Radio Host Ira Glass Comes to the Merriam Theater Tonight

Award-Winning radio host and producer Ira Glass recreates his public radio program, This American Life, at the Merriam Theater tonight, November 15 at 8 p.m. Named Time magazine's "Best Radio Host in America," Glass reinvents radio onstage with compelling, behind the scenes storytelling that pushes journalism to new heights. Glass engages audiences with narration, pre-taped vignettes and music, anecdotally sharing almost twenty years of on-air experienceabout what goes into making a good story.

Tickets are available from $30 to $65 with select VIP tickets available for $125. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, at the Kimmel Center box office, Broad & Spruce Streets (open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

Ira Glass is the host of This American Life, a non-fiction program running weekly that focuses on everything from current world events to satirical storytelling. Since age 19 Glass has been affiliated with various National Public Radio programs, including Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, andMorning Edition, and has hosted This American Life since its creation in 1995. This American Lifecovers topics from the American housing crisis to sagas of time spent at summer camp, from violence in Chicago schools to an entire show devoted to coincidences. With the show broadcast on over 500 radio stations per week, Ira Glass worked to convert the show to television for Showtime, a project that received two Emmy awards. With a This American Life speaking tour next on the agenda, Glass aims to reveal the inner workings of the show, painting a world of radio in which the broadcasters aim to make the characters relatable and the show plot-driven.

He is known in the literary world for Radio: An Illustrated Guide, a comic book authored with Jessica Abel that highlights the behind the scenes world of This American Life, and for The New Kings of Nonfiction, an anthology featuring authors like Bill Buford, Susan Orlean, and Malcolm Gladwell. Apart from the radio show, Glass produced 2012's Sleepwalk with Me, Mike Birbiglia's off-Broadway autobiographical show turned independent film.