My girlfriend initially turned me onto the Chicago Public Radio show This American Life with Ira Glass and I have been an avid listener ever since. The show covers wildly fascinating stories of average, as well as above average and below average for that matter, individual's unique stories from a non-biased perspective. The stories never sound prying and desperate with a sense of an ulterior motive like the ones coming from mainstream news outlets. This American Life, along with most other public radio shows, are predominantly supported by listener donations. Every episode is broken up into a series of acts revolving around a singular theme with each act being a variation on that theme.

This week's episode of This American Life, which can be downloaded on iTunes in podcast format or streamed from their website, focuses on a topic that is close to me as a design professional. The episode revolves around patents and reveals several subjects pertaining to them that I did not know. I have several patent applications floating around in the ether and am constantly working on patentable undertakings. Patents, so important to American innovation that it is written into the Constitution, were materialized to protect inventors and encourage creativity. In modern times, however, patents are being used to do the exact opposite. Several companies with empty offices and zero employees, and tons of hidden subsidiary companies, buy up patents with the sole purpose of suing supposed infringers. These companies do not innovate nor create, they simply collect massive settlements from start ups and individuals that do not have the capital to fight them. Take a listen to the show: