Are people born podcasters or can the skill be learned? Obviously, it can be learned, but sometimes it's worth taking a look at the people that were clearly born to do it. Ira Glass serves as the director, senior producer, host, administrator, librarian, researcher and (perhaps most importantly) lead visionary for This American Life. To be fair, Ira did put in his time at various newsrooms cutting tape and doing odd jobs, but it very much seems like this was his life's calling.

This American Life is a weekly public radio program and podcast that began in 1995 and now comprises over 780 episodes. The jury is still out as to whether we'd search this one out on a weekly basis, indeed it's a lot to process, but the way they intertwine often three, four or even more seemingly disparate stories into a cohesive unit is pure genius.

Heard by more than 2 million listeners each week on over 500 public radio stations in the U.S., and with another 2.3 million people downloading each episode as a podcast, there are many great lessons in here for any podcaster.

On No Harm In Asking, hosts Eric Byron and Michael Kerr are on a journey to gather insights into why podcasts succeed or fail and to explore the myriad of different patterns, structures, topics, techniques, and personalities that have evolved this industry. Through our podcast, we hope to inspire and encourage the next generation of storytellers and visionaries.

Mike and Eric listened to The Possum Experiment, Ghost in the Machine and Tell Me I’m Fat, all of which are discussed in our review. You can find them here:

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

They also have a full social media presence on Twitter at @ThisAmerLife and Ira can be found at @iraglass.

Follow us on Twitter at @noharmaskingpod so you don't miss a review!

Eric also publishes his podcasting journey titled "A Podcasting Journal" on Substack at https://ericbyron.substack.com/

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