How do you go about finding the stories on the show? Clark Cogbill LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Eight of us put the radio show together, and we are in constant search of stories. It generally takes us four or five months to find enough stories for one show. A surprising number of things just come to us from our website, including some of the most beautiful stories we’ve ever put on the air. If you had only 24 hours to come up with a show, how would you do it? Monica Whitfield Brase INDIANAPOLIS My producers and I would probably stake out one location. We would have to choose a spot where stuff is happening, where there are regulars and people have had time to build up relationships. That way the story can be about the drama between them. What’s so American about This American Life? Emily Grosvenor IOWA CITY, IOWA There’s a story that shows up a lot–of people who have some scheme or some way to invent a new life for themselves. Those stories seem to me to be very American. I say that not knowing much about people in other countries. Do you ever bat around the idea of a This International Life? Dominic Girard, TORONTO I would love to do reporting in other countries. We’d have to give it a different name than This International Life. That just seems like people with backpacks, which I can’t imagine many people would want to listen to–including people with backpacks. What is your favorite episode? Dulcie Madden, HUBLI, INDIA We’ve done over 300 episodes, and there are a lot that I really love. We went out on an aircraft carrier at the beginning of the war against the Taliban. That’s one of my favorites. The median age on the ship was 21. It felt like being on a big, floating, nuclear-powered, very heavily armed college dorm. People were really funny and smart and charming. Do you have a relationship with your cousin, composer Philip Glass? David Potosky, MINNEAPOLIS When I was growing up in Baltimore, he had long moved away to become [laughs] one of the most famous composers of the 20th century. I remember when I was thinking of leaving Baltimore to do journalism, my mom said to my dad, “Well, Philip moved away, and he did O.K.” And I remember thinking, Can we lower the expectations a little here? Do you ever feel as if you’re cheating on your radio audience with the TV show? Vicky Knoop, SAN FRANCISCO Yes, very much. Yes, yes, yes, and it’s a horrible feeling. It’s like going under cover of night to somebody with more money and the ability to advertise the show. The radio show was very much cheated on and would have been right to take us to court. How much life does radio have left? Terry Ewing BERKELEY, CALIF. A lot. As long as there are cars and there are people too lazy to download, we will have radio. Its demise has been predicted for over a half-century now. I don’t worry about that. What radio shows do you listen to? Jennifer Rosa, SEATTLE Radio Lab, which is the most innovative show on radio. And in our house, the show that is most on is Howard Stern. That is just the happiest show in broadcasting, and I say to people who don’t listen to Howard, It’s not what you think. People who don’t actually listen to the show just think it’s about girls taking off their tops. How much longer do you plan on doing This American Life? What’s next? David Nieman REXBURG, IDAHO I don’t have any other talents, so this would be a good thing for me to stick with. To hear more from Glass and to subscribe to the 10 Questions podcast on iTunes, go to time.com/10questions
