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......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian was struck at East 51st St. and Linden Blvd. in Brooklyn, a fatality as a person was struck by a train at West Houston St., and a baby water rescue on Bodine St. on Staten Island. In response to an overabundance of animals at city shelters, Broadway stars gathered to promote pet adoption this weekend at Broadway Barks. Little Leaguers played tee-ball on the South Lawn of......

Brooke Gladstone is the managing editor and co-host of WNYC’s On the Media which is heard throughout the country on National Public Radio stations and as an internet podcast. She has won several awards, including two Peabody Awards, for her coverage at NPR, which she joined in 1987. She has been a foreign correspondent for NPR covering the reemergence of Russia out of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. She recently returned to Russia to......

On this date in 1924, WNYC began broadcasting. Things were a lot different then, the station was owned by the city, there was just one station that broadcast on 570 AM, and they were using a second hand transmitter from Brazil. Today, the station is owned by the WNYC Foundation (which took over from the city in 1997), is still non-commercial, produces many public radio programs that are heard nationwide, there are three ways......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Iraq War Begins: Four Years Later (Monday, 9 a.m. MSNBC) MSNBC's looks back on their coverage of the start of the Iraq War all day. Dancing With the Stars (Monday, 8:00 p.m. WABC 7) This year's D-List celebs trying to defibrillate their careers by dancing are: Laila Ali, Billy Ray Cyrus, Clyde Drexler, Joey Fatone, Shandi Finnessey, Leeza Gibbons, Heather Mills, Apolo Anton Ohno, Paulina Porizkova, John......

VINYL SALE: If you're looking for some rare vinyl, you might want to check out this monthly event: Shakey's Record Fair. A meatpacking district locale seems...a little off, but as FreeNYC points out, if you're "looking for that super rare old school funktified 7"...Shakey's Record Fair is probably the only place you'll find it." 8pm // APT [419 W 13th St] // Free THEATER: Rules of the Universe is a new site-specific play performed in......

Studio 360, the public radio show hosted by Kurt Andersen, found the perfect antidote to the daunting task of creating yet another Christmas-themed show: treat it like a brand and ask Michael Bierut of Pentagram – and six of his partners – to redesign it. Bierut’s take on Christmas as a brand (via the NY Times): “If we lived in a Christmas world, all our houses would be Victorian, and we’d be riding around in......

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. Houstonist announces their new Cops spinoff "World's Funniest Tazer Videos" and the possible cancellation of their pervs' "World's Grossest Bathroom Videos" and PBS trains cams on cows at, uhg, Mootube. Also,......

National Public Radio has a great interview with Mike Moffitt, who lived on Liberty Island for ten years while his dad was head ranger there:"People would ask 'What part of the city are you from?' I'd say, 'Staten Island.' I got so tired of explaining Liberty Island. And 99 percent of the people would not ask one more question..." He and his brother and sister did normal kid things -- riding bikes and beachcombing --......

While teaching in the public schools is not an easy job, is it so bad that teachers need to fake their sick days and take up other jobs? It was discovered that Dorrit Matson, a teacher at a Chelsea high school, had been falsely calling sick days when she was actually leading an orchestra! And the school's principal found out because he was listening to public radio and the broadcast said she was conducting the......

If you're a fan of artists like Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams or Tom Waits, Gothamist highly recommends New Jerseyan-turned South Sloper Dayna Kurtz, playing tonight at Joe's Pub. She's just come off a big national tour opening for Richard Thompson, and is builiding a nice buzz in singer-songwriter circles. A recent story on National Public Radio led to her new cd Beautiful Yesterday (released Tuesday) reaching #11 on Amazon.com, before it even went on sale.......

Dean Olsher, The Next Big Thing...

Our dear Rachelle, who co-edits Chicagoist, can be heard between 11AM and 12PM today on Chicago Public Radio (there's streaming audio), discussing using service websites, blogs, and chatrooms to find out where to eat in Chicago. Go, Rachelle. And Gothamist's favorite stops for food information include Menupages, Chowhound, eGullet, NYCEats, The Food Section, Curbed's food section, she loves new york, and Manhattan User's Guide.......

John Hodgman, Writer...

Though same-sex marriages are getting more media play lately, there has been an uprising of the prepared straight groom. The Post calls them marrying metrosexuals. Gothamist is very proud that our own Doug Gordon, from Ask Gothamist and the conscientious groom behind the soon-to-married-dude wedding blog, Planet Gordon, was called a "girly groom" by the Post, 'cause it just means we can put that on his business card now. Doug even owns up to getting......

This weekend, I plan to buy The Best of Paolo Conte CD. Why? Because he's got this fantastic craggy (like "Tom Waits" as the Amazon review says) voice that sounds wonderful over the jazzy sort of bossa nova rhythms...bosso pop-like. His song, "Via Con Me," was featured prominently in the film, Mostly Martha, and when the song was played yesterday, I immediately went to Google to find out who sang it. There is what......