Get an "American Life"

I am a huge consumer of podcasts. In the past I've recommended Tony Kornheiser's daily show and railed against the work of Adam Carolla. Today I want to recommend a podcast that was suggested to me four months ago, and has become a regular in my routine.
The podcast in question is "THIS AMERICAN LIFE," which is a public radio show out of Chicago with host Ira Glass. At this point i should acknowledge that I was steered this way by my friend Jaime Fuller, who knows everything about everything, except her rejection of George Clooney as the second coming of Cary Grant.
The show is broadcast weekly and each episode is about an hour long journey that revolves around a specific theme. Sometimes there will be one yarn to hear, but more often than not it's three or four loosely connected ideas. These themes have included: guns, 81 words, contents unknown, inside job, true urban legends and most recently one about returning to the scene of the crime.
For example, the recent episode detailed criminals who were forced to march in front of stores they robbed, the retelling of a car accident, a lyrical DVD commentary and a lapsed Catholic's quasi return to the faith.
The captivating aspect of "THIS AMERICAN LIFE" is the depth of the stories and the relative obscurity of the topics. Regarding the latter point, I find myself being educated about areas I was almost completely ignorant of. As far as the depth of the stories, in weeks where they tackle fewer subjects they spend time slowly unraveling each thread of the event they're exposing.
The show is akin to a series of magazine features, except that they're often delivered in an offbeat manner not found in any news magazines. For instance, NEWSWEEK wouldn't offer a song parody while explaining the role hedge funds played in the financial collapse.
Ultimately, this is what separates THIS AMERICAN LIFE from other a show like 60 minutes or Frontline. Those shows treat entertainment as a secondary concern, while it feels like its equally important as uncovering the truth for the producers of THIS AMERICAN LIFE. These shows do share a unique bond, which is that often their stories seem hard to belief. It's as if the facts they reveal are too ridiculous to be true, like in the case of a guy who gets in an accident and ends up having to pay the drunk driver who hit him as the result of a police report error.
Even if you think a topic might not be germane to your interests, you'll find yourself entranced with a surprise topic more often than not. And with that, I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't give this show a try.
Until next time, when Jaime submits her guest rant about Clooney's plan to remake "NORTH BY NORTHWEST"