Ira Glass, long the heart-throb of geeky NPR fans, has been on a tear lately. Perhaps he's tired of that squeaky clean "This American Life" image and is eager to take it down a couple notches now that he's safely ensconced within the amber of being a bona fide cultural cornerstone. Whatever the reason, we're thoroughly enjoying his recent willingness to play against type with revealing results. more ›

Usually we like to keep our sensational Ira Glass headlines based in reality since they are so much funnier that way. But yesterday A.V.Club Chicago uncovered this little bit of comedy genius lampooning everyone's favorite NPR host. more ›

Ira Glass appears on this week's WTF podcast with Marc Maron that was recently taped live at The Bell House in Brooklyn. Glass admitted feeling a bit weird about being in the room since just a few days before the taping Glass also appeared on the same stage for The Drunk Show during Eugene Mirman's Comedy Festival. According to Glass: more ›

Schadenfreude and WBEZ's Justin Kaufmann wraps up their season long series of parodies of Wrigley Field/Cubs fan archetypes with a spot-on send-up on Ira Glass. more ›

There's something wryly ironic about Davy Rothbart, the co-creator of FOUND Magazine, being featured as Exhibit A in a documentary about the difficulties of finding true love. But there you have it. more ›

This past Sunday, The Simpsons kicked off yet another season of mischief and comedy and while the premiere featured a great guest spot by Flight of The Conchords, this cameo by Ira Glass seems more appropriate for our site. [via TAL] more ›

Ira Glass, OK Go, and Muppets. Drummer versus drummer! Yup. more ›

• Tonight's episode of Law & Order apparently mirrors the ongoing trials and tribulations of Medill's Innocence Project.
• Amos Israel made his 64th arrest a memorable one; police tasered him as he tried to hide in and then leave the State Street Macy's.
• The Feder-Michaels feud continues.

Yesterday, Mediabistro reported comments from This American Life's Ira Glass on the future of the program's TV show: "I don't know if I can say this yet, but we've asked to be taken off of television." So why did it all go down? Is Ira Glass bringing the show back to Chicago HQ? WBEZ's Justin Kaufmann talked to Ira and got some answers. more ›

Once upon a time there was a festival celebrating the art of storytelling. Now, in its tenth year, the annual SKALD Storytelling Festival returns to the Department of Cultural Affairs to spin yarns that would make Homer blush. Actually, SKALD refers to an ancient Scandinavian poet, bard, or storyteller, so this storytelling fest is set to make Grendel blush, we supposed. more ›

This American Life's Ira Glass appeared on The Colbert Report last night. Much comedy ensued. more ›

Don’t be fooled by the trademark nasal North Carolina accent—David Sedaris owes a lot to his stint in Chicago. Discovered while reading his diary in a Chicago club by another famous nasal voice—Ira Glass—Sedaris went on to National Public Radio fame, five essay collections, numerous New Yorker essays, and legions of adoring literary groupies. more ›

This American Life is hitting the road to record some live shows this spring. Ira and crew will be hitting the Chicago Theatre on April 19 for a live recording. Per the Theatre's website, "The performance will include extra-special visual components, and feature audience favorites Dan Savage, David Rakoff, Starlee Kine, Mike Birbiglia and Dave Hill." Sounds good to us! Tickets go on sale this morning in...about half an hour, so get your clicking fingers ready! [via Gapers Block] more ›

Got $500 to kill? Sure, we all do! If you'd like to throw your cash at Chicago Public Radio and recieve more than a tote bag to show your devotion, consider ponying up to attend their Audible Feast. Wednesday night, WBEZ is presenting This American Life's Ira Glass, Wait, Wait's Peter Sagal, and Weekend Edition's Scott Simon to hang out, let their collective NPR hair down and tell tales from their favorite show moments. Taking place at the Art Institute, the big spenders will enjoy dinner in the Stock Exchange Trading Room, while the cheap seats ($75) still enjoy a wine and cheese reception. Wine & cheese and NPR listeners? You don't say. But seriously folks, the last time we saw Ira live it was at Rhinofest '06 for a radio vs. theater smackdown, and it was pretty entertaining. Add in another couple NPR stars and you've got a recipe for intellectual stimulation - some seriously low-key, understated, smugly clever stimulation, with a palpable air of superiority around it. Worth every penny! more ›

mad-libs. Holy crap. more ›

High school students who ride horses in the streets of Philadelphia. An Iraqi who takes to the streets of Savannah to talk to Americans about the war. The life story of people named John Smith. These are some of the stories that will unfold in second season of the TV version of This American Life when it premieres on Showtime Sunday night. more ›

Ira Glass wasn’t so popular with Chicagoans in 2006, when he announced that he would be moving production of This American Life from Chicago to New York. Showtime had approached Glass and his production staff with a television deal, but the budget just couldn’t work without a New York transplant, so the deal was sealed. Glass has publicly addressed this issue, saying “I’ve always said that because I end up working, like, 70 or 80 hours over the course of a week, I could be on the space shuttle and it wouldn’t make a difference.” more ›

When we saw Ira Glass at a "This American Life" taping a few weeks ago he bemoaned the fact that Showtime was doing so little to promote the television adaptation of the show they were working on. He said the network was only putting up money for a single billboard, so he hoped all of America would take time to drive past that billboard. Obviously Ira doesn't get online much, or he would've seen his face plastered over the top of just about every single website out there. more ›

A provocative new piece by Devin Gordon in Newsweek sets out to explain why, in his view, TV is better than movies. The way he sees it, TV programming is now "bigger and bolder" than what's on display at the local theater; Hollywood has gotten lazier and more predictable, while TV has become sharper and more agile. Ira Glass claims, "The people working in television right now are the Shakespeares of the medium." (Is he... more ›

Interesting things going on this weekend, time to brush up sewing and get in a movie! As always feel free to add more events in the comments section. Hurry over to the Chicago Academy of the Arts, 1010 W. Chicago for the casting call for Fred Claus. This movie, starring Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, and Kevin Spacey, will be filming in January 2007 in Chicago. Make sure to bring a color photograph and a pen... more ›

As we near the end of November and look to the winter, the on-sale listings begin to look a bit spare; only the hardiest of souls venture into a Chicago winter. The California band Curtains records for the Sufjantastic label Asthmatic Kitty. And while its sound resembles the delicate folk of his records, that’s like saying Rivers Cuomo and Ira Glass resemble each other because they both favor heavy glasses and sweaters. Curtains favors spare... more ›

We find oddball things to on the weekend very intriguing. We have some normal and some not so normal events for you today. Chiefly, we are referencing going to a bar to watch 40 people compete in a guitar video game at a bar. As always feel free to add more events in the comments section. more ›

This American Life. A radio show, unlike any other radio show on the airwaves. They have humor, they have grace, yet, at the same time they give an insight to everyday life. They seem to have it all, except one thing, one tiny little thing. Free Podcasts. (We apologize for our bad Ira Glass impression, kind of hard to do an impression in this medium.) more ›

Which is better, words or music? more ›

The Chicago Improv Festival kicks off tonight at the Gallery Cabaret in Bucktown with Schadenfreude’s first Chicago stage performance since…probably last year’s fest. The “Schadenfreude Rent Party” is an evening of all new material from a group that routinely packed the house at past CIFs, their late night revues, and the national college circuit until Chicago Public Radio got a hold of them. Then they were too busy hobnobbing with, and making fun of,... more ›

The Chicago Humanities Festival will be steered from a distance this year, with New Yorker Lawrence "Ren" Weschler taking the position of artistic director while remaining a resident of New York. He’ll spend four to five days in Chicago at a time for the job, and all the while keep his position as director of the New York Institute for the Humanities. more ›

Chicagoist never thought the day would arrive when we'd earnestly write "Smackdown" and "Ira Glass" in the same sentence. But the Rhinocerous Festival is always a time to defy expectations, pitting the gentle voiced This American Life host against Curious Theatre Branch's co-founder and spiritual force of the festival Beau O'Reilly Sunday night. These men shall duel—to the death! or at least till the end of the program!!—for the cultural supremacy of their respective artforms. O’Reilly’s armed with crafty monologues, deft characterization, and supreme elocution. Glass is bringing the mixing board, that cool background music, and the storytelling acumen that made him the cash cow of NPR pledge drives everywhere. more ›

Chicagoist knows you love dance parties, kids, cable access programming, puppets, and great bands. Well, they all finally come together in the local phenomenon Chic-A-Go-Go, which airs twice a week on Cable Channel 19. Self-described as "Chicago's dance show for kids of all ages," Chic-A-Go-Go is some weird amalgamation of American Bandstand, old Pets.com commercials, and children's television. Past episodes have featured the likes of some reputable performers, such as The Donnas and Kelly Hogan. They've also had some not-reputable-but-still-funny acts like Vanilla Ice. In fact, Chicagoist fondly remembers one particularly hilarious � and truly bizarre � installment featuring almost-famous local rockers OKGO playing with a back-up band of WBEZ radio personalities (including Ira Glass). As Homer Simpson says, "It's a party. It doesn't have to make sense." more ›

Sunday cools things off a bit, but you can still catch a live taping of . Music events will continue throughout the day. Feeling ambitious? See all the weekend's events here. The weather is supposed to be nice, so slap on some sunscreen and head downtown. more ›

NewCity announced its Lit 50 today, a list of the top 50 �literati who help make our city as vibrant as possible by hosting readings and festivals; the bestsellers who flex Chi pride when they're meeting with their New York publisher; the writers whose prose we've always admired.� No shockers with Studs Terkel coming in first and U of C professor and Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee came in second, but they are really... more ›