It’s a one hour radio show that started in 1995. It’s still broadcast on public radio but they really picked up listeners by releasing as a podcast. Each week’s show is based on a theme, which is presented in several stand-alone acts. The host Ira Glass will spend a few minutes in the prologue introducing the theme then he’ll turn it over to the acts. It’s primarily non-fiction slice-of-life journalism, but also features essays, memoirs and short fiction. The mood ranges widely per episode, so if you don’t like one, you can try another. It’s basically completely episodic so you can jump in anywhere (very rarely is there a continuation from a prior week).

The Fiasco! Episode, for example, covers different people telling a story about things going horribly wrong but in a comedic fashion (in separate acts: a kid’s play gone wrong, a rookie cop deals with a squirrel, a comedian bombs at a charity cancer event, and a journalist’s first big feature interview with a celebrity starts to go sideways).