You Are Missing Out

If you are not yet listening to This American Life, you are missing out.

It is basically a story hour for adults produced by NPR. A new episode is aired each week and the topics are endless and utterly interesting. They take a theme and find stories (almost always real-life ones) that relate to the subject. I've been downloading their podcast every week for the past year, but it just occurred to me that I have years of This American Life that I haven't yet listened to.

Now, when I have clothes to fold or dishes to wash? I go to their website and find an episode I haven't listened to yet. I'm working my way through the ones I missed in 2013, and I am delighted to see that their radio archive dates back to 1995. I have a lot of good listening ahead of me!

Two of my all-time favorite episodes that come to mind are:

1. "No Coincidence, No Story" - What can I say? I'm a sucker for coincidence stories, and this episode is full of good ones.

2. "Use Only as Directed" - This episode, about Tylenol, was really an eye-opener. I think twice now before taking any sort of pain medication.

If you're a little sick of the music on your iPod, or want a way to break up your commute, I highly recommend This American Life. It is one of the most popular podcasts in the U.S. Who would have thought a radio show could have such an impact in 2014?