the point i am now is to learn how to distinguish crap with the good stuff and abandoning that crap. Most of the time I'm trying to save crap and hiding all the bad parts. lol....Ira makes a lot of sense. THANKS IRA
Cuts off at end - supposed to be 5:20, it's actually 4:02. Ooops...
On finding great stories
hard to find a decent one takes longer than to produce one. 1/2 to 1/3 of what we try, it flops, you know it won't work. Kill it; to make something better later. The importance of abandoning crap. The laws of entropy - all video production is trying to be trap . Prune ruthlessly.
A lot of it is luck. Quantity -> luck. record & get rid of a lot of crap to be able to get to something special.
I really do love "This American Life", but I must admit that after all these years it's starting to get old. Ira's aloof delivery, anyway. He speaks as if his radio show is interrupting lunch and seems to demand that his reporters do the same. Then sometimes T.A.L. makes me feel like I'm at an N.A. meeting full of other smackheads 'sharing' the most mundane, heroine-less moments of their lives. What's wrong with sounding just a LITTLE happy, Ira?
I agree, amigo. Many who succeed -- especially in the arts -- blame it on 'destiny' or behave as if they were picked by the universe rather than remembering that one lucky moment or event. It's human, I guess.
Yeah, true. Some of them also forget about the work it took. Which is funny to me in a way, because sometimes writers, for instance, get worse over time if they're not always riding that crest of energy. The ones that aren't so good, though, have often adjusted their life so they're not as self-destructive. I guess it's a trade-off for some.
Boy, I hear that that, nuther. I'm a writer who's gone headlong into it and traded virtually every scrap of security I ever had...such as they were. Being an itinerant writer and global bum with a drug problem was supposed to be cool. It ain't. But the writing's been good.
Still, thank christ for T.A.L. and other shows like it; I download them each week and it makes me miss the States a little. Do you listen to the show?
Yes. Yes, I do. They're pulling more reruns lately because they're making the television show in tandem now, but that just gives me an excuse to go back through their catalog and hear stuff I didn't hear the first time. The very first of theirs I heard was 24 Hours at the Golden Apple.
That's one of the best things about TAL -- shelf life! I've listened to some episodes countless times. I don't remember the name, but I just recently listened again to that one about the painfully shy Brit who won the UK "who wants to be a millionaire" quiz show. Talk about a heart warming story!
Summary: be ruthless, dismiss all the crappy stuff.
Grognax 1 month ago
the point i am now is to learn how to distinguish crap with the good stuff and abandoning that crap. Most of the time I'm trying to save crap and hiding all the bad parts. lol....Ira makes a lot of sense. THANKS IRA
citybutterfly 1 month ago
2:08 This part actually made me laugh out loud.
I am in the creative industry and this man tells it so true. I've never heard anybody describe it as such and I adore that description.
tantoedge 1 month ago
wow - I so pictured Ira looking so much different in my mind!
tcdowning666 4 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
If you like Ira, check out my videos. You'll be happy you did.
gregorybrandt 5 months ago
Points for relating tape wanting to be bad to entropy!! So true!
linglu 6 months ago
Cuts off at end - supposed to be 5:20, it's actually 4:02. Ooops...
On finding great stories
hard to find a decent one takes longer than to produce one. 1/2 to 1/3 of what we try, it flops, you know it won't work. Kill it; to make something better later. The importance of abandoning crap. The laws of entropy - all video production is trying to be trap . Prune ruthlessly.
A lot of it is luck. Quantity -> luck. record & get rid of a lot of crap to be able to get to something special.
AnnaInGV 7 months ago
@AnnaInGV , it *does* cut off (but isn't supposed to be 5:20, that's #3 in series.)
AnnaInGV 7 months ago
"if you're not failing all the time, you're not creating a situation where you can get lucky" yes.
fortyfive17 9 months ago
best part 1:36 haha
nabilinho 10 months ago
Loved this video, it talks about real life success as well as telling a good story.
essencecoach 1 year ago 5
This has been flagged as spam show
this is just right
stashews 1 year ago
This is excellent advice. Thank you, Ira.
EarInn 1 year ago
"...up from the ashes, grow the roses of success."
thompsonv777 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
less than brilliant, just a sappy wack job
TheGliderman 1 year ago
@TheGliderman or a wappy sack job?
xBEACHMUSCLESx 1 year ago
What do you do with your life, @TheGliderman?
If the best you can add to something like this is a bunch of name calling, its time to evaluate your own worth.
thebuttnothing 1 year ago
brilliant man
sothathappened 1 year ago
Comment removed
ERROLCUSTERFLYNN4EVR 1 year ago
I really do love "This American Life", but I must admit that after all these years it's starting to get old. Ira's aloof delivery, anyway. He speaks as if his radio show is interrupting lunch and seems to demand that his reporters do the same. Then sometimes T.A.L. makes me feel like I'm at an N.A. meeting full of other smackheads 'sharing' the most mundane, heroine-less moments of their lives. What's wrong with sounding just a LITTLE happy, Ira?
billyshake 2 years ago
I think a lot of the people who got lucky early on have NO idea how they ever achieved it.
nutherefurlong 2 years ago
I agree, amigo. Many who succeed -- especially in the arts -- blame it on 'destiny' or behave as if they were picked by the universe rather than remembering that one lucky moment or event. It's human, I guess.
billyshake 2 years ago 4
Yeah, true. Some of them also forget about the work it took. Which is funny to me in a way, because sometimes writers, for instance, get worse over time if they're not always riding that crest of energy. The ones that aren't so good, though, have often adjusted their life so they're not as self-destructive. I guess it's a trade-off for some.
nutherefurlong 2 years ago
Boy, I hear that that, nuther. I'm a writer who's gone headlong into it and traded virtually every scrap of security I ever had...such as they were. Being an itinerant writer and global bum with a drug problem was supposed to be cool. It ain't. But the writing's been good.
Still, thank christ for T.A.L. and other shows like it; I download them each week and it makes me miss the States a little. Do you listen to the show?
billyshake 2 years ago
Yes. Yes, I do. They're pulling more reruns lately because they're making the television show in tandem now, but that just gives me an excuse to go back through their catalog and hear stuff I didn't hear the first time. The very first of theirs I heard was 24 Hours at the Golden Apple.
nutherefurlong 2 years ago
That's one of the best things about TAL -- shelf life! I've listened to some episodes countless times. I don't remember the name, but I just recently listened again to that one about the painfully shy Brit who won the UK "who wants to be a millionaire" quiz show. Talk about a heart warming story!
billyshake 2 years ago