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Ira's Open Road

IRA GLASS

Host/Producer
This American Life

“You can criticize yourself to a point to do something better, or you criticize yourself to a point where you inhibit yourself.”

INTERESTS:

Radio

THEMES DISCUSSED:

Acceptance Conflict Culture Dedication Desire Determination Doubt Exploration Failure Family Hard Work Honesty Instincts Money & Financial Security Negativity Passion Perseverance Talent

TAGS:

being on the radio, inadequate, medical school, medicine, settle, settling, summer internship, worry

BIOGRAPHY:

Ira Glass was named Best Radio Host in America by Time magazine in 2001 for work on his nationally syndicated radio show This American Life which he produces weekly for Public Radio International. Despite his professional success he remains amiably self-deprecating and admits to frequent bouts of diffidence. Not unlike his radio show, Ira is quirky, unassuming and impossible not-to-like. Ira grew up in a predominantly Jewish suburb of Baltimore where he was expected to prepare for a career in medicine. After a year of college he interned both at a hospital and NPR. Simultaneous strolls down such wildly divergent paths solidified his decision to leave med school and attempt a career in radio, which did not sit well with his family. Ira stresses the advantages young people enjoy when it comes down to choosing a career. In Ira's opinion, the only way to truly know is to do.