If you're like a certain unnamed New Times colleague, you only listen to NPR's This American Life if you want to fall asleep. If you're like me, you had to stop listening to the podcast at work because you kept bursting out in loud sobs.
Then there's the man behind the show, Ira Glass. For ladies (and some gents) ages 27-40, he's up there with John Cusack. (To quote Chuck Klosterman: "I once loved a girl who almost loved me, but not as much as she loved John Cusack."
) Glass just might be our generation's Woody Allen -- not particularly alluring physically but we bet he gives damn good conversations.
So our pulse quickened a bit when we heard that Glass would be coming to Miami to discuss the creative process behind This American Life. Then we saw the venue - Gansevoort Hotel - and then the ticket price - a whopping $175.
Here's the thing about NPR listeners and Ira Glass fanatics, we poor. We
listen to public radio's This American Life when not reading the books
we checked out from the public library and when not traipsing through public parks. We rely on government-subsided culture, because we chose to
edit an alt weekly's arts and culture calendar over managing hedge
funds. Sorry, that just got personal.
Yes, all of the night's proceeds will support our local NPR station,
WLRN. But hey there radio, we already pledged your fund drive - that's how we got the email about One Night Only: Ira Glass. This keg of wealth has been
tapped; tote bag received.
And just last weekend, Ira Glass did a similar fundraiser in New York with
Rachel Maddow and Mike Birbiglia, and tickets only cost $40. And that
affordable ticket price even included a Glass/Maddow musical
performance.
Glass's Miami engagement on November 13 includes "cocktails by the
ocean, a silent auction, and a tantalizing sit-down dinner, with a
multimedia presentation by Ira Glass." In other words, there will be no
singing liberals, just annoying Miami-style elitism. The email then goes on to suggest the hotel's $15
valet, which it calls a "great deal," and offers the option of buying a
table of ten for just $1,750.
For you non-existent This American Life fans who are also high-rollers,
the night starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Novemebr 13th, and the Gansevoort Hotel is located at
2377 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. Get your freakin' tickets here.
For
the rest of you "real Americans"-- yeah, we said it -- keep pumping Glass into your ear buds and keep reading our weekly roundup of free events.