All About Ira

Twice a year, Glass takes his act on the road, giving listeners around the country a chance to see how “TAL” comes together. “He’ll have as many fans at a date in the middle of nowhere as at an event in Chicago or Boston,” says Steven Barclay, his lecture agent. In fact, Glass is even more popular in smaller locales. “People get determined to see him because there’s so little of his perspective--call it a side view of culture--in their areas,” says Barclay. At these gigs, Glass stands on stage with a table, a mike and a few CD players, and mixes a program live. “I went to one of his shows a couple months ago and was moved to tears,” says Bayard Russell, a 22-year-old musician who had never heard of Glass before his girlfriend bought tickets to the event. Since then, Russell’s been catching up on past shows, which are cataloged on “TAL’s” Web site, thislife.org. The site receives 25,000 hits a week, with people listening for an astounding 40 minutes on average.

Mind you, a show this compelling doesn’t just write itself. There’s one downside to Glass: he’s a famous workaholic. “He’s the executive producer, the host and he reports his own stories,” says Vowell. “When I listen to the credits on other shows, I think, ‘Ira does that. Ira does that. Ira, Ira, Ira. He’s great and all, but when a girl thinks about her dream boyfriend, she doesn’t picture him working 18 hours a day.” Indeed, regarding his relationships, Glass admits, “As a boyfriend, I tend to be kind of a work in progress.” There are times he’s tried to spend fewer hours at the office. “Then I go through a defiant period where I’m like, ‘But I like editing’.”

Will he do it forever? Glass occasionally considers taking his radio show to TV, and in 1999 he walked away from two separate offers. “It wasn’t the right thing,” he says. “It was too much of a wild card.” TV would also mean more speechless admirers at parties--and maybe even full-fledged celebrityhood. “There’s a lot to be said for being largely invisible and I’m sure Ira feels that way, too,” says Terry Gross, the host of NPR’s blockbuster “Fresh Air” and a longtime colleague of Glass. “But if Ira decided to do TV, I’m confident he’d find a way to do it in the language of TV. It wouldn’t be radio in a box.”

Glass and his staff remain uncertain. “I do not want to be on television,” he says, “but I would if it were the right show. We’d have to find a host. We even have talked about ways of doing it without my being seen.” A TV program as good as “This American Life” with an off-camera host? Hmm. Keep talking. We’re listening.

© 2001