This American Life

Though I've been listening to this amazing program for years, I only recently discovered that one can download entire episodes for free off the website and listen to her heart's content. Yesterday I spent more time than I should browsing through the archives and listening to ones that sparked my interest, and I was continually blown away by the range, depth and overall enjoyability of the longform pieces. I wonder if it's possible to achieve on the written page what they achieve with their tasteful mixture of voice, music and dramatic pauses. Writers talk all the time about developing a "voice"...and it seems so much easier when the real voice can come into play, illustrating sarcasm or poignancy with a slight shift in tone. Theoretically this can be done on the page, and many stories work equally well out loud and in print. David Sedaris comes to mind in this respect, although I think his weary, ironic tone makes all his pieces come to life.
I'm trying to work out what it is about This American Life, besides the voices and soundclips, that appeals to me (and millions of others) so much. For one, they always strive for the unusual--the voice that isn't normally heard, the topic so far unexplored. This has always been hard for me, because I have the sneaking suspicion that all my best ideas have already been done, but it is essential to successful journalism. This American Life stands as a weekly lesson that all material is ripe for storytelling, be it a shitty summer job or a chance encounter overseas. It also teaches that every story has a human narrative behind it, probably a rich one. I also like how they use a common thread to link completely disparate stories, which can be done even within one story. David Sedaris--sorry I keep coming back to him, but he's my "personal essay hero"--both on This American Life and in his books, can smoothly move between boils, fidelity and ghosts, as in his piece "Old Faithful," tying it all together into one gripping, hilarious tale. He also has a knack for bizarre first sentences that almost slap you in the face. "Out of nowhere I developed this lump." "I'm thinking of knitting a little jacket for my clock radio." In a format like This American Life, which celebrates the quirky, this type of opening is almost essential. And in narrative non-fiction in general could always benefit from a snappy, but not cheesy, introduction.