About our internships

This American Life is a weekly, nationally-distributed public radio program featuring documentaries, interviews and short stories. The show is produced at Chicago Public Radio in downtown Chicago by a full-time staff of four producers, an executive producer, an administrator and an intern.

This American Life is pleased to offer three internships a year. Although there are no specific application criteria, most interns in the past have been recent college graduates.

Internships run for four month periods.

The internship program is designed to give an introduction to almost every facet of producing This American Life - from copyediting to technical production to administrative duties. The interns start off observing the weekly production of the show by sitting in on meetings and edits with producers while learning basic production skills. Interns will first learn digital tape editing by producing promos and short interviews. They will review unsolicited submissions, transcribe tape, learn to structure a radio story and learn to mix a radio story, plus performing assorted menial administrative tasks that are true signs of an internship. Interns participate in all story meetings and are encouraged to pitch story ideas and comment on future shows. By the end of the program, interns are encouraged to produce their own pieces, including editing and mixing voice, sound and music. The diversity of tasks depends largely on initiative and self-motivation.

Interns are provided a monthly stipend of $2000, before taxes. Unfortunately we are unable to provide aid in terms of housing, however past interns have been able to find partially furnished rooms for $300-$400 a month. We are committed to providing a stipend because the work hours are fairly long. We feed the show on Friday nights at 7 p.m. Central time every week, so as we get closer to the end of the week, the hours become longer. A typical work week varies between 50-60 hours. As a result, it is expected that this be the intern's only job during the four-month term. The next open terms are as follows:

• The summer 2005 term begins May 2, 2005, and runs through September 9, 2005. Application deadline February 1, 2005; decision by March 1, 2005.
• The fall 2005 term begins August 29, 2005, and runs through January 13, 2005. Application deadline June 1, 2005; decision by July 1, 2005.
• The winter 2006 term begins January 2, 2006, and runs through May 12, 2006. Application deadline October 1, 2005; decision by November 1, 2005.
• The summer 2006 term begins May 1, 2006, and runs through September 8, 2006. Application deadline February 1, 2006; decision by March 1, 2006.
• The fall 2006 term begins August 28, 2006, and runs through January 12, 2006. Application deadline June 1, 2006; decision by July 1, 2006.
• The winter 2007 term begins January 2, 2007, and runs through May 11, 2007. Application deadline October 1, 2006; decision by November 1, 2006.