This American Life App, Developed by PRX, Now Available on iTunes

Archives going back to 1995 and exclusive show content for iPhone and iPod touch users

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Those who resolved to listen to more radio in the new decade are in for a treat. This American Life, the hit public radio show from Chicago Public Radio, has collaborated with Public Radio Exchange (PRX) to launch an app for iPhone and iPod touch on the iTunes App Store.

The This American Life App (http://tinyurl.com/thisamericanlifeapp) gives unprecedented on-demand access to the full show archive going back to 1995. New episodes are added automatically and users can search by episode or contributor -- including David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, and dozens more. Episodes can be streamed for free or purchased from iTunes for offline listening. Additionally, all episodes of the This American Life television show on Showtime can be downloaded for a fee.

The app also has free cartoons and other bonus content from the This American Life television show. Customizable features include a favorites list, sharing by email, Facebook, and Twitter, and alerts for the live weekly broadcast from WBEZ in Chicago, which can be streamed from within the app. Exclusive content includes behind-the-scenes video with the show's producers, some of David Sedaris's and host Ira Glass's first radio stories (from the early 90s), audio of NPR's Terry Gross interviewing Ira Glass (and vice versa), clips from live stage events, special staff picks lists, and more.

"We're excited to provide an app that includes our entire archive of nearly 400 radio episodes, and we're grateful the talented folks at PRX came to us with this idea," says Ira Glass, host of This American Life. "We hope lots of people will find unfamiliar episodes they'll like."

"This American Life rocks, and we were thrilled to work with Ira and his team to create an app worthy of the groundbreaking show we all know and love," says Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX, which developed the app. "Fans and new listeners alike are getting an audiovisual feast."

About the live feed that's part of the app, WBEZ President Torey Malatia says, "Note, ours is the only app providing a hand-held Geiger counter for the live show that drives interactive media inexorably backwards to 1968."

The This American Life App is available for $2.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore/.

This American Life has also engaged PRX to provide the program's archives for sale in the iTunes Store.

This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org) is a public radio show produced by Chicago Public Radio and distributed to more than 500 stations by Public Radio International (PRI). 1.8 million people listen to the show each week on radio, and another half million download the weekly podcast, making it the most popular podcast in America most weeks. From 2006-2008, a television version of This American Life aired on Showtime, winning three Emmys.

PRX (http://www.prx.org) is an award-winning public media network focused on innovation at the intersection of technology and talent. The PRX platform is an open distribution marketplace connecting thousands of producers and local public radio stations, creating public radio's largest archive of on-demand programs for broadcast and digital use. PRX is also the lead developer of the Public Radio Player App which has been downloaded over 2.5 million times from the iTunes Store.

For more information, contact: Rekha Murthy, +1-617-576-5455

SOURCE Public Radio Exchange (PRX)