This American Life transcripts.
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Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it’s like to be alive right now. It’s the most popular weekly podcast in the world, and winner of the first ever Pulitzer Prize for a radio show or podcast. Hosted by Ira Glass and produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.

• 2026-10-05 Reaching Out Sayre Quevedo’s invented a way to do a podcast that feels completely new. He’s been recording nearly all his conversations for years, and the result is something that captures a person’s life in a raw and complicated way that’s rarely heard. His new show Reaching Out also documen Transcript →
• 2026-09-28 An Argument Nikole Hannah-Jones made an argument 10 years ago in The New York Times Magazine that became famous. She wrote about choosing a public school for her daughter, Najya, in one of the most racially and economically segregated school systems in the country: Transcript →
• 2026-09-21 Intergenerational Space Travel People braving the true final frontier — the gap between people born at slightly different times. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: Last fall, some NPR podcasts started getting mysterious comments on Spotify. The Transcript →
• 2026-09-14 The Secret of My Death The clues people find when trying to make sense of a death. Transcript →
• 2026-09-11 Live Show in Los Angeles! We're doing a live performance in LA in October, and Life Partners get the first crack at tickets. Transcript →
• 2026-08-31 I Know What You Need Moments when it seems obvious what to do for someone else, so of course you jump in and try to help — and what happens after that. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: Devon Taylor tells host Ira Glass about a time Transcript →
• 2026-08-28 Some Episodes of Our Show Torture Us Ira sits down with producers Dana Chivvis and Ike Sriskandarajah to discuss an episode that punished the whole staff with its difficulty. It’s one you really might not suspect could be so hard. Transcript →
• 2026-08-17 Label Maker! Labels are powerful. They can distill you down to a single word. They can get stuck on you without your permission. And sometimes, when they get taken away, they can upend your entire life. On this episode: labels and the havoc they wreak. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners Transcript →
• 2026-08-03 I Couldn't Help but Notice People dealing with new, glaring, massive changes happening right where they live. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: Rick Cole, a city councilmember in Pasadena, CA, talks to Ira about how he responded to a surpr Transcript →
• 2026-07-27 Testosterone Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered everyone over 30 in the military to have their testosterone tested. That inspired us to rerun this classic episode where everyone at This American Life tested their testosterone and compared results. It did not lead to workplace harmony. Transcript →
• 2026-07-25 A Bonus Episode We Weren’t Sure About And by the end we were like “Wait, that was AMAZING.” Featuring producer Diane Wu, who makes Ira cry. Transcript →
• 2026-07-20 Trapped on a Bus People on journeys they did not intend — or agree to. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: A woman on a nighttime bus ride wakes up to discover the bus driver is taking the passengers somewhere none of them want to Transcript →
• 2026-07-13 The Test Case Some people in this country think Antifa is a dangerous domestic terror organization. Some think that’s a complete myth. This week, we go to the federal trial where, for the first time, the government sets out to prove that Antifa is real. Zoe Chace reports. Visit thisamericanlif Transcript →
• 2026-07-11 New Life Partners Perk! Ira is writing a new weekly newsletter just for our Life Partners, with recommendations and behind the scenes updates. Sign up via the Substack link below. Transcript →
• 2026-07-06 Maximal Americanness On this country's 250th birthday, we bring you stories about the most American people, places, objects, and social norms that make this country what it is. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: Ira talks to Pablo Tor Transcript →
• 2026-06-22 There’s Something About Hail Mary We spend an hour in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, behind and desperate, with people trying any damn thing they can think of. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: Five years after Ora first started expe Transcript →
• 2026-06-14 Mistakes Were Made Freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds. Transcript →
• 2026-06-08 Not Today, Hades! Regular people trapped inside Greek myths. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. (00:00:00) Prologue: When a mysterious, ripped-open package arrives on Pablo's doorstep, he takes it as a sign. (4 minutes) (00:04:47) Act One: Pablo flies Transcript →
• 2026-06-06 Someone I Admired and Learned From In this bonus episode, Ira plays three stories by Alex Chadwick, who Ira looked up to back in his twenties, when he was trying to figure out how to make radio. Transcript →
• 2026-05-31 The Book That Changed Your Life We want to believe our lives can be changed by the ideas contained in a book. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: When Alexa was seven, she started going through her grandfather's books. Her grand Transcript →