Ira Glass

I've been practicing this one, so I can do this one well. And honestly, I went to the trouble with a bunch of people to get this show to the point where millions of people hear it each week. That's a hard thing to turn your back on. It's funded, it's stable, millions of people hear it every week. To turn your back on that, nobody gets that. Do you know what I mean?

It's just an incredibly rare thing. If I leave it and give it to other people to run, Like, you know, I'm not going to find something that will have that big of an audience. And then I'll have to do what other people do, which is like I'll have to pitch things and get people to fund it and be in that world again. Right. You don't get to pick the color of the couch. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

It's just an incredibly rare thing. If I leave it and give it to other people to run, Like, you know, I'm not going to find something that will have that big of an audience. And then I'll have to do what other people do, which is like I'll have to pitch things and get people to fund it and be in that world again. Right. You don't get to pick the color of the couch. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

It's just an incredibly rare thing. If I leave it and give it to other people to run, Like, you know, I'm not going to find something that will have that big of an audience. And then I'll have to do what other people do, which is like I'll have to pitch things and get people to fund it and be in that world again. Right. You don't get to pick the color of the couch. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

And so it's hard to move from a situation where I work with a bunch of people and we have complete freedom to do whatever we want. There's no adult supervision above us. We really do whatever we think is best. And lots of people hear it and it's funded. It's so, so rare. So it's a hard thing to walk away from.

And so it's hard to move from a situation where I work with a bunch of people and we have complete freedom to do whatever we want. There's no adult supervision above us. We really do whatever we think is best. And lots of people hear it and it's funded. It's so, so rare. So it's a hard thing to walk away from.

And so it's hard to move from a situation where I work with a bunch of people and we have complete freedom to do whatever we want. There's no adult supervision above us. We really do whatever we think is best. And lots of people hear it and it's funded. It's so, so rare. So it's a hard thing to walk away from.

I literally don't even know what would be on the other side of it. It's like imagining what happens after your own death or something. Or, like, I remember before I traveled to a foreign country, I remember I was just, I had no picture of what it would be like. Like, I had seen pictures of other countries, but I really just hadn't, I couldn't form it in my head.

I literally don't even know what would be on the other side of it. It's like imagining what happens after your own death or something. Or, like, I remember before I traveled to a foreign country, I remember I was just, I had no picture of what it would be like. Like, I had seen pictures of other countries, but I really just hadn't, I couldn't form it in my head.

I literally don't even know what would be on the other side of it. It's like imagining what happens after your own death or something. Or, like, I remember before I traveled to a foreign country, I remember I was just, I had no picture of what it would be like. Like, I had seen pictures of other countries, but I really just hadn't, I couldn't form it in my head.

30 years? Since 1995. But then the job was basically just a variation of every job I had since I was 19. Yeah. You know, like, I just got to do more interesting stuff. But it was still just basically, you go into the beginning of the week, you think, like, what could we possibly do that people would find fun to listen to?

30 years? Since 1995. But then the job was basically just a variation of every job I had since I was 19. Yeah. You know, like, I just got to do more interesting stuff. But it was still just basically, you go into the beginning of the week, you think, like, what could we possibly do that people would find fun to listen to?

30 years? Since 1995. But then the job was basically just a variation of every job I had since I was 19. Yeah. You know, like, I just got to do more interesting stuff. But it was still just basically, you go into the beginning of the week, you think, like, what could we possibly do that people would find fun to listen to?

No. No. No, it could have been something else. But I happened to end up at a place at NPR in the 70s where like the things I could get obsessive about were in front of me. But it could have been something else. If I had ended up in a TV station, I would be on TV or making TV. I don't think I'd probably be on TV, but I'd be making TV.

No. No. No, it could have been something else. But I happened to end up at a place at NPR in the 70s where like the things I could get obsessive about were in front of me. But it could have been something else. If I had ended up in a TV station, I would be on TV or making TV. I don't think I'd probably be on TV, but I'd be making TV.

No. No. No, it could have been something else. But I happened to end up at a place at NPR in the 70s where like the things I could get obsessive about were in front of me. But it could have been something else. If I had ended up in a TV station, I would be on TV or making TV. I don't think I'd probably be on TV, but I'd be making TV.

not a great father or have a very different relationship to your work. Yes. I really thought about that. In fact, with my wife, when we talked about should we have kids, one of the things that I felt at the time was like, I'm barely holding it together now without having kids. I don't know how I would be able to manage.

not a great father or have a very different relationship to your work. Yes. I really thought about that. In fact, with my wife, when we talked about should we have kids, one of the things that I felt at the time was like, I'm barely holding it together now without having kids. I don't know how I would be able to manage.

not a great father or have a very different relationship to your work. Yes. I really thought about that. In fact, with my wife, when we talked about should we have kids, one of the things that I felt at the time was like, I'm barely holding it together now without having kids. I don't know how I would be able to manage.

If we had kids, I mean, at that point, the staff of the radio show, when she and I were considering this, was still pretty small. It was still seven people, which is a lot of people for a weekly radio show. But for like a super highly produced one, it was still like, you know, it was hard to get the show on the air. And so I didn't know how we would do it. Like, I just didn't know how to do it.