Ira Glass returns to Fayetteville on Jan. 16 at the Walton Arts Center

Courtesy photo by Stuart Mullenberg

Ira Glass, the host and creator of the public radio program “This American Life,” will present “Reinventing Radio: An Evening with Ira Glass” at the Walton Arts Center Saturday, Jan. 16, at 8 p.m.

During his appearance, Glass will mix stories on-stage, combining narration with pre-taped quotes and music to recreate the sound of the show as the audience watches and listens along.

Tickets range from $18 to $48, and can be purchased by calling Walton Arts Center’s box office at 479-443-5600 or by visiting waltonartscenter.org.

Over 2.2 million listeners tune in to hear “This American Life” each week on 500 public radio stations across the country. With over one million downloads each week, the podcast version of the show was for many years the most popular series on iTunes until the spin-off program “Serial” took the lead.


From a news release:

Glass began his career as an intern at National Public Radio’s network headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 1978 when he was 19 years old. Over the years, he worked on nearly every NPR network news program and held virtually every production job at NPR’s headquarters. He has been a tape cutter, newscast writer, desk assistant, editor, reporter and producer, among others. He has filled in as host of “Talk of the Nation” and “Weekend All Things Considered.”

Under Glass’ editorial direction, “This American Life” has won the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence, including five Peabody awards. The American Journalism Review declared that the show is “at the vanguard of a journalistic revolution.” A television adaptation of “This American Life” ran on the Showtime network for two seasons in 2007 and 2008, winning three Emmy® awards including Outstanding Nonfiction Series.