Legendary radio voice returns to USC

There is a high probability that you are one of the 1.7 million listeners each week tuning in to WBEZ Chicago’s This American Life.

Photo by Daniel Wang

In that case, you’ll recognize Ira Glass’ voice — its bookish, dry sound, comforting and soothing in its unremarkability.

Maybe you listen to him while you’re driving back home from a long day of classes or while you’re running in the morning with the iPod earbuds in your ears. In a time where most kids grow up to iTunes rather than their mother’s bedtime stories, Glass is an iconic figure — except you only know him by his voice.

But on Monday evening, students again had the chance to put a face to that famous voice, as Glass returned to USC after a previous visit in 2007.

It started out in darkness. Glass was introduced with only his familiar voice. There was clapping. Glass continued to talk, but it was still dark. The clapping trickled out, uncertain.

“The nice thing about being in a radio is that you don’t have to deal with how somebody looks,” Glass said. “You just look into their heart. … There’s an intimacy in hearing somebody’s voice in the invisibility of radio.”

And then there was light. Sitting in the middle of the spotlight behind a black-clothed table with a radio player, a microphone and a bottle of water, Glass had a look that made him appear to be right at home, yet caught in the headlight.

“Hello, nice to see you,” Glass said.

With salt-and-pepper hair, black-rimmed glasses and a shy smile, Glass looked every bit as unremarkable as his voice — but like the show he turns out each week, he registered a stance of comfort, ease and conversational intimacy.

Yet, the moment he spoke, he caused the audience to break into continuous laughter; he is also a performer and entertainer. Indeed, Glass has every quality of the ultimate storyteller.

Each week, Glass and his This American Life team piece together a mosaic of field reporting, interview recordings and readings all under a common theme. What sets This American Life apart from other broadcast journalism works is that all these real-life personal stories are woven together by Glass’ artful narration, which is at times witty and dry-humored and at other times empathetic and pensive. And of course, each story structure is pulled through by music that is appropriately suspenseful or uplifting.

During the two-hour session, Glass played various clips from his show to demonstrate the craft of a successful radio program that has consistently rated at the top of iTunes. Unlike broadcast television, there are no colorful visuals. Still, Glass shows how skillful structure and a humble interest for discovery can bring storytelling alive.

“We’re trying to restore the world as a place of joy and humor,” Glass said. “Journalism just seems too grim these days.”

That’s the problem with typical journalism of this age, Glass said. According to him, journalists have lost the joy of discovery and humor as they take on austere, “unamused” expressions and a posture of superiority.

But Glass prefers to go against traditional forms of journalism and instead bring himself down to the level of his audience by being just as surprised, interested and touched by the stories of the people he interviews.

In the same vein of humility, Glass also played an old tape of his early work at National Public Radio, which was cringingly bad.

“There is so much error in there that I don’t even know where to begin,” Glass said amid much laughter, adding that an editor even told him that he had “no talent whatsoever.”

In light of it all, Glass brought a universal message to all students: In whatever work you do, it’s actually normal to be bad — and to be bad for a while. Even the most successful career-makers started out bad.

But with a genuine interest in the world and humble curiosity, Glass has edged himself into the homes of millions of Americans, entrancing them with tales of the individuals in this world.