
This American Life
by This American Life
Is this your podcast?This American Life is a groundbreaking podcast hosted by Ira Glass, known for its innovative storytelling and engaging narrative style. As a collaboration with WBEZ Chicago, it has garnered acclaim for being the first radio show or podcast …
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
- society and culture topics
- personal storytelling experiences
Podcast Focus
- true stories with emotional depth
- themes explored each week
Publishing Consistency
- weekly episode release
- active for one year
Platform Reach
- available on major podcast platforms
- produced by WBEZ Chicago
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Total monthly reach
Estimated from 48 chart positions in 48 markets.
By chart position
- 🇨🇦CA · Society & Culture#41M to 3M
- 🇺🇸US · Society & Culture#51M to 3M
- 🇦🇺AU · Society & Culture#18300K to 1M
- 🇬🇧GB · Society & Culture#36100K to 300K
- 🇩🇪DE · Society & Culture#1355K to 30K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
859K to 2.6M🎙 Daily cadence·14 episodes·Last published 5d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
2.9M to 8.8M🇨🇦34%🇺🇸34%🇦🇺11%+45 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
1.1M to 3.5M2.0M real followers tracked across platforms
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
From 12 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
888: Not Today, Hades!
Jun 7, 2026
Unknown duration
137: The Book That Changed Your Life
May 31, 2026
Unknown duration
676: Here’s Looking at You, Kid
May 24, 2026
Unknown duration
887: Two Is One, One Is None!
May 17, 2026
Unknown duration
886: Blackout
May 3, 2026
1h 02m 46s
Social Links & Contact
Official channels & resources
Official Website
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/7/26 | ![]() 888: Not Today, Hades! | Regular people trapped inside Greek myths. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: When a mysterious, ripped-open package arrives on Pablo's doorstep, he takes it as a sign. (4 minutes)Act One: Pablo flies closer to the sun. (14 minutes)Act Two: In Greek mythology, there's Hades, where everyone goes when they die. You have to cross the river Styx to get there, and there’s a gate with this three-headed dog. He’s guarding the entrance and he’s supposed to make sure only actual dead people enter. This story is about a real person in America who stood at those very gates. Which is not the easiest job it turns out, at least not right now. (24 minutes)Act Three: A mortal gets the assignment of a lifetime — to go interview an actual god who is living on earth, traveling under the name of Lionel Messi. (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices. | — | ||||||
| 5/31/26 | ![]() 137: 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 grandfather was a playwright and teacher, and through the books—and especially through his notes in the margins—she entered the world of 1930's American theater. And she found a book that changed her life: writer Moss Hart's autobiography Act One. (5 minutes)Act One: More of Alexa Junge and how Moss Hart's autobiography changed her life. She followed his path, learned specific lessons, and had a vision of him that was absolutely clear—until she met his widow. (10 minutes)Act Two: A book that changed a family's life—temporarily, and not for the better. David Sedaris on what happened when he found a dirty book in the woods and passed it along to his sisters. (9 minutes)Act Three: Reporter Jeremy Goldstein tells the story of a man who had many books change his life, even though he'd never read them. (14 minutes)Act Four: Writer Meghan Daum travels to De Smet, South Dakota—where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and set most of her Little House books. What surprises her is how much it matches what she'd imagined. The people there seem to be genuinely living by the values Laura wrote about. (15 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices. | — | ||||||
| 5/24/26 | ![]() 676: Here’s Looking at You, Kid | Adults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right? Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira talks with comedian Gary Gulman about his transformation from high school nobody to football star. (8 minutes)Act One: Gary puts on a tough guy costume, but will it turn him into a tough guy? Ira continues Gary Gulman’s story. (17 minutes)Act Two: Eleanor Gordon-Smith tells the story of a woman who wants to know why she was taken away from her mom as a kid. A version of this story is in Eleanor’s book Stop Being Reasonable: How We Really Change Our Minds. (30 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices. | — | ||||||
| 5/17/26 | ![]() 887: Two Is One, One Is None! | One family faces the Trump administration’s ban on trans people serving in the military, and responds with a surprising secret weapon. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Geirid and Chrissy are extreme planners. But about a year ago, they were confronted with a situation that even they had no idea how to plan for. (4 minutes)Act One: Geirid and Chrissy make an “in case of emergency, break glass” spreadsheet and get some big news. (14 minutes)Act Two: Geirid and Chrissy have less than a month to make a life-changing decision. The government gives them two options, and they try to find a third. (21 minutes)Act Three: A short story from Rachel Khong: Two people have a very consequential choice to make, given to them by God. (15 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices. | — | ||||||
| 5/3/26 | ![]() 886: Blackout✨ | internet blackoutIran+3 | Roxana SaberiFatemeh Jamalpour | This American Life | Iran | Iraninternet blackout+5 | — | 1h 02m 46s | |
| 5/1/26 | ![]() Ira (Reluctantly) Gives a Graduation Speech✨ | graduationcommencement speech+3 | — | — | — | graduationcommencement+3 | — | 8m 24s | |
| 4/26/26 | ![]() 466: Blackjack✨ | blackjackcard-counting+5 | Andy Bloch | Holy Rollers | — | blackjackcard-counting+5 | — | 1h 04m 36s | |
| 4/19/26 | ![]() 393: Infidelity✨ | infidelitycheating+5 | Jessica PresslerRuby Wright+4 | The New York TimesNot Just Friends+2 | — | infidelitycheating+5 | — | 59m 42s | |
| 4/12/26 | ![]() 885: Bless This Mess✨ | American historyHarlem Renaissance+3 | Nichole Hill | This American Life | — | Paul RobesonEssie Robeson+3 | — | 1h 01m 41s | |
| 4/5/26 | ![]() 212: The Other Man✨ | relationshipsfamily dynamics+4 | Sarah Koenig | — | — | Robert RedfordDavy Rothbart+5 | — | 1h 02m 33s | |
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| 3/29/26 | ![]() 884: The Idiot✨ | familytrue crime+4 | M. Gessen | Serial ProductionsThe New York Times | — | true crimefamily story+5 | — | 59m 15s | |
| 3/22/26 | ![]() 883: Call Your Parents✨ | family relationshipsparenting+3 | ShirleyBarry | This American Life | — | interviewsparents+3 | — | 59m 00s | |
| 3/8/26 | ![]() 882: Give a Little Whistle✨ | immigrationlaw+3 | Ryan Schwank | ICECongress+1 | — | immigration systemICE+3 | — | 1h 02m 04s | |
| 2/22/26 | ![]() 881: I Want What I Want✨ | decision makingfriendship+3 | Arielle Knight | The Boys and the Bees | Texas | unusual choicesdocumentary+5 | — | 1h 00m 47s | |
| 2/1/26 | ![]() 880: What Is Your Emergency?✨ | 911 callsimmigration+4 | Anayansi Diaz-CortesMemo Torres | ICE | — | 911 callsimmigration agents+4 | — | 59m 16s | |
| 1/18/26 | ![]() 879: A Christian and a Muslim Walk Into a Bar✨ | comedyfreedom of speech+3 | Sharief Homsi | StyriaBashar al-Assad+1 | SyriaHama | comedySyria+5 | — | 1h 00m 19s | |
| 1/9/26 | ![]() New Lore Drop | People discovering information about their own lives that they did not know and suddenly everything looks very different. | — | ||||||
| 10/16/25 | ![]() An Update from Ira | Ira Glass shares some news about This American Life To sign up as a Life Partner, visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners | — | ||||||
| 7/17/25 | ![]() Bonus: Nancy's Deep Cuts | Ira Glass talks with longtime producer Nancy Updike about the most personal stories they have put on the radio. This is a sample of the bonus episodes we regularly release to our This American Life Partners. To gain access to all the bonus episodes AND help us keep making This American Life, join at thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners. | — | ||||||
| 10/16/24 | ![]() A Big Announcement | Ira Glass has news to share about some things happening here at This American Life. To sign up as a Life Partner, visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners. | — | ||||||
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Chart Positions
48 placements across 48 markets.
Chart Positions
48 placements across 48 markets.




















