This American Life

Broadcast June 15 to June 17

Last weekend we rebroadcast the radio version of our last stage show, "The Invisible Made Visible." The full show was two hours long. We filmed it with seven cameras and sent it live into movie theaters. You can download or stream the video directly from our site, for five bucks.

It features all sorts of things that are way to visual to be on the radio: dance, animation, illustration, an interactive musical performance, photographs, a short film, and David Sedaris in clown makeup. Along with Sedaris, there are stories by the now-famous Tig Notaro, Glynn Washington, Ryan Knighton and David Rakoff. Lots of the stories are funny. David Rakoff's is particularly touching. He talks about the abilities he lost during his fight with cancer, and then, gracefully, beautifully, does a solo dance onstage. It was the last story Rakoff ever wrote for the radio show. He died three months later, in August, 2012. A bit of his dance is included in the trailer above.

OK Go provides music. Monica Bill Barnes & Company dance. Ira Glass tells a story using things he normally can't: photos. Mike Birbiglia casts Terry Gross in a surprising, hilarious little movie.

We're incredibly proud of this show and excited that more people can see it for just a few dollars. It's also available on DVD, for all you object fetishists and gift givers. Though you can actually gift the download, too.

Have fun.

- Your friends at This American Life

Broadcast June 8 to June 10

This week one of the underwriters of our podcast is Mozy, an online data backup product owned by the company EMC. EMC was mentioned in last week's episode "When Patents Attack... Part Two!," as a defendant in a patent infringement case involving online backup technology. Mozy has been an underwriter on our podcast in the past, and it's coincidental that their messaging was scheduled to appear now, right after the episode about patents.

Actually, it was originally scheduled to appear last week, long before we knew what that episode would be about, but we moved it back a week so as to not cause confusion between the actual show content and the underwriting. Point being: our underwriting sales and editorial decisions are completely separate.

Hello Listeners!

We're once again gearing up for a "This Week" show, where we tackle the week's news in our own way, far from the TV cameras and the standard headlines. We'll cover stories very big and very small. The big ones will be more topical, and therefore easier for us to find. But for the smaller ones, we need your help. We've done two of these shows already, and your ideas and pitches have been critical to making the whole thing work. We figure the best way to thank you for that, is to just keep on taking (we pay!). So we're appealing to you again.

Here's what we’re looking for: Things that are happening to you, or to someone you know, or just out in the world, from June 8 - 14. These can be personal things - a first date, a divorce becoming final, opening a new business, a crucial baseball game. We'd especially like local news stories from your neck of the woods that aren't getting national coverage, but still tell us a lot about what it's like to live where you live. Or one that’s just absurd – the kind that’s a sheer pleasure to tell other people. Or just any interesting situation coming to a head that week -- at school, at work, at city council, at your family reunion -- where things will be decided, lines drawn, sides taken. That would be perfect, too. But again – no idea is too small.

Here’s the other thing we’d like: If something’s happening to you that week, please tape it yourself. On your phone, or your camera – the quality doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it’s audible. If it’s too big to email to us, we can talk you through how to send it another way.

Please email your ideas and pitches to thisweek@thislife.org.

And again, thank you so much, in advance, for all your great help. We can't pull off this show without you.

- Your friends at This American Life

Hello Listeners!

We're once again gearing up for a "This Week" show, where we tackle the week's news in our own way, far from the TV cameras and the standard headlines. We'll cover stories very big and very small. The big ones will be more topical, and therefore easier for us to find. But for the smaller ones, we need your help. We've done two of these shows already, and your ideas and pitches have been critical to making the whole thing work. We figure the best way to thank you for that, is to just keep on taking (we pay!). So we're appealing to you again.

Here's what we’re looking for: Things that are happening to you, or to someone you know, or just out in the world, from June 8 - 14. These can be personal things - a first date, a divorce becoming final, opening a new business, a crucial baseball game. We'd especially like local news stories from your neck of the woods that aren't getting national coverage, but still tell us a lot about what it's like to live where you live. Or one that’s just absurd – the kind that’s a sheer pleasure to tell other people. Or just any interesting situation coming to a head that week -- at school, at work, at city council, at your family reunion -- where things will be decided, lines drawn, sides taken. That would be perfect, too. But again – no idea is too small.

Here’s the other thing we’d like: If something’s happening to you that week, please tape it yourself. On your phone, or your camera – the quality doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it’s audible. If it’s too big to email to us, we can talk you through how to send it another way.

Please email your ideas and pitches to thisweek@thislife.org.

And again, thank you so much, in advance, for all your great help. We can't pull off this show without you.

- Your friends at This American Life

Good news! Due to high demand, the tattoos we created for public radio stations' fundraising drives are now also available right in our store. The set comes with nine temporary tattoos, including designs for All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Morning Edition, On The Media and This American Life, as well as a couple general "Public Radio" tattoos.

WBEZ, NPR, WHYY and WNYC collaborated to produce the package, which is custom manufactured for us by Tattly. They were designed by tattoo artists Alex McWatt and Andy Perez, and illustrator Claire Keane. The set is $14.00 plus shipping.

Check out the designs below, some modeled by show producers and hosts. Want to join them? After you get your tattoos, upload your photo and we'll add it to our gallery.

On The Media hosts Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone.

NPR staffers: Top row - Nina Totenberg, Ari Shapiro; 2nd row - Lakshmi Singh, Jacki Lyden; 3rd row - Michel Martin, John Ydstie; 4th row - David Greene, Guy Raz, Rachel Martin.

The names "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition" are trademarks of NPR and used with permission. "Fresh Air" is a trademark of WHYY and used with permission. "On The Media" is a trademark of New York Public Radio and used with permission. "This American Life" is a trademark of Chicago Public Media and Ira Glass. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.