The following post is from our advertiser, This American Life on Showtime. This American Life, the Showtime Original Series based on the celebrated Ira Glass radio show, is back with an all-new season. Funny, dramatic and surprising real-life stories from the most extraordinary ordinary people in America come together in what Newsweek proclaims “a jewel of a TV series.” From a stand-up comedy camp for kids, to riding stables in a North Philly ghetto; from......

THEATER: Noah Diamond has worked as a licensed tour guide on all the major double decker bus lines in town, presenting his spoken word elucidation of New York in a near-continuous loop – ten hours a day for seven years. But when he finally quit the business, he found he could not stop guiding: “You wake up screaming, I'm not a tour guide! Then you do ten minutes on the General Slocum and go back......

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 Brave One (directed by Neil Jordan) As city dwellers and city lovers, we know living in New York can be scary. We just don't usually get reminders of how perilous our home is when we go for entertainment at the movie theater. Irish director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), with the help of one of our best and most revered American actors Jodie Foster, have constructed a randomly violent and morally ambiguous New York......

Sarah Vowell’s distinctive voice is instantly recognizable to listeners of radio show This American Life and fans of the animated Pixar film The Incredibles (she played Violet). Her writing has appeared in The New York Times (where she filled in for Maureen Dowd), McSweeney’s, Spin, Salon and elsewhere. And she’s authored four books; the most recent one, Assassination Vacation, humorously chronicled her pilgrimage to locales connected to three slain American presidents (Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley).......

The Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is the quintessential tale of love lost, nearly regained and then agonizingly lost again. When Eurydice dies on their wedding day, her musician lover Orpheus, "father of song", journeys down to Hades to rescue her. The man shreds so hard on the lyre they let him escort Eurydice back to the land of the living, with the caveat that she walk behind him the whole way – if......

David Rakoff is the author of the hilarious and best selling essay anthologies Fraud and Don't Get Too Comfortable, countless articles that have appeared in publications such as Vogue, GQ, and Salon, and has contributed to NPR's This American Life. Gothamist sat down with the writer to discuss his genesis and his moments of doubt. Why did you start writing and how did you pursue it? It all comes out of a bullying and narcissistic......

Grant Stoddard (pictured) saw little islands (also pictured) as his plane flew above New York, and from that a seed was planted for possibly the craziest idea we've heard, well, this week: he wanted to live on one of these islands for a few days to, you know, test his wilderness survival skills while still having a clear view of the Empire State Building. After running the idea by a friend, Duke (who coincidentally spent......

THEATER: HERE Artistic Director Kristin Marting concludes the OBIE-winning art center’s season by directing performer/dancer Alexandra Beller in us, “a highly athletic, sensual and dynamic blend of movement with song, text and a layered soundscape. Beller created this deeply personal commentary on the state of the union from the perspective of a woman who is at a crisis point in a love relationship.” As we haven’t seen it, we’ll defer to The New Yorker on......

The Apple computer company loves its self-same-named metropolis. Word on the street is that its London store will be eclipsed in size by a new emporium being planned for the Meatpacking District at 401 W 14th St. Because our rendered concept graphic is a bit rough, even for the meatpacking district, we will direct you to AppleInsider, where they've got their polishing down to a science. "More important, however, is the sheer scope of the......

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......

Recently This American Life host, Ira Glass, paid a visit to Peter Roach and the Upper East Side building he's a super for. Peter has sole access to a large courtyard in this building, yet for complicated reasons - never, ever uses it. This is one of the many, many examples of the odd behavior of supers that Glass uncovers in three acts. In Act One, Jack Hitt tells the story of getting an apartment......

MUSIC: The Upper Crust are playing a proletarian downtown venue tonight! These four young nobleman will Rocque and Roll you with a polished AC/DC-esque sound. Do check them out, seriously. That is them to the right. We don't think we really need say anymore. Friday // 11:30pm // Knitting Factory [74 Leonard St] // $10 ART: Removal Satisfies the Condition is the latest PublicAdCampaign exhibit, and it's opening tonight. This city's public environment is filled......

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......

Get your laugh on: This American Life contributor Sarah Vowell hosts an evening of humorous music and hilarious comedy this Friday at Southpaw. Performances by musical tag-team They Might Be Giants, comedians David Cross and Todd Barry, as well as musical theater collaborative People Are Wrong (featuring John Flansburgh of TMBG). Tickets are $50, and proceeds will benefit 826NYC, an educational laboratory opening this summer in Brooklyn. 826NYC - the east-coast iteration of its......