Topic: Life News

Ira Glass announced that "This American Life" is launching a premium subscription model due to a significant collapse in the podcast advertising market. The show expects ad revenue to be one-third less than in previous years, leading to staff cuts across the industry. The hosts contrast this "industrial complex" model, which requires 36 producers, with their own "value-for-value" independent funding structure.

A Long Branch, New Jersey firefighter named David Phillips saved a "lifeless" baby handed to him by a family who did not speak English. Phillips performed back blows to clear the infant's airway, successfully restoring the child's breathing. The segment concludes with a story about a four-year-old girl who climbed 30 feet up a tree and required a cherry picker rescue.

New Zealand bookstores pulled Jordan Peterson's book "12 Rules for Life" from shelves following the Christchurch mosque shootings. Additionally, Cambridge University rescinded a visiting fellowship offer to Peterson. These actions are criticized as illogical given that the book is innocuous and Peterson is a mainstream academic rather than a radical.

Vice President Mike Pence became the first sitting VP to address the annual March for Life in Washington. The hosts note that the event received more coverage this year after President Trump criticized the media for ignoring it. They also express concern over the "collusion" of major networks in sharing the David Muir interview with Trump simultaneously.

Ira Glass of "This American Life" delivered a speech at an NPR event regarding the "limited power of fact-based reporting." Glass used the birther controversy to illustrate how voters ignore media refutations. The hosts criticize Glass for failing to acknowledge that the birther rumor originated within the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign, calling his narrative "phony."

A "3x3" report on the European migrant crisis, focusing on ABC News coverage from Lesbos, Greece. The report highlights the milestone of one million asylum seekers in Europe. The hosts comment on the massive piles of discarded life preservers on Greek beaches, jokingly suggesting an entrepreneurial opportunity to recycle and resell them to incoming refugees.

Businessman Nick Loeb is engaged in a public legal battle with his ex-fiancée, actress Sofia Vergara, over two frozen female embryos. Loeb authored a New York Times op-ed arguing that life begins at conception and that he should be allowed to bring the embryos to term via a surrogate. The case is analyzed as a potential psychological strategy to link Hollywood figures with "heartless" Democratic values while promoting pro-life narratives.

Photos circulating on Twitter show pristine Dutch passports recovered from the MH17 wreckage. The hosts find the condition of the documents suspicious and discuss the rapid formation of media narratives surrounding the crash before official investigations begin.

The New York Times reports on the rise of "Wantologists," a specialized branch of life coaching intended to help people figure out what they want. Catherine Ziegler, a psychologist in San Jose, is cited as a practitioner. The hosts mock the profession as a symptom of a "bonehead" culture where people pay for basic decision-making assistance.

A front-page headline in the New York Times regarding the search for alien life forms on Earth is analyzed as a potential marketing plant for an upcoming film. The discussion notes the poor quality of front-page photography, specifically a photo of people using iPhones and a water tower shaped like a giant butt.

Reports of oversized marine life, such as 11-foot sharks and giant squid, are discussed alongside a story about a 20-pound rabbit bred in Germany. The segment transitions to a critique of Vice President Dick Cheney's dismissive "So?" response when questioned about public opinion and the death toll of the Iraq War.