This American Life - Format

Format

Further information: List of This American Life episodes

Each week's show has a theme, explored in several "acts." On occasion, an entire program will consist of a single act. A notable exception was the self-explanatory episode "20 Acts in 60 Minutes." Each act is produced by a combination of staff and freelance contributors. Programs usually begin with a short station identification by Glass who then introduces a segment related to the theme which precedes act one. The segment will then lead into the presentation of the theme for that week's show.

Content varies widely by episode. Stories are often told as first-person narratives. The mood of the show ranges from gloomy to ironic, from thought-provoking to humorous. The show often addresses current events, such as Hurricane Katrina in "After the Flood." Often This American Life features stories which explore aspects of human nature, such as "Kid Logic," which presented pieces on reasoning of children.

The end credits of each show are read by Glass, and include a sound clip extracted out of context from some portion of that show, which Glass humorously attributes to WBEZ general manager Torey Malatia.

Glass has stated that he is contractually obligated to mention both station WBEZ and distributor PRI three times in the course of the show.