This American Life has retracted a January piece about the working conditions at Foxconn, the Chinese company that assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, after learning that it "contained significant fabrications."

In a blog post, TAL host Ira Glass explains that the piece in question an excerpt from Mike Daisey's acclaimed one-man stage show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," and that TAL "can't vouch for its truth."

This American Life's website now lists an upcoming episode where Glass "talks with Mike Daisey about why he misled This American Life during the fact-checking process," and the show ends by "separating fact from fiction, when it comes to Apple's manufacturing practices in China."

Daisey has responded to the retraction in a post on his blog, writing, "What I do is not journalism. The tools of the theater are not the same as the tools of journalism. For this reason, I regret that I allowed This American Life to air an excerpt from my monologue."

The retracted show has been pulled from TAL's website, but it's still available elsewhere online.

The followup episode airs today, and it will be available online Sunday evening.

[kottke]