Monday, April 16, 2012

Spark Notes #7: A word from Ira Glass

Ira Glass is the host and producer of This American Life, a radio show and podcast. This American Life has a theme each week and presents a number of stories on that theme. Some of its biggest episodes devote the whole show to one story - the episode "Very Tough Love" led to the resignation of a judge here in Georgia, and "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory" sparked the recent wave of attention to factory conditions in China (though it was later retracted because the non-radio non-journalist actor who was presenting the story... made it up, for the most part). If you've never listened to the show, I recommend it; it's entertaining non-fiction, something I used to think couldn't really exist.

This is a video featuring some great advice by Mr. Glass, whom I consider to be an authority on the art of storytelling.