Ira Glass

And it can be really hard sometimes to tell which is which. We have real life case examples, including somebody who thinks his life was completely upended after a single brief real life encounter with Weezer. From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life. I'm Ira Glass. Stay with us.

Okay, so hey, this is Ira talking now in the break. And I'm here in the break to give you this little talk that I feel a little ashamed of, but I'm also going to do, which is to remind any last-minute shoppers out there that you can give a This American Life Partners subscription as a holiday gift. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Okay, so hey, this is Ira talking now in the break. And I'm here in the break to give you this little talk that I feel a little ashamed of, but I'm also going to do, which is to remind any last-minute shoppers out there that you can give a This American Life Partners subscription as a holiday gift. Bye. Bye. Bye.

So if you know somebody who might like that and you need a last-minute present, sign them up at thisamericanlife.org slash lifepartners. That link is also in the show notes. It is also a gift to us here at our show, of course, because all these subscriptions help us keep making the show. Okay, that's all I have to say about that. Back to today's episode. This American Life, Act 1.

So if you know somebody who might like that and you need a last-minute present, sign them up at thisamericanlife.org slash lifepartners. That link is also in the show notes. It is also a gift to us here at our show, of course, because all these subscriptions help us keep making the show. Okay, that's all I have to say about that. Back to today's episode. This American Life, Act 1.

The world has turned and left me here. So let's kick off this show about people saying things that unravel your picture of the world with this from Lily Sullivan.

The world has turned and left me here. So let's kick off this show about people saying things that unravel your picture of the world with this from Lily Sullivan.

Lily Sullivan is a producer on our show. Special thanks to Lily's sisters. This song is one of their dad's favorites. He used to play it for them on the piano when they were growing up.

Lily Sullivan is a producer on our show. Special thanks to Lily's sisters. This song is one of their dad's favorites. He used to play it for them on the piano when they were growing up.

Coming up, a one badly tuned instrument on one song at one concert can change your life. That's a minute with Chicago Public Radio when our program continues.

Coming up, a one badly tuned instrument on one song at one concert can change your life. That's a minute with Chicago Public Radio when our program continues.

This is American Life. I'm Eric Glass. Today's program, if you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away. We have stories about small moments between people that suddenly change how everything looks. We've arrived at Act 2 of our program. Act 2, what's with these homies dissing my girl? In his early 20s, Mike Comete wanted to be a professional musician.

This is American Life. I'm Eric Glass. Today's program, if you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away. We have stories about small moments between people that suddenly change how everything looks. We've arrived at Act 2 of our program. Act 2, what's with these homies dissing my girl? In his early 20s, Mike Comete wanted to be a professional musician.

He was trying his absolute hardest to make that happen until one day it all came undone. Weirdly, right in front of Weezer, Mike tells what happened.

He was trying his absolute hardest to make that happen until one day it all came undone. Weirdly, right in front of Weezer, Mike tells what happened.

Mike Kamate. He is one of the super skilled people who work here at the show doing audio mixes and adding music to our stories. Diane Wu produced this story. Here is Mike playing guitar and singing with Julia, whose full name, by the way, is Julia Nunes. This is a song they used to cover together years ago.

Mike Kamate. He is one of the super skilled people who work here at the show doing audio mixes and adding music to our stories. Diane Wu produced this story. Here is Mike playing guitar and singing with Julia, whose full name, by the way, is Julia Nunes. This is a song they used to cover together years ago.

In this last act, we turn from small personal moments to big news that the whole world experiences, but that hits some people very, very personally. You probably saw the headlines in reports that a couple weeks ago, after his family ruled Syria for over 50 years, the president-slash-dictator Bashar al-Assad was run out of his own country very suddenly.

In this last act, we turn from small personal moments to big news that the whole world experiences, but that hits some people very, very personally. You probably saw the headlines in reports that a couple weeks ago, after his family ruled Syria for over 50 years, the president-slash-dictator Bashar al-Assad was run out of his own country very suddenly.

Assad ran a government that did not tolerate dissent. He used chemical weapons against his own citizens. He spent much of the last 13 years brutally crushing an uprising. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians were killed, tortured, disappeared. More than half the population was displaced in that conflict. Six million Syrians fled the country.