Ira Glass
Ira Glass | |
|---|---|
 Glass at the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards, 2013 | |
| Born | Ira Jeffrey Glass (1959-03-03) March 3, 1959 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Spouse(s) | Anaheed Alani (m. 2005; div. 2017) |
| Website | thisamericanlife.org |
Ira Jeffrey Glass[1] (/ˈaɪrə/; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality and the host and producer of the radio and television show This American Life. A staple on NPR's schedule, he participated in several programs including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Talk of the Nation.
Contents
1 Early life and education
2 Career
2.1 Radio broadcasting
2.2 Other works
3 Appearances
4 Personal life
4.1 Religion
5 References
6 External links
Early life and education
Glass was born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, to Jewish parents Barry Glass, an accountant and businessman at the firm he founded GlassJacobson Financial Group[2][3], and Shirley Glass, a psychologist, infidelity researcher, and author whom The New York Times called "the godmother of infidelity research."[4][5]
He is a first cousin once removed of composer Philip Glass, who has appeared on Glass' show and whose music can often be heard on the program.[6]
Glass' high school senior portrait
Glass attended Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County where he was active in student theater and student government, and held editorial roles as a member of the school's yearbook staff and as co-editor of the student literary magazine.
As a member of the Milford drama club, Glass was involved in several stage productions. His roles include Captain George Brackett in Milford's 1975 production of South Pacific,[7] Lowe in the school's 1976 production of Damn Yankees,[8] and Bud Frump in its 1977 production of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.[9] Along with his involvement on the stage, Glass was a member of the Thespian Society. Glass has remarked that his style of journalism is heavily influenced by the musicals he enjoyed when he was younger, especially the three-act structure of Fiddler on the Roof.[10]
Glass was involved in student government during his junior and senior years, as a member of the executive board.[11] His involvement in yearbook started in tenth grade and continued until his graduation in 1977. In addition to his other extracurriculars, Glass was also involved with Milford's morning announcements and was a member of the Milford Mill Honor Society in 1977.[12] While in high school, he wrote jokes for Baltimore radio personality Johnny Walker.[13]
After graduating from high school, Glass initially attended Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois,[14] but transferred to Brown University, where he concentrated in semiotics and graduated in 1982.[15]
Career
Radio broadcasting
Glass has worked in public radio for some 30 years. At 19 he began as an intern at National Public Radio's headquarters in Washington, DC.[16] He was a reporter and host on several NPR programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Talk of the Nation. Glass wrote,
The very first National Public Radio show that I worked on was Joe Frank's. I think I was influenced in a huge way ... Before I saw Joe put together a show, I had never thought about radio as a place where you could tell a certain kind of story.[17]
From November 1990 until September 1995, with NPR producer Gary Covino, he co-hosted a weekly local program on Chicago Public Radio called "The Wild Room". In 1993, Glass said,
I like to think of it as the only show on public radio other than "Car Talk" that both Daniel Schorr [NPR news analyst] and Kurt Cobain [lead singer/guitarist of Nirvana] could listen to. I think it's appropriate that the show [which aired on Friday evenings] is on a station that most people don't listen to at a time when most people won't hear it. And the fact that public radio never puts a new show on the air or takes any off is definitely to our advantage.[18]
During this time, he spent two years reporting on the Chicago Public Schools—one year at a high school, and another at an elementary school. The largest finding of his investigations was that smaller class sizes would contribute to more success in impoverished, inner-city schools.[19]
In 1995, the MacArthur Foundation approached Torey Malatia, general manager of Chicago Public Radio, with an offer of US$150,000 to produce a show featuring local Chicago writers and performance artists. Malatia approached Glass, who countered that he wanted to do a weekly program with a budget of US$300,000. In 1998 Covino told the Chicago Reader, "The show he proposed was The Wild Room. He just didn't call it The Wild Room."[20] Covino continued to produce The Wild Room until February 1996.
Glass invited David Sedaris to read his essays on NPR, which led to Sedaris's success as an independent author. Glass also produced Sedaris's commentaries on NPR.[21]
Since 1995, he has hosted and produced This American Life, from WBEZ and its parent company, Chicago Public Media. The show was syndicated nationally in June 1996 by Public Radio International and has been national ever since. PRI was eager to take on the program, even as NPR passed on it.[22] Chicago Public Media announced it would begin self-distribution of "This American Life" starting July 1, 2014, through Public Radio Exchange (PRX).[23]
This American Life reaches more than 1.7 million listeners on more than 500 stations weekly, with an average listening time of 48 minutes. Glass can be heard in all but four episodes. In July 2013, the 500th show was aired.
Ira Glass lecturing at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006
On November 17, 2005, This American Life celebrated its tenth anniversary. The following week, as a special show celebrating the anniversary, the first episode, "New Beginnings," was re-broadcast. Prior to this, the first episode had never been aired outside of Chicago. When the first episode was broadcast in 1995, the show was known as Your Radio Playhouse. That first episode includes interviews with talk-show host Joe Franklin and Ira's mother, as well as stories by Kevin Kelly, founding editor of Wired, and performance artist Lawrence Steger.
In May 2009, the This American Life radio show episode "Return to the Scene of the Crime" was broadcast live to more than 300 movie theaters.[24]
In 2009, Glass was named the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Radio.[25][26]
In 2011 Ira Glass earned the George Polk Award in Radio Reporting for "Very Tough Love," an hour-long report that showed alarmingly severe punishments being meted out by a county drug court judge in Georgia. Drug courts were set up to emphasize rehabilitation instead of incarceration, but Glass's investigation revealed that Judge Amanda Williams strayed far from the principles and philosophy by routinely piling on jail sentences for relapses. One 17-year-old girl, initially in trouble for forging two small checks on her father's account, was facing more than 10 years in jail. Following the airing of "Very Tough Love," Georgia's Judicial Qualifying Commission filed 14 ethical misconduct charges against Williams. Within weeks of the filing of charges, Williams stepped down from the bench and agreed never to seek other judicial offices.[27]
In 2012 Glass was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Goucher College in Baltimore.
In May 2013, Glass received the Medal for Spoken Language from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.[28][29]
Glass was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in November 2014.
Other works
In September 1999, Glass collaborated on a comic book, Radio: An Illustrated Guide, with Jessica Abel. The book shows how This American Life is produced, and how to produce your own radio program.
In 2006, he served as one of the executive producers of the feature film Unaccompanied Minors. It is based on the true story of what happened to This American Life contributing editor Susan Burton and her sister Betsy at an airport on the day before Christmas. Burton had already produced a segment on This American Life about the same experience before the story was adapted to film.
In October 2007, he published the anthology The New Kings of Nonfiction.
On March 22, 2007, Glass and company began airing a television version of This American Life as half-hour episodes on the Showtime network. During an interview with Patt Morrison on 89.3 KPCC, Southern California Public Radio, Glass said that he lost 30 pounds (14 kg) for this venture.[30] The show aired for thirteen episodes over two seasons, and ended in 2009 because of the heavy workload required to produce it.[31]
In 2012, Glass co-wrote and produced comedian Mike Birbiglia's film Sleepwalk with Me and they both went on a country-wide promotional tour for the film, not only giving interviews, but making visits to theaters to introduce the film.
In 2013, Glass partnered with Monica Bill Barnes & Company to produce Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, working alongside Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass.[32]
For Valentine's Day 2014, for American users only, Glass provided the introduction for an interactive Google logo on the search engine's homepage. Each candy heart on which the user clicked played a different short story of unusual love, in the same style as This American Life.
Glass was credited as a co-producer in Mike Birbiglia's 2016 film 'Don't Think Twice', alongside Miranda Bailey and Amanda Marshall.
Appearances
On April 25, 2008, Glass again appeared on The Late Show.[33] On April 22, 2009, Glass appeared as the featured guest on The Colbert Report. He also was on TBTL on September 18, 2009. Glass served as the monologist for ASSSSCAT at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York on February 21, 2010. He appeared in a green motion capture suit in a John Hodgman segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Thursday, November 4, 2010, where he acted as the main character of the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game. Glass appeared on the June 24, 2011 edition of Adam Carolla's podcast, where they discussed The Adam Carolla Podcast, claiming the title of "Most Downloaded Podcast" from the Guinness Book of World Records. On September 17, 2011, Glass participated in the Drunk Show at the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival,[34][35] during which Glass became so drunk he blacked out and vomited backstage.[36] On September 19, 2011, Glass appeared on WTF Live with Marc Maron,[37] which aired as Episode 213[38] of WTF with Marc Maron on September 26, 2011. Ira Glass guest co-hosted Dan Savage's sex-advice podcast, "Savage Love," on January 31, 2012.[39] He also lent his voice to The Simpsons in Season 22 in the episode entitled "Elementary School Musical."
On May 18, 2012, Glass gave the commencement address for the Goucher College class of 2012 graduation ceremony, where he also received an honorary degree.[40] On September 17, 2012, Glass made a special voice appearance on The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert to promote Mike Birbiglia's film Sleepwalk with Me, and to invite Colbert to take part in a This American Life episode.
Archival footage of Ira Glass is used in the film We Cause Scenes, which premiered at the 2013 South by Southwest conference.[citation needed]
Glass appeared in the extended cut of John Hodgman's Netflix comedy special John Hodgman: Ragnarok.[41]
In 2014, Glass appeared as himself in the film adaption of the U.S. television series Veronica Mars.[42]
On Monday, November 24, 2014 Glass appeared on the Here's The Thing podcast.[43]
Personal life
For a time, Glass dated cartoonist and author Lynda Barry. He moved to Chicago in 1989 to be with her.[44]
Glass married Anaheed Alani, a writer and editor, in August 2005.[45] "We have the entire Middle East crisis in our house", jokes Glass. "Her mom is Christian and her dad is Muslim, from Iraq."[46] In March 2017, Glass announced on This American Life that he had separated from his wife "a few years ago."[47] On April 17, 2017, Glass reportedly filed for divorce from his wife.[48]
Religion
Glass has stated on This American Life that he is a staunch atheist.[49] "It's not like I don't feel like I'm a Jew. I feel like I don't have a choice about being a Jew. Your cultural heritage isn't like a suitcase you can lose at the airport. I have no choice about it. It is who I am. I can't choose that. It's a fact of me", Glass begins. "But even when I was 14 or 15, it didn't make that much sense to me that there was this Big Daddy who created the world and would act so crazy in the Old Testament. That we made up these stories to make ourselves feel good and explain the world seems like a much more reasonable explanation. I've tried to believe in God but I simply don't."
Atheism aside, "some years I have a nostalgic feeling to go into a shul and I'll go in for a High Holiday service," reveals Glass, who has fond memories of his childhood rabbi's enthralling sermons. "Rabbi Seymour Essrog was really funny, a great storyteller. He was so good that even the kids would stay and watch him. He'd tell a funny anecdote, something really moving, and go for a big finish. That's what the show is," he compares, acknowledging the rabbi's influence.[46]
Ira Glass has stated that "Christians get a really bad rap in the media" and that contrary to the way they are portrayed in pop-culture, the Christians in his life "were all incredibly wonderful and thoughtful."[50][51]
References
External links
^ 77 Milestone. Baltimore, Maryland: Milford Mill High School. 1977
^ "Barry S. Glass, CPA - Owings Mills MD Tax Preparer". www.ptindirectory.com. Retrieved 2018-11-17..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Glass Jacobson Financial Group". Retrieved 2018-11-17.
^ "Bio of Dr. Shirley Glass". Shirleyglass.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
^ "Dr. Shirley Glass – Obituary from the New York Times, 10/14/03". Shirleyglass.com. March 1, 1936. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
^ "Episode 528 Transcript". This American Life. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
^ 75 Milestone. Baltimore, Maryland: Milford Mill High School. 1975. p. 162.
^ 76 Milestone. Baltimore, Maryland: Milford Mill High School. 1976. p. 164.
^ 77 Milestone. Baltimore, Maryland: Milford Mill High School. 1977. p. 164.
^ Ira Glass In Three Acts, retrieved 2017-08-16
^ 76 Milestone. Baltimore, MD: Milford Mill High School. 1976. p. 128.
^ 77 Milestone. Baltimore, Maryland: Milford Mill High School. 1977. pp. 58, 116, 119, 126, 129, 130, 155, 164.
^ Baltimore Magazine Archived September 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Benson, Heidi (March 21, 2007). "Storytelling's new frontier". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
^ Greenberg, Paul (May 16, 2004). "The semio-grads". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 22, 2006. Retrieved May 1, 2007.
^ "Ira Glass's Manifesto, Part One". The Transom Review. 4 (2). June 1, 2004. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ Glass, Ira; Sedaris, David. Ira and David Discuss Joe Frank (Audio). joefrank.com. Archived from the original (.MP3) on December 11, 2006. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
^ C.K. (February 22, 2006). "Wrong-O, Mary Lou". No Sleep Til Mysore. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ Bracey, Gerald W. (September 1995). "Research oozes into practice: the case of class size". Phi Delta Kappan. 77. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ Miner, Michael (November 19, 1998). "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
^ Carlin, Peter Ames (October 20, 1997). "Elf-Made Writer". People. 48 (16). Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ McGrath, Charles (February 17, 2008). "Is PBS Still Necessary". New York Times. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
^ Channick, Robert (May 28, 2014). "Chicago Public Media taking over distribution of "This American Life"". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
^ "Interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, May 23, 2008". hulu. (see segment at 30:00). Archived from the original on May 28, 2008. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
^ "Ira Glass Receives Edward R. Murrow Award". CPB Media Room. July 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 9, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ "Ira Glass acceptance speech for the Edward R. Murrow award". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ "LIU Announces 2011 George Polk Awards in Journalism". Long Island University. February 20, 2012. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
^ "Medal for Spoken Language List". American Academy of Arts and Letters. Archived from the original on August 23, 2013.
^ Glass, Ira. "When Ira Glass met Michael Jackson". This American Life. Archived from the original on May 27, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
^ "Patt Morrison for March 22, 2007". Patt Morrison. KPCC. March 22, 2007. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
^ Kaufmann, Justin (September 18, 2009). "Ira Glass dishes on end of TAL TV. Will he return to Chicago?". WBEZ. Archived from the original on August 13, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ La Rocco, Claudia (September 12, 2014). "Off the Air, Onto the Stage: Ira Glass Stars in 'Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
^ Print this Article: Glass on glass|Advocate.com Archived April 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Lineup for the 2011 Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival. Archived November 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
^ "Eugene Mirman Fest 2011 --- Day 3 in pics (Rachel Maddow, John Hodgman, Jon Benjamin, Ira Glass & many more)". Brooklyn Vegan. Archived from the original on October 24, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
^ Ira Glass got blackout drunk onstage with Eugene Mirman, Rachel Maddow|AVClub.com Archived October 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
^ Kinski, Klaus (September 13, 2011). "Nerdist, Doug Benson & Marc Maron keep taping podcasts in NYC, Eugene Mirman fest coming soon (tix back on sale today)". Brooklyn Vegan. Archived from the original on December 25, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ "Episode 213 – Artie Lange, Nick DiPaolo, Nick Griffin, Joe Mande, Wayne Koestenbaum, Elna Baker, Morgan Spurlock, Ira Glass". WTF with Marc Maron. September 26, 2011. Archived from the original on December 16, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
^ Savage, Dan (January 31, 2012). "Ever Wanted to Hear Ira Glass Give Sex Advice? | Slog". Slog.thestranger.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
^ "Ira Glass Commencement 2012 : Goucher College". Goucher.edu. May 18, 2012. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
^ John Hodgman. "John Hodgman, RAGNAROK SURVIVAL KIT". Tumblr. Archived from the original on January 25, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
^ "Veronica Mars (2014) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDB". IMDB.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
^ WNYC.org Archived December 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Miner, Michael (November 20, 1998). "Ira Glass's Messy Divorce: What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?". Chicago Reader. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
Barry: "I went out with him. It was the worst thing I ever did. When we broke up he gave me a watch and said I was boring and shallow, and I wasn't enough in the moment for him, and it was over."
Glass: "Anything bad she says about me I can confirm."
^ "His American Life: A Look at Ira Glass". Chicago Magazine. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
^ ab "American Jewish Life Magazine". Ajlmagazine.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
^ "Transcript Episode 612". This American Life. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
^ "This American Life host Ira Glass files for divorce from writer Anaheed Alani". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
^ "394: Bait and Switch (Act 2)". This American Life. November 6, 2009. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
^ Ira Glass: Christians Are Horribly Covered by the Media Archived June 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Atheist Ira Glass Believes Christians Get the Short End of the Media Stick Archived June 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
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