On Saturday, March 11 at 8pm, Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College welcomes radio host Ira Glass for a multimedia presentation that chronicles his life and career in storytelling. 

For more than 25 years, public radio fans around the world have traveled the airwaves guided by the instantly recognizable voice and keen journalistic mind of Ira Glass. Glass, who began his career as an intern at National Public Radio (NPR) in 1978, is the creator, producer, and host of This American Life, the iconic weekly public radio program he launched in 1995 that attracts more than 5 million listeners around the world every week. Glass has pioneered a highly influential style of documentary storytelling, exploring topics both intimate and international in scope—from humorous personal history to true crime, to pressing domestic issues like immigration, gun violence, and the economy. The show has been awarded the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence, including six Peabody Awards and the very first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to a radio show or podcast, breaking all records to become the most popular podcast ever created. Named Time magazine’s “Best Radio Host in America,” Glass uses a mix of audio clips, music, and video to pull back the curtain on his process, life, and career as one of America’s foremost storytellers.

Glass’ Seven Things I’ve Learned combines audio clips, music, and video to tell his life story, as he shares lessons and insights gathered over his long, winding, and often wild career. Over the years, he has worked on nearly every NPR network news program and held virtually every production job at its headquarters. He has been a tape cutter, newscast writer, desk assistant, editor, reporter, and producer. Glass has also filled in as host of the news shows, Talk of the Nation and Weekend All Things Considered. About the program, he has said, “Some of the things I’ve learned have to do with radio. Some don’t. I won’t pretend: this talk is a container for whatever lessons interest me the day I show up on stage. I’ll show video and play audio clips of especially illuminating things that’ve happened on the radio show, and especially funny things too. I’ll explain what we learned making a television show and why we asked to be taken off television. I may talk about Serial. I may discuss hiking, which I’ve never tried, or marriage, which I have.”

In addition to the public performance at 8pm, Glass will meet Queens College students in the afternoon for an informal classroom Q&A with 30 students from English and Media Studies majors for 60 minutes. This Q&A is not open to the general public. 

Queens College English professor Jason Tougaw says “Ira Glass is a supreme audio storytelling. As Co-Director of the Queens Podcast Lab and a faculty member teaching podcasting, I work with a lot of talented students following in his footsteps. We also have WNYC’s Arun Venugopal on campus this semester. Our students will be learning from legends of the medium.” 

Kupferberg Center for the Arts is located at 65-30 Kissena Blvd, Flushing NY 11367. The public performance is on Saturday, March 11, 8pm. Tickets are $30-$75 and can be purchased online at https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/ira-glass/ or KCA Box Office at (718) 793-8080. 

FOR CALENDAR LISTING: 

Seven Things I’ve Learned: An Evening with Ira Glass

Saturday, Mach 11, 8pm

at Colden Auditorium

Tickets: $30-$75

Ira Glass, who began his career as an intern at National Public Radio (NPR) in 1978, is the creator, producer, and host of This American Life, the iconic weekly public radio program he launched in 1995 that attracts more than 5 million listeners around the world every week. The show has been awarded the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence, including six Peabody Awards and the very first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to a radio show or podcast, breaking all records to become the most popular podcast ever created. Named Time magazine’s “Best Radio Host in America,” Glass uses a mix of audio clips, music, and video to pull back the curtain on his process, life, and career as one of America’s foremost storytellers. https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/ira-glass/

About Kupferberg Center for the Arts

Kupferberg Center for the Arts (KCA) at Queens College was created in 2006 to honor alumnus Max Kupferberg for his $10 million gift to the College in support of the arts. KCA is charged with marketing cultural events, developing cross-disciplinary collaborations among Queens College’s arts units and between the arts units and off-campus partners, raising funds, and working with an Arts Advisory Board comprised of academic and community stakeholders.

The overall mission of Kupferberg Center is to provide high quality accessible and affordable cultural attractions to the Queens College community and the borough’s 2.2 million residents. The largest multi-disciplinary arts entity in the borough, KCA features world-class artists and performances at its main stage campus venues and showcases the talents of emerging and regional artists in off-site, neighborhood settings. A leader in the cultural renaissance of Queens, KCA connects residents of the most ethnically diverse region of the nation to their unique cultural heritages, showcasing these arts to a broader audience and validating the contributions each makes to the distinct nature of our campus and community.

Kupferberg Center for the Arts’ 2022-2023 Season is sponsored by New York Community Bank – A Division of Flagstar Bank, N.A. Major support is provided by the Max and Selma Kupferberg Family Foundation, the Kupferberg Foundation, and the Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Resorts World NYC. Kupferberg Center’s presenting and outreach programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the NY City Council.