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Ira Glass took the Lied Center stage last Saturday night, sat behind a makeshift audio console and proceeded to start the show... in complete darkness. His monotone delivery of the opening phrases were supported by the hypnotic music; just as if he was singing, not speaking.  Most of the audience had never seen the man behind the iconic radio show This American Life and the suspense was killing us. Then the music stopped.  The lights came up.  And surpise! The house erupted in applause as the audience got a good long look at this bespectacled radio producer wearing a gray suit and tie. 

I, myself cheered like a teenager at a Beatles concert for this public radio rock star. Every Saturday morning my husband and I unconsciously drop everything and congregate in the living room to listen to This American Life.  The show has become an important part of the intellectual fabric of our lives.  Throughout the week our friends will say, "Did you hear the episode about the transgendered children?" or "This reminds me of the testosterone episode."  I subscribe to the podcast just in case I can't tune in. The stories Glass and his team produce each week resonate in our memories long after they air.

After seventeen years in public radio, Glass set about to make a show that was "unashamedly entertaining."   He wanted to tell the stories of ordinary Americans with pleasure, humor, joy and an element of surprise.  In 1995, This American Life was born.  Since then he is heard by more than 2 million listeners every week through public radio and his podcast. Last year he won the Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding contributions to public radio.  His television adaptation of the radio show seen on Showtime won two Emmy's in 2008. He is currently taking a hiatus from television to focus on the radio audience. 

His speaking voice is what some might consider "anti-radio."  Sounding more like Woody Allen than Walter Cronkite, he advocates a conversational style of journalism that is intelligent, intimate and highly infectious.   Over the years Glass has brought other writers on board who shared his uncharacteristic sound.  Sarah Vowels' high pitched little girl voice tells stories of her father's cannon, playing the recorder and presidential assassinations.  David Sedaris (coming to the Lied Center in April) can impersonate the iconic Jazz singer Billie Holiday to perfection.  But what makes the show work isn't the sounds of the voices, but how Glass crafts what they have to say. 

Throughout the two hour performance at the Lied Center, Glass used clips from past shows to highlight the This American Life formula. Speaking to the many journalism students in the audience he promoted a less formal and more conversational style of reporting.  He discussed the importance of building action into a story with layers of intensity, how to use music to focus the listener's ear and the importance of fact checking. 

Proving that even seasoned journalists don't always get it right, he treated the audience to clips from his past including a horrible story he produced about...after hearing it, I'm still not sure what it was about...corn? 

After the performance, Glass took questions from the audience.  Where does he get his story ideas? Does he run into a lot of urban myths?  One audience member asked if the American attention span and bad television were responsible for lack of empathy.  But Glass is surprisingly optimistic about the availability of high quality entertainment.  When asked where he found his music, he recommended soundtracks saying nonchalantly, "this is one of my cousin Philip's pieces." It took me a second to put two and two together.  That would be Philip Glass, one of the most significant American composers of the 20^th century.  Surprise!

By Megan Browne Helm

Classical, Vocal and Theatre Contributor

Megan Browne Helm grew up singing, dancing and acting.  Inspired by Emma Kirkby as a high school student in St. Louis she went on to study voice and sing with the Collegium Musicum at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio where she also had a radio show of contemporary classical music on WOBC.  At the University of Kansas she had the pleasure of working with former Kings’ Singer, Simon Carrington in his Collegium Musicum and Oread consort. Years later, she was a choral fellow at the Yale School of Music’s  Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.  She is currently singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under the direction of Charles Bruffy. 

 As a freelance music and culture writer her work can be found on KCMetropolis.org, presentmagazine.com, the Lawrence Journal World, Shawnee Magazine, Leawood Lifestyle Magazine and KC Parent.  She was one of 26 journalists in the country chosen as a NEA Institute Fellow for Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. 

Her current interest is how classical music remains relevant through active collaborations with artists in different fields, including science.  She also sees a connection between classical music, travel and food as a way to engage all of the senses in a 360 degree cultural experience.  She blogs at raworganum.wordpress.com.

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