You're reading “Listen to Her” from The Pudding. I'm Ash Ngu. Each week on our site, we document a cultural phenomenon using data and visuals. Today, we analyze the gender breakdown of airtime on This American Life.

Over the past year, The Pudding has researched the gender gap in media (e.g., publishing, comics, and film). In most cases, the shortfall in equal representation is attributed to a lack of women behind the scenes. The prevailing theory is that more stories written by women would feature a greater quantity and more nuanced portrayals of women. While the causes of gender disparity in media are without a doubt complex, the gender gap behind the scenes is the most obvious factor.

For 22 years, the radio program This American Life has historically had a majority women staff in an otherwise male-dominated radio industry. Yet, an analysis of the show’s transcripts still yields the same pattern: men receive more airtime than women. How can this be?

Today on The Pudding, we analyze those 22 years of This American Life transcripts to try to answer these questions, and we speak with the host and executive producer, Ira Glass, about the results. Stay with us.