That said, I think it could be done, and I very much hope you do it. The trick is going to be finding a compelling enough hook. Focusing on Alisdare might work. Listen to his commentary at the end of PseudoPod 472: Self Portrait With Embellishments, I think you might see the kernel of something there.
While it wouldn't surprise me at all if in 30 years someone wins an oscar by playing the lead role in an Alasdair Stuart biopic, isn't This American Life devoted mostly to telling the story of Americans? I'm not sure that making the EA story be about a British man will be a good angle to take.
I don't think the international aspect of this story would be a downside; especially if it were more of a Radiolab story (which might even be a better fit, in the long run). After all, the whole colossal juggernaut was started by an American in Georgia. Representing England and Australia the way we do just elevates the enterprise, in my mind.
My initial thought for the narrative flow of the story would be to focus on that "labor of love" aspect (Mat - would you be willing to have a reporter interview you for your perspective?), and show how the different shows developed their own character. I wouldn't want to put Serah Eley on the spot, but I definitely think you can't tell this story without her input. At some point, someone should find out what she would think of this, and whether she would want to be interviewed, too.
I think there is a definite story arc here of going from "small labor of love" to "professional production company" - and ironically enough, I think the producers might actually be intrigued if we make the points Mat listed as roadblocks part of the story. That last point about promoting competition is something I see as a Core Value of what we do - Alasdair repeated that several times during the MetaCast, and all of the EA shows go out of their way to promote the "competition" - I only know about Lightspeed, Toasted Cake, and Cast of Wonders because of Escape Pod and Drabblecast. (And you know DC will be wrapped up in this story, too...fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, DC tentacles gotta wriggle in your eye.)
We have a couple of philosophically profound characteristics that a NPR audience might connect with. I think remaining a listener-supported labor of love (and the success of the recent push to save the company) makes a great "economic" story, and we should definitely emphasize the way EA has gone about bringing diverse voices to the genres while also featuring some classic authors and public domain works. That's certainly something that public radio audiences seem to relate to.
I haven't read much of the discussion here on the forums about the events at last year's Hugos, but I personally see EA's existence and editorial practices as a testament to which side of that mess we are on. And while that isn't what I want our whole story to be about, that might be a solid hook for a show like TAL. If I'm judging production timelines right, they might even be able to feature us around the same time as the Hugo's in August.
But like Mat said, there are a lot of us. If we want to pitch a story arc with these themes, who would we need to bring to the mic to tell that story?
-Serah Eley (founder)
-Norm Sherman (Escape Pod voice)
-Mur Lafferty (Escape Pod and Mothership Zeta)
-Alasdair Stuart (Pseudopod's voice)
-Ann Leckie (EA family made big!)
-Dave Thompson (PodCastle's voice)
-Graeme Dunlop (PodCastle & Cast of Wonders voice)
-Marguerite Kenner (Cast of Wonders)
I would hesitate to include this in the pitch, but I'm willing to bet a reporter will pick up on the Alasdair/Marguerite international romance - after all, that's in the Metacast!
Maybe they can be our "spunky 10-year-old" or "disabled veteran with dementia" at the center of the story?