I've been a big, big fan of NPR's This American Life for a while now. If you're not familiar with the show, it's a radio program out of Chicago Public Radio that's produced and hosted by Ira Glass. Each episode has a theme (death, food, etc.) and then they tell two to three stories that bare out that theme, presented in a style I can only describe as essay-like cultural reporting a la Sarah Vowell, David Sedaris and David Rakoff, all of whom have been contributors. (Apparently, I'm not the only one who has trouble describing the show. When I went to their website to see how they did it, this is what it said.)

In any case, Showtime is now producing a TV version of the show. I watched the first two episodes this past weekend, and I'm really excited because the TV version is just as gripping as the radio original. So, if any of you are interested in really thought-provoking television, check out This American Life on Showtime.

Or you can just go watch American Idol, which, I hear, is just as culturally significant.

By the way, I've had this huge radio voice crush on Ira Glass for years. I never had any interest in finding out what he looked like, I just loved listening to him talk. Now that I've seen his face, however, my radio-voice crush has blossomed into the real thing. What can I say? I'm into quirky, bespectacled smart guys.

Ira, call me!

Labels: television