Inside A Surprising Chicago Friendship: Tavi &…Ira Glass

Whether it's a friendship or a romantic situation, sometimes there are those relationships that cause us to raise a skeptical eyebrow. Case in point: the surprising acquaintanceship between Tavi Gevinson and Ira Glass. Gevinson (now owner of online fashion magazine Rookie) met Glass, the host of This American Life (one of the fastest-growing programs on public radio), when she was only 11 years old. Don't worry — the duo was introduced by Glass' wife who saw something special in the young girl. And, really, who wouldn't? The youngster was already taking the fashion circuit by storm with her personal blog and getting front-row runway seats, a collaboration with the cutting-edge label Rodarte, and even a column in Harper's Bazaar. A different kind of bizarre was Gevinson's hair, which she wore gray for a long time — a perfect match to her equally strange wardrobe sense.

Glass took the fashion-risk-taking entrepreneur under his wing to help her find her footing in the media biz, which ultimately led her to transform her blog into Rookie. (The online mag is celebrating its one-year anniversary this September.) But despite the glitz and glam that Gevinson was subjected to at a young age, this isn't some overnight success story. It took her five years to reach this milestone. The pre-teen is now a young woman at the ripe old age of 16.

Another achievement is the 10-year anniversary of This American Life, which will soon become a TV series for Showtime, as well as a radio show. While it will still be produced by WBEZ in Chicago, the show (and Glass) have headed to New York. What is to become of the friendship between the odd couple? According to The Wall Street Journal, "These days, Glass and Gevinson mostly talk at Rookie parties or on conference calls — Gevinson sitting atop her daisy-print bed in Oak Park, Illinois; Glass padding around his kitchen in New York. His jokes are met with a not uncommon eye roll, but their rapport is a sweet one."

For an incredible he said/she said look into Tavi and Ira's relationship, check out the rest of the story on the The Wall Street Journal blog.