I'm trying to make perfect moments. And those generate meaning. If you go deep enough in how to make a moment, very quickly you come to how narrative works - to what we are as a species, how we've come up with telling stories in scenes and images. Ira Glass deepgeneratehave share on social
For me to do a story, something has to happen to someone. It's a story in the way you learn what a story is in third grade, where there is a person, and things happen to them, and then something big happens, and they realize something new. Ira Glass biggradehappen share on social
One of the things I learned as a young semiotics nerd was that if you have plot moving forward, no matter how banal the facts of it, simply the fact that the plot is rolling forward makes you wonder what's going to happen next, which creates suspense. So you can control peoples' attention simply by having things move forward in a story. Ira Glass attentionbanalcontrol share on social
I have been shocked at the number of people who don't watch television. Ira Glass numbpeopleshock Change image and share on social
Starting in the 1970s, American cars started to lose market share to foreign cars. It was clear what was happening - these better-made foreign car companies were encroaching on the U.S., and the U.S. car makers had less than half of their own country's market. Ira Glass 1970samericancar share on social
I was a temp secretary for a long time, and I went at it with a passion, and I tried to do a nice job in all my jobs. Ira Glass joblongnice Change image and share on social
My first job on the radio was writing jokes for a Baltimore DJ called Johnny Walker, who was sort of a '70s era shock jock who all the teenage boys listened to in my school. Ira Glass 70sbaltimoreboy Change image and share on social
I think people who live in New York don't realize just how much time they spend talking about the subway. Ira Glass livepeoplerealize Change image and share on social
People are generally forced to change. We don't want to change, and then something absolutely forces us to realize that what we are doing isn't working or that our picture of the world is wrong. We fail. So we change. Ira Glass absolutelychangefail share on social
When I say something untrue on the air, I mean for it to be transparently untrue. I assume people know when I'm just saying something for effect. Or to be funny. Ira Glass airassumeeffect Change image and share on social