‘This American Life’ host to speak Nov. 17

Monday, November 9, 2009, By Kelly Homan Rodoski

Ira Glass, producer and host of Chicago Public Radio’s “This American Life,” will speak at Syracuse University on Tuesday, Nov. 17, as part of the University Lectures series.

The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel and is free and open to the public. Reduced-rate parking for the event is available in the Irving Avenue Garage. Sign language interpreters and real-time captioning (CART) will be provided.

The lecture is sponsored in cooperation with the Syracuse Symposium in The College of Arts and Sciences; the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications; and the School of Education.

In addition, SU Food Services will sponsor a “This American Dinner”-themed meal in the campus dining centers from 4:30-7 p.m. that evening.

“This American Life” (http://www.thisamericanlife.org) premiered on Chicago public radio station WBEZ in late 1995 and is now heard on more than 500 public radio stations each week by more than 1.7 million listeners.

Glass began his career as an intern at National Public Radio’s network headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1978, at age 19. Over the years, he worked on nearly every NPR network news program and held virtually every production job. Under Glass’s editorial direction, “This American Life” has won the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence, including Peabody and DuPont-Columbia awards, as well as Edward R. Murrow and Overseas Press Club awards. In 2001, Time magazine named Glass “Best Radio Host in America.”

The show has inspired a comic book, three greatest hits compilations, a paint-by-numbers set, a “radio decoder” toy, and a DVD, which was created with cartoonist Chris Ware. In March 2007, the television adaptation of “This American Life” premiered on Showtime to great critical acclaim; in 2008, it won two Emmy Awards.

Now in its ninth season, University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment. The series is supported by the generosity of the University’s trustees, alumni and friends. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Lecturers for the Spring 2010 semester include sustainability expert Alex Steffen (March 2); Scott Simon, host of NPR’s “Weekend Edition” (March 9); Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund (April 6, rescheduled from Nov. 3); and Nobel Laureate and poet Seamus Heaney (April 13).

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or for additional information about University Lectures, please contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at 443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu. More information can be found at the University Lectures website, http://lectures.syr.edu.