Ira Glass

I know that it's a vulnerable thing coming in and speaking honestly. Thank you. And I really appreciate you doing that. No, I can genuinely say that you were great. You were very straightforward and you spoke in a real way about what you really think, which is what we want.

I know that it's a vulnerable thing coming in and speaking honestly. Thank you. And I really appreciate you doing that. No, I can genuinely say that you were great. You were very straightforward and you spoke in a real way about what you really think, which is what we want.

What a day on our program. Lies that really just leave you scratching your head sometimes. Seriously, we have some fun stories for you. I'm WBEC Chicago. This is American Life. I'm Eric Glass. Stay with us.

What a day on our program. Lies that really just leave you scratching your head sometimes. Seriously, we have some fun stories for you. I'm WBEC Chicago. This is American Life. I'm Eric Glass. Stay with us.

It's just American life. Act one, the real L word. Okay, so to kick things off today, we're going to revisit some recent historical events. I think that's all I'm going to say for now. Dana Chivas tells what happened.

It's just American life. Act one, the real L word. Okay, so to kick things off today, we're going to revisit some recent historical events. I think that's all I'm going to say for now. Dana Chivas tells what happened.

Dana Chivas is a reporter on our program. Liz Flock is still a reporter, but now she spent years reporting her stories. Her latest book, The Furies, which she traveled to Syria multiple times for, is out in paperback. Coming up, an American dad makes an impassioned argument for more unnecessary lies. Also, Masha Gessen. That's in a minute on Chicago Public Radio when our program continues.

Dana Chivas is a reporter on our program. Liz Flock is still a reporter, but now she spent years reporting her stories. Her latest book, The Furies, which she traveled to Syria multiple times for, is out in paperback. Coming up, an American dad makes an impassioned argument for more unnecessary lies. Also, Masha Gessen. That's in a minute on Chicago Public Radio when our program continues.

This American life from Ira Glass. Today's show, that's a weird thing to lie about. We have stories today of unnecessary lies, outrageous lies that make you wonder why lie about that in the first place. We arrived at act two of our program, act two, bully pulpit. There's a particular kind of lie that somebody who's been on our show a few times, Masha Gessen, wrote about a few years ago.

This American life from Ira Glass. Today's show, that's a weird thing to lie about. We have stories today of unnecessary lies, outrageous lies that make you wonder why lie about that in the first place. We arrived at act two of our program, act two, bully pulpit. There's a particular kind of lie that somebody who's been on our show a few times, Masha Gessen, wrote about a few years ago.

And when I read what they wrote, I realized, like, oh, I had not thought about this as a specific way that a person can lie that is, like, different from all the other ways a person can lie. It's a kind of lie that President Trump does a lot. He kicked off his presidency with one of these lies.

And when I read what they wrote, I realized, like, oh, I had not thought about this as a specific way that a person can lie that is, like, different from all the other ways a person can lie. It's a kind of lie that President Trump does a lot. He kicked off his presidency with one of these lies.

In the very first minutes, on the very first day of his very first term, you may remember that he insisted that the crowds at his inauguration were bigger than they were. Even their photos clearly showed that he was wrong.

In the very first minutes, on the very first day of his very first term, you may remember that he insisted that the crowds at his inauguration were bigger than they were. Even their photos clearly showed that he was wrong.

In fact, for anybody who had watched the inauguration, which was a lot of us, like it was just right there. We had just seen it.

In fact, for anybody who had watched the inauguration, which was a lot of us, like it was just right there. We had just seen it.

Let me ask you to read. You write about this very enjoyably. Let me ask you to read this passage. I'm going to hand you a copy. Let's start here and continue up here. We'll skip this a little bit, and then we'll keep going.

Let me ask you to read. You write about this very enjoyably. Let me ask you to read this passage. I'm going to hand you a copy. Let's start here and continue up here. We'll skip this a little bit, and then we'll keep going.

I have to say since reading that passage in your book a few weeks ago, I feel like it's like you gave a name to something that I had known was there but hadn't put a finger on what it was. Like I hadn't named to myself. This is a particular phenomenon, a particular way of lying that Donald Trump does.

I have to say since reading that passage in your book a few weeks ago, I feel like it's like you gave a name to something that I had known was there but hadn't put a finger on what it was. Like I hadn't named to myself. This is a particular phenomenon, a particular way of lying that Donald Trump does.