Ira Glass

This American Life

This American Life host and producer Ira Glass started working in public radio in 1978 when he was 19, as an intern at National Public Radio's Washington Headquarters. Over the course of the next 17 years, he worked on nearly every NPR news show, and did nearly every production job they had: he was a tape cutter, desk assistant, newscast writer, editor, producer, reporter and substitute host. He moved to Chicago in 1989. From there, he did several documentary series about public schools and about race relations for NPR. This American Life went on the air in November of 1995.