An Inspiring Evening with Ira Glass and Pico Iyer Discussing Storytelling and Truth at UCSB

Campbell Hall at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) was packed last week as legendary NPR host Ira Glass joined distinguished author Pico Iyer for an evening filled with gentle humor and conversations surrounding journalism. 

Glass, best known for being the creator and host of This American Life, met privately with around 20 passionate student journalists from UCSB, including myself, prior to his main event for an intimate discussion about the state of the evolving journalism field and the power of storytelling. During this conversation, he emphasized the importance of good interviewing through being genuinely curious and attentive to what the interviewee shares.

Glass also encouraged the students to freely create in this digital age. “Don’t ask for permission to make something,” he said. “Just make!” He later stressed that effective storytelling relies on the “sparkly” moments, or the vivid, lively details that allow a narrative to shine.

On stage on October 4 for the UCSB Arts & Lectures presentation, Iyer first asked Glass about his childhood, to which he shared that he was a “nerdy child” in Baltimore who had once advertised in the newspaper his services as a teen magician. He was far more interested in Broadway musicals and Star Trek than in radio, even admitting that he didn’t used to listen to the radio, instead opting to watch television.

That changed when Glass joined NPR at 19, where he had to teach himself through experience. “I didn’t know how to tell a story,” he said. Quoting author Michael Cunningham, he said that he doesn’t believe in talent, instead that there’s a certain kind of person who “just gets really interested in the question, ‘How can I make this better?’”

Shifting gears, Glass talked about the changing sphere of media. “It’s become more chatty and personal,” he shared, “and I think part of that is, we all just got used to media as a culture, right? At some point, you realize your connection to the audience is greater if you’re just talking like a normal person. That’s what cuts through the clutter.”

Glass also openly talked about the challenges of modern reporting. “We’re in a moment where it doesn’t matter what the facts are,” he said. “Saying the truth doesn’t matter … There’s a war against facts … To get through to people, you’re not going to convince them of the facts … So you take them to the place where this is happening.”

Despite these challenges, Glass was enthusiastic about journalism’s opportunities today. “To be a reporter today, what could be more interesting? The world is turning upside down.”

Both the students who met him earlier and the audience members at Campbell Hall left that day feeling inspired to search for the truth through curiosity and compassion. For student journalists like me, his message resonated: Follow the drive to keep making things better.