Concert preview
An Evening With Ira Glass
8 p.m. Saturday.
$40-$45. Ferst Center For the Arts at Georgia Tech, 349 Ferst Dr. NW, Atlanta. 404-894-2787, www.ferstcenter.gatech.edu
Ira Glass, host of National Public Radio’s “This American Life,” is amused when people come up to him and tell him what a great radio voice he has.
“The opposite is true,” muses Glass, who is coming to Atlanta for a solo show at the Ferst Center for the Arts Saturday evening at Georgia Tech. “I have an utterly civilian voice but through sheer repetition, people get used to it. Robert Siegel has a beautiful voice. Terry Gross has a great voice. So does Garrison Keillor. Not me.”
But Glass’ voice is the vehicle for great stories. His radio program, heard weekly by about 1.7 million radio listeners and 800,000 podcast fans, tells quirky, often whimsical tales about real people tied around a theme. He tackles serious issues, as in a recent two-part series about gun violence at a Chicago high school, then follows up with something sublime, such as an hour on coincidences.
His stage show, he says, enables him retell some of his favorite stories and answer questions from the fans.
He may reference a 2011 show from Georgia that won him a national George Polk Award for radio journalism. He was inspired by former Atlanta Journal reporter Charles Salter’s 1970s column the Georgia Rambler, where Salter would travel to small Georgia towns an conjure up quirky stories. Glass, emulating Salter, picked a random county and landed in Glynn County in southeast Georgia.
There, he heard about a judge who meted out unusually tough justice for drug possession. His piece ultimately required multiple visits to the county and took eight months to report.
After it aired, the Georgia Judicial Qualifying Commission filed 14 misconduct charges against the judge. She stepped own soon afterward.
“They were already gathering evidence against her,” Glass said. “What my story did is give it visibility and moved it to the front burner.”
Glass is at peace with his modest level of fame.
“We are usually the most popular podcast on iTunes,” he said. “But that’s like being the most popular horse carriage manufacturer.”
In 2011, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Fred Armisen imitated Glass during a comedy piece that aired during dress rehearsal. The bit was cut from the actual show that aired that night. (The skit was made available on the NBC website.)
“I got a sense I was not quite famous enough for that audience,” he said. “I’m not even sure (‘SNL’ creator) Lorne Michaels knows who I am.”
Glass has no desire to leave his job, which he has held for 18 years. And his efforts to emulate “This American Life” in other mediums (a TV show on Showtime in 2007 and a film last year) makes him appreciate the radio medium.
“Making a movie was especially tedious,” he says. “You spend a year raising money. That’s a real pain. On radio, I get to talk to interesting people, write and edit pieces. Most of your time is spent making the product. That’s not the case with film.”
About the Author
