NPR’s Ira Glass speaks at Philips Center

UF students were able to put a face to the voice heard weekly across the nation.

NPR host and producer Ira Glass presented “Ira Glass: Seven Things I’ve Learned” Saturday evening at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. He discussed the lessons he has gained after nearly 40 years in radio journalism.

Tickets were $10 for UF students and sold out Thursday night, said Elizabeth Auer, the assistant director of the Phillips Center. The theater has about 1,700 seats.

“He’s a master storyteller,” Auer said. “It really just sparks inner creativity and promotes storytelling in any job.”

Known for his NPR series “This American Life,” an hour long weekly radio show discussing the daily life of the American people, Glass’ discussed skills from from how to tell a story and the idea that failure is success.

“You have to fight your way past mediocracy,” Glass said. “I wish someone told me it was normal to be bad before you’re good.”

In the audiovisual performance, Glass mixed live storytelling with audio bits from his NPR experience, as well as projected artwork and footage that applied to his stories and lessons.

The presentation often left the audience in laughter, with the comical nature of some of his stories, such as a mother accidentally telling her teenage daughter she looks better with makeup on.

The seven lessons Glass covered included how to drive across the country while learning to speak Spanish, being able to amuse yourself and how to interview children.

For his last lesson, Glass discussed fake news and its effect on factually-based news organizations like NPR. He found the amount of people who believe falsely manufactured stories to be disturbing.

“I’m alarmed at just how much non-factual material is out there,” he said.

At the end of the show, Glass opened the floor for seven questions. Audience members asked about his career goals and what his favorite food is (to which he answered brussel sprouts).

Zoe Mack, a 26-year-old UF veterinary medicine doctoral student, went to see Glass because she enjoys listening to “This American Life” and was thrilled to see him in person.

“I really connected with the stories he told,” she said. “I love hearing these stories of other people, and finding my story in that.”

Contact Kelly Hayes at khayes@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @kellyrhayes.

Ira Glass, the 59-year-old host of the popular radio show “This American Life”, speaks to a packed auditorium at the Phillips Center on Saturday. The speech was titled “Seven Things I’ve Learned,” and was made up of lessons Glass found meaningful throughout his 40 years of broadcasting. These included segments on how to tell a story, how to interview children and learning from failure. Glass took seven questions from the audience at the end of his speech.