Ira Glass is the brains, heart and larynx behind the wildly popular program This American Life; each show employs a theatrical, multiple-act structure to carve strange slices of life out of a unique thematic pie. The show began almost 12 years ago as a Chicago public radio program but has since mutated into an Emmy-nominated TV series on Showtime – a leap that prompted Glass and his team to relocate to New York City, bringing the radio version in tow. But Glass still keeps one foot in Chicago; he’s compiled a new book whose proceeds benefit 826CHI, the free writing program open to all students in Chicago. He’ll be appearing at Town Hall Monday night with Susan Orlean, Malcolm Gladwell and Chuck Klosterman, who have each contributed to the book, called The New Kings of Nonfiction. (Tickets cost $30; all proceeds benefit 826CHI.) more ›

Gothamist’s family has never been the type to take to the yard after our Thanksgiving meal for a rousing game of touch football. That’s so Kennedy’s in Hyannisport, and so the opposite of everything our sedentary upbringing represents. Our family is less competitive, opting to sit quietly before getting what we lovingly refer to as our “second wind” where we continue our Pilgrim and Indian inspired binging. This week we’d like to suggest some shows that will remind you of all the competition, drama and dysfunction Thanksgiving can inspire, hopefully with less bloated regret. more ›

The best thing about Virginia Heffernan's New Yorker profile of Tina Fey, besides feeding our Tina-Fey-starved minds, is the breakdown of the different comedy styles of SNL performers and writers: more ›