Ira Glass at Syracuse University

In a moment of educational bliss, Ira Glass, host of This American Life, graced Syracuse University's own Hendrick's Chapel to give a powerful and educational talk on storytelling, radio, and the future of journalism.

Already a fan, I came hoping to be surprised and inspired. While he maintained his usual candor and demeanor, I left this talk with a bit more than from his usual weekly broadcasts. If you're interested in hearing what he has to say about storytelling and the methods he uses, you can search for him on YouTube and watch the videos- he basically repeated the same rhetoric he does on videos there. His methods, tried and true, are brilliant, simple, and beautiful. He truly is unique in his simplicity of mind and straightforward way of storytelling. He expressed well-thought ideas about how to approach the next wave of journalism - with a sense of humor, with a sensitivity to people, and with, perhaps most importantly, a central theme on the humanity of stories and how imporant stories are to people. Using Arabian Nights as an allegory to the importance of stories (they may save your life!), Glass briefly brought us into the world where words shout themselves, and the beauty of straightforward storytelling transcends into spirits that last longer than the sounds that carry them to our ears and rock us to our cores. The stories of heartbreak, awkwardness, hope, betrayal, and new beginnings are central to humanity, for within the stories of other people, we learn more about ourselves as we, if only for a few moments, are the storyteller too.

What touched me most about the entire talk, was that during the question and answer portion, a nine year old boy used his question to ask for a handshake. It made me a bit emotional, thinking that this nine year old was touched as equally by his talk and the weekly experience that is This American Life as it touches me every week. Whether you're nine or ninety, the stories on the show ring true to the human element that exists within us all, and I felt inspired to know that somehow, 1.8 million people per week (and 500,000 more on podcasts) tune in to share the silences and moments of sensitivity that break through to fits of laughter that Mr. Glass brings to the radio.