Talk:This American Life

Another Theme
I'm looking for another theme not listed and I reviewed them all! It's been played a lot recently. Episode 293, Act 2, Act Two. And Daddy Makes Three.

Six-year-old DJ has two dads, Dan Savage and Terry Miller. DJ is being raised by two gay men, but he has a preschooler's understanding of what gay means. Which is to say, he doesn't understand it at all. Though he does oppose gay marriage. Dan, the author of the syndicated column and book Savage Love, tells the story. His latest book is Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America. (11 minutes)

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=293 or the direct link to the Mp3 http://podcast.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/293.mp3 The song in questions starts at 23:48 minutes and at 24:12 minutes you really hear it.

It's flute, instrumental, don't know much more about it.

Thanks for any help

chris

Another Theme
I believe another reoccurring song in TAL is Deep Blue Day by Brian Eno. It can be found on the Trainspotting soundtrack. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.217.56.227 (talk) 03:49, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Random Question
Does anyone know where one can find who performed a musical piece in an episode? I'm specifically thinking about the awesome rendition of the flight of the bumble bee directly preceding the Car Talk piece in the Fiasco episode. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.81.206.105 (talk) 04:38, 17 March 2007 (UTC).
 * Ask Ira. He actually will respond to most emails.  I sent him one once asking a question and he answered!  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.206.143.173 (talk) 15:53, 3 July 2012 (UTC)
 * I loved that version and searched it out. I think it's from a 1958 album by Jo Ann Castle called Bumble boogie (from her 'ACCORDION IN HI-FI' album) DarrenfJ (talk) 17:24, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

NPR
Although TAL is distributed by PRI, why does NPR's display TAL as if it was part of their distribution? How so?


 * I don't believe NPR does this. NPR's website says nothing about "This American Life". Many NPR-affiliated stations broadcast "This American Life", but they also broadcast plenty of other programs that are distributed by PRI and also American Public Media. Nizamarain 16:21, 18 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Not entirely true, NPR does have a podcast page for TAL here with an informational page here. While I don't see this as NPR billing TAL as part of its line-up it is also not the other end where NPR has nothing about TAL on its web page. -- Greyed (talk) 07:40, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Julie Snyder?
I don't think the link of Julie Snyder is correct. The picture appeared in thislife.org for Julis Snyder is a different person (http://www.thislife.org/images/staff/cincinnati_promo/julie.jpeg). The Bio is also different (http://www.thislife.org/pages/staff.html). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 170.171.252.130 (talk) 17:17, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

Yet another question.
Thanks to whomever compiled the music list, however I've searched and searched for a guitar instrumental that has been featured on the radio version of TAL and have not been able to find it anywhere. It's a very slow strumming electric guitar with, I think a slow bass along with it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.215.171.72 (talk) 00:06, 9 May 2007 (UTC).

It's probably Rumble by Link Wray, that is on the list already. 68.6.50.247 (talk) 01:39, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Running Time - 50 or 60 minutes?
The show runs 60 minutes. The podcast versions, as well as the versions available for download on Audible.com, typically run between 59 and 60 minutes, and these do not include station breaks or "whatnot".

This is different from, for example, Fresh Air, which consists of about 45-46 minutes of content, which is then stretched out to an hour by station breaks, news, etc.

This American Life runs the full hour, there is no news break in the beginning, and if there are any station breaks, they are inserted very briefly into the musical breaks between segments. This is conclusively proven by the fact that when you download the program and play it, it lasts the full 59-60 minutes. Nizamarain 16:17, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Episode list
before this section gets out of hand, i'm wondering if an unenclopaedic episode list is really necessary. the data is no more than a copy/paste job from the original site, and offers nothing to this article that an external link wouldn't provide.--emerson7 | Talk 21:05, 24 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, the the same could be said for the vast majority of Wikipedia. After all, it is a tertiary source.  Personally, I have no problem with the inclusion of a list, in principal.  The only issue I have is that it seems entirely redundant to List of This American Life episodes.  Chunky Rice 21:15, 24 May 2007 (UTC)


 * the same has been said of other articles, and it's such a shame how articles tend toward entropic devolution. since it's all gone now, i guess the question is moot. --emerson7 | Talk 22:22, 24 May 2007 (UTC)


 * My point was that Wikipedia, by it's own policies, should not offer anything that can't be found elsewhere, so I don't really understand your complaint. Chunky Rice 22:49, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Average Age
Why is there information on the average age of listeners in the 'Popular Culture' section? Miuq (talk) 02:02, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Trivia
Is it really necessary to include a list of all of the songs and artists that have been used on TAL? Or for that matter, the entire production staff? These things seem like pretty pointless trivia to me and don't really add to a reader's understanding of the show. At the very least, they take up a disproportionate amount of space on the page compared with their importance. -Chunky Rice (talk) 17:17, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
 * No opinions on this? Would people object if I removed it? -Chunky Rice (talk) 18:30, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

I would object! a nice selection of songs, not listed anywhere else! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.164.65.21 (talk) 19:01, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

I actually found that section very useful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.254.241.76 (talk) 00:27, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Section is a valuable resource and not available on the TAL web site. Would a sub-page be appropriate? 98.27.133.174 (talk) 03:05, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Some explanation is needed for the difference between a recurring theme and a key theme. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.199.76.177 (talk) 12:52, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

The list of songs used does not fit the Wikipedia guideline for trivia, as its content is not haphazard or indiscriminate in nature. The information cannot be sourced according to the guidelines because such a reference list does not exist—the show does not list music used during segments. Crowdsourcing information unavailable elsewhere is appropriate. Perhaps it should become a subpage. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.249.16.112 (talk) 22:36, 8 March 2015 (UTC)

Television section
I am fairly positive that Haruki Murakami is not a writer for the TV show. 66.228.174.25 (talk) 21:14, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Retraction
Should something be added about the retraction: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2012/03/retracting-mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory

"We've learned that Mike Daisey's story about Apple in China - which we broadcast in January - contained significant fabrications. We're retracting the story because we can’t vouch for its truth. This is not a story we commissioned. It was an excerpt of Mike Daisey's acclaimed one-man show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," in which he talks about visiting a factory in China that makes iPhones and other Apple products." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.53.16.168 (talk) 19:15, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Since many of the stories on TAL are not true, to claim that a story is being retracted because it contains significant fabrications seems odd.Emhale (talk) 23:39, 24 October 2018 (UTC)

Episode count
I do not understand why an unqualified episode count is listed for an ongoing program. This should be deleted or the date of the count should be listed.1archie99 (talk) 05:09, 8 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Go for it. Danger! High voltage! 05:11, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

This show is still running?
The wiki indicates that the show is still in production. I claim it is not. I haven't heard about this show in years (never liked it, actually). Has anyones actually heard this show, lately? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.206.143.173 (talk) 15:51, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

As of March 7th 2014 the show is still on the air, when they will release their 519th show titled "Dead Men Tell No Tales". Future checks of the show's existence can be made by going to http://www.thisamericanlife.org/. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.246.132 (talk) 21:00, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

Need to remove PRI as distributor
This needs to be updated: This American Life will no longer be distributed by PRI

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2014/03/leaving-pri — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.184.4.223 (talk) 17:14, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Alex Blumberg is no longer a producer,
should we remove him from the infobox or keep him because of his previous contributions? Oduduserra (talk) 18:45, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Awards
Is anyone opposed to me converting the awards list into an awards table like 2 Dope Queens, Timber Wars, or WTF with Marc Maron? TipsyElephant (talk) 12:51, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

Monthly?
Why is it claimed to be monthly, when in fact it is weekly? 2A06:C701:4E17:C00:E07F:5A70:601E:ED0 (talk) 09:32, 27 March 2023 (UTC)