Mogambo
Jan 6, 2011

:hurr:
This has been a public service announcement to put me on ignore.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Mike Birbiglia's story in Fear of Sleep. That's my favorite episode and what basically got me hooked. It also got me to listen to episodes of The Moth for a while, which isn't that good in general, be can be fantastic on rare occasions.

Hoops
Aug 19, 2005


A Black Mark For Retarded Posting
I really like The Moth, I just wish a few more people knew how to end a story. Most of the stories peak around 3/4s of the way through, then they go "so that's what happened. Thank you" and it ends with a little damp squib.

Mogambo
Jan 6, 2011

:hurr:
This has been a public service announcement to put me on ignore.
I really wanted to like The Moth based on the great stories they sometimes use on TAL. But, the thing is that they cherry-pick only the best stories out of the bunch for that show. However, The Moth Podcast is a mixed bag, and more often than not it veers into "my life overcoming drug addiction/depression/loneliness etc." or "look how quirky it is being me" which for me is boring and uninteresting.

And you're right, a lot of people need to learn to end a story properly. But I'd also posit that if they abruptly end with "so that's my story, thank you," there's a good chance they didn't have a very interesting story to begin with, and were probably just rambling about nothing.

Not that it is all bad. There was one with a woman who was shipwrecked that I thought was amazing, although it was pretty clear she had told that story a million times before.

Hoops
Aug 19, 2005


A Black Mark For Retarded Posting

Mogambo posted:

I really wanted to like The Moth based on the great stories they sometimes use on TAL. But, the thing is that they cherry-pick only the best stories out of the bunch for that show. However, The Moth Podcast is a mixed bag, and more often than not it veers into "my life overcoming drug addiction/depression/loneliness etc." or "look how quirky it is being me" which for me is boring and uninteresting.
There was one, maybe three months ago, where the whole thing was this woman whining about her relationship with her mother, and how messed up she was because of her non-abused, non-poor, non-endangered childhood. I completely rolled my eyes at that, it was the definition of the self-involved, neurotic, therapy-crutch cliche. I couldn't believe people were empathising and cheering, she should have been booed off the stage.

Just recently I'm starting to realise that most of them aren't that great, but I've only been listening to them for a few months so I'm not sick of it yet. The very first one I heard was the guy who was talking about being a professional stand-up comic while his child had a fatal illness, which had me close to tears. That was such a powerful story that I've been willing to keep listening to the podcast so I don't miss out on the best ones like that.

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NmareBfly
Jul 16, 2004

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!


Mrens posted:

That episode was a roller coaster of crazy, can anyone recommend stories about criminals conspiracies?

Not just criminal governmental and corporate grand schemes are also welcome.


I'm not quite sure why you spoilered that, but try The Fix is In, especially if you've seen The Informant. It's all about the Archer Daniels Midland price fixing scandal, and manages to be even more insane than the movie just by virtue of being true. If you'd prefer government conspiracies, try Arms Trader 2009.

Personally, I think very Tough Love is one of the scariest hours of radio I've ever listened to. It's all about an abusive drug court that essentially keeps people on probation in perpetuity, occasionally throwing them in jail with no information about when, if ever, they might get out again. Edit: Oh, already mentioned. Still loving terrifying.

Here's an early episode that few people have probably heard: Act two from Faustian Bargains is hilarious. Oh, and Squirrel Cop is the story I play for people who have never listened to TAL before.

NmareBfly fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Oct 5, 2011

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