Session Description:
This closing keynote will offer a behind the scenes view of Ira Glass’s nationally broadcast public radio show, and his HBO series. Using the show’s guiding principles as bullet points along the way, he’ll describe what makes a compelling story and how to take raw material (monologues, interviews, recorded events) and with careful editing and added music how to create newer & more compelling narratives. The guiding principles include: “What we’re all used to,” “How we structure a story,” “What people want,” “Stroke of luck,” “Surprises,” “The 45-second rule,” and “Another way to tell a story.” Ira offers a more personal story in talking about the show, its origins and its model, by including a description of his early years at synagogue and his rabbi in Baltimore (where he grew up) who held the attention of the younger Ira by his beautifully crafted sermons. One day, as an adult visiting home and thinking about those earlier sermons, Ira realized that this was one of the original points of departure for him and for his fascination with telling stories. From the rabbi’s early sermons to Ira’s public radio tales, they were each about telling a story well, a good story.

Presenter: Ira Glass, This American Life, Chicago, IL, United States,