ARRVLS: Recent Episodes
Jonathan Hirsch
Scored, cinematic, and close mic'd intimate stories of personal change. Created by producer and sound designer Jonathan Hirsch.
This is the first person account of a fugitive. He knew he was in trouble – big trouble. So he ran – for 31 years. Until finally, he realized, he didn’t want to run anymore.The story was produced by Max Miller in collaboration with KCRW's Unfictional, where Nick White, Carla Green, and Bob Carlson help edit and produce this story. Editorial support and sound design from Jonathan Hirsch. Nick White mixed the show. Illustration by Steph Tan.
In 1915, thousands of Armenian christians were forced by the Ottoman government to march to their death into the deserts of modern-day Syria. A man named Stepan survived this march with the help of a muslim sheikh. Nearly a century later, his granddaughter returned to Syria to retrace his path to America, and to thank the family of the man who saved her grandfather's life.
"You were the angriest against injustice, and you were the hungriest for something new".
From drive-by shootings and drug addiction in the ganglands of the San Gabriel Valley to a life dedicated to poetry and community service: the story of Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis Rodriguez this week on ARRVLS.
Part Two of our series on the life and remarkable times of Joe Lumbroso:
The Children of God, or The Family as it's sometimes called, was founded in California in the late 1960's. The Family is a fringe religious group with a worldwide following. Their leader referred to himself as a prophet, as moses, as a king. The group has become infamous for many of their practices, including the use of sex as a missionary tool.
Rarely do we have the opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at life in groups like the Children of God. In this week's episode and next, we are fortunate to bring you a two part series on a life inside The Children of God.
The Children of God, or The Family as it's sometimes called, was founded in California in the late 1960's. The Family is a fringe religious group with a worldwide following. Their leader referred to himself as a prophet, as moses, as a king. The group has become infamous for many of their practices, including the use of sex as a missionary tool.
Rarely do we have the opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at life in groups like the Children of God. In this week's episode and next, we are fortunate to bring you a two part series on a life inside The Children of God.
One brisk autumn morning in Brooklyn, Katie decided to go for a bike ride. Little did she know that the gruesome events to follow would nearly cost Katie her life, and forever change how she looked at the world.
He's been a womanizing petty criminal. A revolutionary marxist. An ex-con bank robber. A spiritual teacher. This week on ARRVLS, we go on a journey through the many lives of John Sherman.
Find out more about John & Carla Sherman's organization Just One Look, by visiting their website.
ARRVLS is a proud member of The Heard. Check out fellow member Erica Heilman's program Rumble Strip Vermont.
Producer Hans Anderson & Jonathan Hirsch Editor Jonathan Hirsch Sound Design Jonathan Hirsch Episode Art Steph Tan
Catie's dad joined the FBI after serving in Vietnam. Despite the popular portrayals of FBI agents in the media, Catie's dad was a dressed-down family man with a day job that happened to be highly classified. But things changed dramatically in Catie's life when her dad became very ill, and the mystery of her dad's illness would haunt her for years. Then one day, she went to the movies. Producer & Sound Designer by Jonathan I. HirschAssociate Producer Nora LindeAdditional Music by Hakan Erikkson & Martin LandhEpisode Art by Steph Tan Original compositions in today's episode are by Jonathan Hirsch and Shani Aviram. They've collaborated in launching a new "small batch" music library for producers of film, tv, and radio projects. To find out more, visit Liminal Audio.
What happens when your religious faith and sexual identity directly contradict one another? Josh Tranen lived with this contradiction for years. Even while studying in an orthodox Yeshiva in Israel, Tranen struggled to reconcile his beliefs with his identity. But when attitudes towards marriage in the US shifted, Tranen found his relationship to his religion changing as well.
Producer Phoebe Petrovic Editor Jonathan I Hirsch Sound Designer Jonathan I. Hirsch Associate Producer Nora Linde Episode Art by Steph Tan
Music by Gunnar Johnsén, Anders Ekengren, Måns Billner, Jack Elphick, & Gavin Luke
Jerry Curl takes us into her world: growing up gay in the projects on the east side of El Paso, coming out to her parents, and eventually becoming a drag performer.
What's it like to be a traveling salesperson? Sarah Barrett takes us inside the mind and world of Canada's finest pitchmen.
A collaboration between ARRVLS and Borders Radio, this episode tells the story of one man's journey from redemption to loss of faith as a Mormon missionary in the Fijian Islands.
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Michal documents her journey of sexual self-discovery, and finds out that she may not, in fact, be "vanilla" after all.
Scott Comar was a truck driver from Hartford. In the late 90s, he discovered the borderland region that includes El Paso, Texas and Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. His growing dependency on hard drugs drew him to the lawless streets where the cost of living was cheap and the dope was even cheaper.
What's it like to experience total memory loss? Oyevind Aamot experienced the unimaginable. After traveling the world for years, we awoke from a fall while hiking in the Himalayas not knowing who he was, how he got there, or even his own name. This is his story.
The entire ARRVLS archive is now available exclusively on Stitcher Premium.
For a free month of listening, go to stitcherpremium.com/arrvls and use promo code ‘ARRVLS.’
I guess you could say that ARRVLS is a show about the future. Or at least, what each of us thinks our own future might be. And from that vantage point this episode is really interesting, because it’s about those among us who believe that the future can be known. Before it actually happens. And it all starts with a deck of intricately designed cards called..the Tarot. Producers Karen Robins & Jonathan HirschAssociate Producer Nora LindeEpisode Art Steph Tan
There are a lot of stories about friendship, community, and survival that have been born from AIDS. There are plays and movies that underscore the anger and the activism, and music that defines the tragedy. But for every song and every movie, there is a person. There is a community. There are friends that must embrace the bittersweet realities of life and of death. There are loved ones buried too early. Today on ARRVLS: the story of three friends, a disease, and the opera.
Produced by Benjamin Riskin & Jonathan Hirsch Associate Producer Nora Linde Editorial Assistance Sara Brooke CurtisEngineering & Sound Design Jonathan Hirsch Music Credits "Eh-Quoi-Des-Danseset-Des-Fêtes" performed by Norman"Dido's Lament" performed by Lindsay Allen "Church Club" Jonatan Jarpeg Additional Scoring by Jonathan Hirsch
It’s been five years since a 9.0 earthquake rocked Japan, but the images from that time are indelible: the wall of water devouring parts of the Japanese coastline. Cars lifted over walls and tumbling into the sides of buildings.
Then there’s all the fear and uncertainty that followed. When the Tsunami caused the meltdown of a nuclear power plant, the whole world was watching. And it’s in this climate of uncertainty that Junji Nishihata and his family found themselves. Not quite foreigners, and in many ways not quite Japanese either.
What does it feel like to be an outside in the middle of a national crisis? Today on ARRVLS, we go back in time to Japan, 2011.
In the new year, I decided to pack up my life and move across the country, leaving my old home in Brooklyn for my new home in Los Angeles. At the same time, producer Sara Brooke Curtis was leaving her home in San Francisco for the northeast.
We decided to keep track of our changing cities and changing lives through sound, through observation of the world around us. We wrote down our thoughts. We pressed record as things happened. We tucked away our favorite moments. And when we’d arrived at our destinations, we took our two stories and made them one story..like chapters of the same book.
Do you know that feeling you get when you’re about to leave a place? That clarity? Like you’re seeing it all for the first time. That all the sounds and sights that blended into the background of your life before, are now powerful and in your face?
Today on ARRVLS we want you to put your headphones in. Go for a walk. And join us.
During the 1970's hundreds of thousands of Russian nationals migrated from the country. Many left in protest to the policies of the soviet regime: the antisemitism, the curbing of civil liberties, the jailing of political dissidents. And while it was possible to exit the country, it was for a long time, almost impossible to return. Refugees from this era in Russian history are sometimes referred to as Refuseniks; a nod to their refusal to live under the authoritarian conditions of the time.
Today, Valentine's day, this episode is coming to you a little bit early. It's the story of once such refugee and the love she left behind but never forgot.
Jax Beach is a small, scruffy seaside town in Jacksonville Florida. It's not what I expected from Florida, to be honest, having visited other beach towns in Florida like Tampa, Daytona, and Miami. Jax Beach isn't like those towns.
Really it feels more like Venice Beach in California, replete with yoga studios, head shops, and vegetarian restaurants. Sun drenched surfers still wet from the ocean, walk back barefoot onto the main drag that hugs the shoreline. Skateboarders in tie die shirts ollie off the curbs of streets lined with cozy bungalows.
I'm here to meet Trey Thompson. Trey and his wife Shandy live in one of those small bungalows just a short walk from the beach. When I walk up to the front door, he greets me with a warm smile. His wife and their son Kaycin are eating dinner in the other room. They're both hometown kids. They've got everything to look forward to. And from the outside, you'd never know that Trey and Shandy have had to make some of the toughest choices any human being has to make.Today on ARRVLS, how do we plan for the future when the future is not what we had planned?
Click here to contribute to Trey & Shandy's medical fund
Illustration by Steph Tan Producer Jonathan I. Hirsch Associate Producer Nora Linde Editor Jonathan I. Hirsch Sound Design Jonathan I. Hirsch Additional Music Jonathan I. Hirsch, Niklas Gustavsson, Martin Gauffin, Gunnar Johnsen, Gavin Luke, August Wilhelmsson
ARRVLS is a proud member of the independent audio collective The Heard. Click here to find out more about the The Heard. If you have a story of migration, transformation, or change, we'd love to hear from you: email us at arrivalsshow@gmail.com.
Jerry McGill (Jerome) and Dalton Conley grew up next to one another in a tough area of the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1980's. Dalton's family lived in public subsidized housing, which sat in the middle of a block of project housing, where Jerry lived. The two became friends.
On January 1, 1982 a random and senseless act would transform both of their lives. This is their story.
A 17 year old Chilean girl decides to travel to the US as an exchange student. Her host family lives in Minnesota. When she arrives, she quickly becomes fast friends with a girl her age in the house.
But not long after she arrives, the exchange student finds out that she's pregnant. She gives birth to her daughter in the US, and returns to Chile.
She has another child, named Guido. And growing up, Guido develops a fascination for American culture. He becomes an exceptional English speaker by meticulously studying movies, tv, and reading english language websites.
In 2010, an 8.8 earthquake hit chile, causing catastrophic damage. The campus where Guido was going to college was slow to rebuild their facilities, and in 2013 the campus wide protests grounded classes to a halt. Guido becomes disenchanted. He decides to drop out of college. But before he does, he mom has an idea: why not go to the U.S. for a while? You can stay with my "gringa sis". But what seems like a great idea at first, turns out to be something quite different than Guido ever imagined.
When Thanksgiving arrived in 2008, Robert found himself struggling with a tangled mess of emotions. The economic crisis in the U.S., big changes at home, and the challenges of the workplace all conspired to make it difficult for Robert to keep his head above water. Despite these challenges, he and his family decided to make the long drive from St. Paul to Lafayette, Indiana. And what he discovered there changed Robert's point of view in a way he never would have expected.
If our bodies are maps, it is our parents who provide the ink. Their genetic code draws out the boundaries of our personal geography. And we all know that this map like every map, changes over time. Continents grow smaller, oceans wider..our shape changing in a solution to the equation of gravity over age. But for some that ink is the kind that disappears. We all live with the knowledge of our own mortality, but what about those who know more, how do you chart a course through the world when the end is a known entity? Today on ARRVLS, a family and the map that they share. Producer Jonathan I. Hirsch & Garrett Tiedemann Editor Jonathan I. HirschAssociate Producer Nora Linde & Emma Jacobs Sound Design & Composition Garrett Tiedemann & Jonathan I. Hirsch Additional Music James Joshua Otto & Ibor Khabarov
Eva Mae was born and raised in a rural part of Georgia just shy of the South Carolina border, outside of the small town of Clyo, Georgia. Eva has lived there all of her life, in an area called Berryville, where several generations of families have continued to live. Eva married her high school sweetheart and together they had a son. They purchased a trailer and a car, but shortly afterwards Eva's husband was laid off from his job at The Great Dane Trailer Company. This threw him into a depression from which he could not emerge. Today's episode chronicles one woman's journey to find solace and happiness in the wake of tragedy. A story about faith and the legacy of suicide.
What we do for a living can say so much about who we are, and at the same time it can say so little. It makes sense that the thing we do day after day could come to define us over time, but what about the person who clocks in when you do? What about the person in the seat across from you..the one who arrived from the other side of the subway platform? The one who is twice your age or half your age, the one you can't stand or the one who you share the most intimate details of your life with. Two women who grew up in separate parts of the country. Two women from very different backgrounds. Both having moved to New York for different reasons, wind up becoming best friends, while working in the same industry. They agreed to share their stories anonymously.
On September 11th, 2001, Ney Melo watched from the window of his office at Lehman Brothers as the first tower of the World Trade Center burned. The event stirred an already brewing sense deep within that he needed to make a change in his life. And it is this sense that took Ney on an inspiring journey of self-discovery from the stock market trading floor, to the milongas (or tango clubs) of Buenos Aires. Produced Jonathan HirschAssociate Producer Nora Linde Associate Producer Ben Kruse Music & Sound Design Jonathan Hirsch Additional Music
Felix Neals is an 86 year old retired administrative judge. He is gentle and deliberate in his manner of speaking, and stands a towering 6 foot 6 inches tall. You wouldn't know it by talking to him, but Felix hardly spoke for the first 14 years of his life. He knew that he was different from most people. And across many states and decades, from a small subdivision on the border of the Everglade swamp to a rural college town in Idaho, Felix was in search of answers. Today on ARRVLS, a man's search for a name.
Guest Felix NealsProducer Jonathan Hirsch, Nora LindeSound Design and Mixing Jonathan Hirsch, Nora LindeEditor Jonathan HirschAdditional Music Jonathan Hirsch, Tate Peterson, Bluesraiders
We'd like to believe that culture is something that evolves. That the current generation learns from the mistakes of the ones that came before them, and that we move, albeit in fits and starts, towards a more just, inclusive, and equitable society. But somewhere in the midst of this daily march forward, are the stories of our own complicated lives. And for some the most essential part of their identity remains misunderstood to most people. Today on the show: how one child taught their parent, who they really were. "Mommy, something went wrong in your tummy. Put me back so I can come out a girl.” Marlo heard these words from her four-year-old child. Despite being born with male organs, her child has insisted she’s a girl ever since she could form complete sentences. Marlo discusses switching names and pronouns, clothes shopping, supporting her daughter’s decision on whom she does or doesn’t tell, and her own complicated and beautiful experience of having a child she once perceived as a little boy become a little girl. Guest Marlo MackProducer Jonathan Hirsch, Nora Linde, Marlo MackSound Design and Mixing Jonathan Hirsch, Nora LindeEditor Jonathan HirschAdditional Music Jonathan Hirsch Listen to Marlo Mack's podcast, "How To Be A Girl"
This episode is a story about the transformative power of loss. How one tiny life can become so large, that you begin to see it everywhere and in everything that you do. Our first contributor piece comes to us from independent producer and storyteller Sara Curtis, who traces the loss of her and her husband Ryan's child over the course of a year. Sara is a freelance radio producer, writer and photographer based in the Bay Area. Her radio stories have aired on KCRWʼs UnFictional, State of the Re:Union, KALWʼs Audiograph and PRX Remix. She is currently an 11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellow at UC Berkeley, making narrative driven radio stories from the perspective of Bay Area restaurant servers.You can find her work at her website or on Soundcloud. Producer Sara CurtisAssociate Producer Nora LindeAdditional Sound Design Jonathan HirschEditor Emily UllmanMusic Editor Ryan Frizzel
Larry kept his sexuality a secret for fear of being rejected by his family, jailed by the government of Cameroon or subjected to mob violence. Even so, there were times he couldn’t avoid trouble from people who found out. He became estranged from his younger brother, was attacked by someone he met online and extorted by a group that broke into his hotel room. Larry and his boyfriend now live in New York, where he can for the first time be open about who he is without the threat of recrimination. Producer Jonathan HirschAssociate Producers Nora Linde & Gabrielle LewisSound Design Jonathan HirschAdditional Music by Roger Kom & Njembe Gwet Paulemond
Andrew Field channeled his love for surfing and good food into a popular sea-side restaurant in Rockaway Beach, NY. When Hurricane Sandy threatened to destroy his hard work, he was forced to think fast and face realities that come with living in an increasingly unpredictable environment. Produced & Edited by Jonathan Hirsch, Gabrielle Lewis, & Nora Linde Music & Sound Design by Jonathan Hirsch
Kaz Smith was unlike anybody Niva had ever met. He was sharp, positive, and independent. Their relationship built slowly, which at times was difficult. "He was measured in everything" Niva said. "I wanted to hang out more. I wanted to see him more than just on the weekends. But he set the pace." After weeks of escalating symptoms, an MRI showed that Kaz had developed a rare form of brain cancer, and that his diagnosis was terminal. The premiere of Season Two of ARRVLS tells the story of Kaz and Niva, whose love was larger than the illness they fought together. Produced by Jonathan Hirsch, Gabrielle Lewis, & Ben Kruse Music & Sound Design Jonathan Hirsch & Ben Kruse Associate Producer Nora Linde Riding Bitch Blog Niva Dorell Smith (Website)
Our final Stand By episode of Season 1 features the production magic of Garrett Tiedemann, as he remixes episode three of ARRVLS....Ricochet. Garrett Tiedemann is a composer, filmmaker, and writer for twenty years with radio and podcast production added in last few. He produces The White Whale from the confines of his production company CyNar Pictures and is lead producer on a number of podcasts for the oral history project SisterStory. Producer Garrett Tiedemann Editor Jonathan HirschMusic & Sound Design Garrett TiedemannTheme Music Jascha Hoffman & Leo Sidran
In between seasons 1 and 2 of ARRVLS, we've asked sound designers, composers, and producers to take their favorite episodes of the show, and to re-imagine them in their style, and their voice. It's the storytelling podcast version of a "remix". We're calling it Stand By.
For the second installment in this series, Danish composer Anders Pederson takes us back to Woodlawn Cemetery and to the story of Black Herman. Producer: Anders Pederson & Jonathan Hirsch Editor: Jonathan Hirsch Music & Sound Design: Anders PedersonTheme Music: Jascha Hoffman & Leo Sidran
ANOTHER SIDE OF THE BLAZING ECHIDNASeason 2 of ARRVLS starts on June 18th, but in the meantime we're bringing you a very special segment we're calling STAND BY. In between departures, we've asked producers, sound designers, and composers to reimagine their favorite ARRVLS episodes in their style and their voice. Our first installment features the work of producer Brian Garcia. Brian Garcia is a freelance audio producer based in Brooklyn by way of Detroit. He produces a fiction storytelling podcast called Aural Regions that's part modern radio drama and part internal monologue reimagined. His previous podcast, Hate Your Answering Machine, appeared weekly on Vocalo.org. To pay the rent he helps create graphics for ABC News. Check out our first STAND BY episode, "Another Side of The Blazing Echidna". Producer: Brian Merril GarciaEditor: Jonathan I. Hirsch
On Thanksgiving Eve 1971, a man hijacked a commercial flight traveling from Portland to Seattle. His demands were simple: 200 thousand dollars in negotiable American currency, four parachutes, and a refueled plane. For the season finale of ARRVLS, we explore the only unsolved hijacking in U.S. history, the mysterious case of D.B. Cooper. A case the FBI refers to, as NORJAK.
Written & Produced by Jonathan Hirsch & Gabrielle Lewis Sound Design by Ben Kruse & Jonathan Hirsch Theme Music by Jascha Hoffman & Leo SidranAdditional Music by Ben Kruse & Jonathan Hirsch
WELCOME TOMOUNTAIN PARK
To the parents who would send their children to Mountain Park Baptist Boarding Academy, the administrators of the school promised stern discipline and structure. But what the students received in return was something very different. This is the story of Hilde Lynn. A story of displacement, oppression, and survival. Produced by Jonathan I. Hirsch and Gabrielle Lewis Mixing & Sound Design by Benjamin Kruse Original Score by Benjamin Kruse and Jonathan Hirsch
KING RICKEY &THE KNIGHTS OF THE PLAYA
Falling in love isn’t something we can will into existence. It just happens. You feel it and the rest unfolds from that moment. And looking back, we know more about ourselves, who we were at the time we fell for another, and who we’ve become, than we could ever know at the time. It is the biggest kind of ARRVLS story. Not just because loving someone else is the defining moment in many of our lives, but because learning to love lasts as long as we do, and while we are not long on this planet, the legends of love and love lost precede us, and live on after we go. Today’s show explores a place where human and legend meet; no doubt a recurring theme in the stories featured on this program. It’s about a man who travelled across many states, cities, and seasons to find, and to forget his first true love. Produced by Jonathan I. Hirsch Mixed & Mastered by Benjamin Kruse Theme Music by Jascha Hoffman and Leo Sidran Featuring Music by Michael Warren Grant and DAM
Julie had never planned to be a mother. When her partner of ten years suffered a near fatal stroke and moved back home with his family, she found herself alone and reeling from the shock of recent months. It was then that she met and fell in love with Aaron. Their connection was instantaneous, and shortly after they met they married in a civil ceremony in San Francisco. But Aaron and Julie weren't the only ones who got married that day. Episode 5 of ARRVLS is a story of finding love after heartbreak in ways you least expect to find it. Written & Produced by Jonathan I. Hirsch Engineering & Sound Design by Benjamin Kruse Original Score by Jonathan I. Hirsch & Benjamin Kruse Additional Music by Wolf Larsen
Who was Black Herman? A famed African American performer and magician living in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, his life and the legend of his death remain shrouded in mystery. Was he born, as his memoir suggests, in the "dark jungles of Africa", or was he the astute protege of a traveling snake oil salesman and performer? Was his death a brilliant life suddenly cut short, or the ultimate illusion? Written and Produced by Jonathan I. Hirsch Engineering & Sound Design by Benjamin Kruse Original Score by Benjamin Kruse and Jonathan I. Hirsch
On christmas day, the propellor on a four-seater Cessna died, along with the engine. Robin Holleran and her brother-in-law found themselves floating in the air outside Atlanta nowhere near a landing strip. Episode 3 of ARRVLS is a story about how a brush with death, can turn into a new lease on life. Featuring music from the Seattle-based Grand Hallway. Their front man, Tomo Nakayama, has a new album called "Fog On The Lens", which you should definitely check out. Robin Holleran is co-editing a new anthology of plane crash survivor stories, which will be released by Skyhorse Publishing at the end of 2015. More on Robin can be found at her website, or by emailing her at robinholleran@gmail.com. You can now pre-order her book "Brace For Impact" on Amazon, here. Written & Produced by Jonathan I. Hirsch Mixing & Sound Design by Benjamin Kruse Original Score by Benjamin Kruse & Jonathan I. Hirsch Additional Music by Grand Hallway
Episode 2 of ARRVLS tells the story of Joshua Levie, whose first job out of college was a lot more than he bargained for. Working at a day placement facility for adults with violent tendencies brought out the best, and the worst in him. Josh's story provided the inspiration to launch this program.Written & Produced by Jonathan I. Hirsch Mixing & Sound Design Benjamin Kruse Original Score by Jonathan Hirsch & Benjamin KruseAdditional Music by Yesway
Episode 1 of ARRVLS tells the story of Ethan Hughes. When Ethan was 29 years old, he gave away a one-hundred thousand dollar inheritance. He then convinced a group of friends to dress up as superheroes and bike across America. It's a story of love, heartbreak, and the superhuman strength it takes to live with both. You can find out more about Ethan Hughes and Still Waters Sanctuary through his interview on The Permaculture Podcast. Written & Produced by Jonathan I. Hirsch Mixing & Sound Design by Benjamin Kruse Original Score by Jonathan I. Hirsch & Benjamin Kruse Additional Music by Gordon Hartin Artwork by Ethan Hughes