Soundings: Recent Episodes
Stanford Storytelling Project
The Stanford Storytelling Project is an arts program at Stanford University that explores how we live in and through stories and how we can use them to change our lives. Our mission is to promote the transformative nature of traditional and modern oral storytelling, from Lakota tales to Radiolab, and empower students to create and perform their own stories. The project sponsors courses, workshops, live events, and grants, along with its radio show State of the Human.
Stories to Save the Planet is a podcast about the stories behind climate change solutions. The United Nations have called climate change the challenge of our generation. A growing body of environmental storytelling is bringing clarity to complicated climate conversations by casting a vision for a better future, and providing compelling, actionable climate change solutions.All work is produced by Stanford students, who learn the entire process of narrative podcast production in just 10 weeks, research a climate change challenge and solution of their choice, and work together to create a narrative episode. The class it taught by Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project.
A story of the rise of electric vehicles and their promise to make a more sustainable planet. Yet this promise has proven to be detrimental to the quality of life for the people in the Congo. Sustainability Paradox pulls back the curtain on the realities of the electric car industry, and the promising solutions that might offer real, meaningful change.Produced by Sydney Davis and Jana Gomri with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stories to Save Our Planet class, a part of the Stanford Storytelling Project.Asu Kulu - Undergraduate Congolese Student at Stanford, Anonymous Congolese Miners via Friends of the Congo https://friendsofthecongo.org/ Links to an external site.Link to References https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcK2hsyt8L_VyogsNTaPxsf5AgtizYzm1F9uJHLYzxM/edit?usp=sharing Links to an external site.All music by Blue Dot Sessions
In this episode, Nathan, Ana, and Nia explore the importance of sustainable food practices, and how alternative, truly healthy food practices are not necessarily the most commercially produced and advertised ones. The episode aims to broaden the horizon of viewing food practices in a context beyond just your own plate.This episode was produced by Nathan Elias, Ana Nguyen, and Nia Patton, with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet."Complete show notes at storytelling.stanford.edu.
Have you ever wondered how seemingly ordinary people are able to accomplish extraordinary feats? In this episode of Soul Searching, we explore this question and attempt to find the common threads between rowing across the Atlantic ocean, founding a start-up venture, and raising thousands of dollars for charity. Listen now to hear three amazing stories from some incredibly accomplished Stanford students, learn about their motivations, and difficulties, and glean transformational takeaways from their experiences.
Have you ever felt like an outsider in a new place, not sure how to act? In this podcast, we delve deep into how Hawai’i has changed over the past 2000 years as a result of different groups of outsiders, from the military to tourists to scientists. Along the way, we might just discover how we all can be better outsiders to wherever we may visit.
Have you ever felt like your cell phone is controlling your life, or that of someone you know? I’m sure you’ve asked yourself, “Why is it so addictive?” and then just scrolled once again. In this episode, dive into the new yet familiar world of TikTok as three Stanford students uncover the dangers of data collection, addiction, and algorithmic manipulation, shedding light on the impact of social media on privacy and mental well-being.
Sometimes you have to climb mountains to go on an adventure, other times the adventure is hidden right in front of you. Join us as we uncover a campus mystery in real time, one where the writing was on the walls the whole time. Are all of Stanford’s stories set in-stone?
When’s the last time you spent an entire day without looking at your to-do list? Chances are —never. If so, you’ve come to the right place. Come take a break from your productive routine and join us as we uncover the layers of productivity, one checkbox at a time. Hold onto your Google calendars, because after this episode, you might just want to throw that to-do list away and join us as we lie in the wood chips!
What can you expect from Sound Stories? The 2024 class weighs in.Taught by Laura Joyce Davis through the Stanford Storytelling Project, this hands-on, workshop-oriented course is designed to teach you the fundamentals of podcast storytelling. Class work will include pitching, interviewing, scriptwriting, narration, audio editing, and sound design. You’ll learn time-honored principles for strong storytelling in any medium, as well as strategies specific to storytelling in sound. Though we focus on audio stories, the craft skills you learn here are transferable to making stories for any medium, from print and performance to film and games. By the end of the course, you will have crafted both a narrative essay and a 10-minute podcast episode that entertains, challenges, and moves your audience. All fully produced student pieces will be published in the Stanford Storytelling Project Soundings podcast. Course info: https://shorturl.at/eLOR0
Each year, the Stanford Storytelling Project awards Braden Grants to support the research, writing, and production of audio documentaries. The aim of the program is to help students learn how to tell powerful, research-driven stories based on testimony they gather through interviews, research, or oral history archives. Grantees receive up to $2,500, along with teaching, training, and mentorship for the duration of the project.Here's what the 2023 Grantees had to say about their experience.
Each year, the Stanford Storytelling Project awards Braden Grants to support the research, writing, and production of audio documentaries. The aim of the program is to help students learn how to tell powerful, research-driven stories based on testimony they gather through interviews, research, or oral history archives. Grantees receive up to $2,500, along with teaching, training, and mentorship for the duration of the project. Here's what the 2023 Grantees had to say about their experience.
This episode explores the different futures made possible when you balance narratives of dispossession with narratives of joy--and how we see that manifest in Oaxaca's celebrations and the different ways that community members seek to make themselves visible.
Despite 13+ years of a fractured relationship between mother and daughter, this episode journeys through the past, present, and future, highlighting one unlikely solution that changed the trajectory of a family and its generations.
Kevi grew up surrounded by Filipino caregivers--many of whom had to leave their families in the Philippines to work in the US. As she starts to unpack the histories of the people who raised her, Kevi embarks on a journey of discovery that reveals the dark history of how the US caregiving industry became dependent on the separation of Filipina workers from their families.
In an effort to reconnect with her Cambodian identity, Marissa Mengheang explores the experiences of Cambodian genocide survivors, including her own grandparents. But her search for knowledge takes to her to an unexpected place.TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to genocide, murder, and human rights violations.
This intro episode of the Regeneration Pilgrimage series is about a journey of self discovery that took place in nature-based off grid communities in Portugal and Spain. This episode is an intimate, deeply personal story of the month long solo-pilgrimage that your host, Alice Grace, set out on in the Summer of 2023. This isher story of finding healing and the secrets to living in alignment with purpose to transcend the illusions of the modern capitalistic matrix.
“Back to the Garden” tells the story of an organic farming couple, Jose and Rich, who are committed to sustaining the environment and who also don't believe in climate change. This episode explores how that dissonance might be possible, the power of language, andwhether or not the term "climate change" will help save the planet.
In this story about connection outside the bounds of physical space, time, and life experience, an unlikely friendship buds during uncertain times.
n the midst of the pandemic, Neelay embarks on a cross country road trip to take a break from the stresses of life and to explore more of the country around him. However, as his excursion takeshim deep in the Midwest, he encounters protestors at Nebraska’s state capital that radically change his worldview. With a tight knit community right in front of him, fighting for their people back in their home country, he ponders the status of the Asian American community today and its presence across all parts of the nation.
DCI Discovered is the story of a corporate lawyer who found traditional success in her career, realized she wasn’t where she wanted to be, quit her job, and found an innovative program atStanford to help get her back on track.
E'Jazz Mason was a straight-A student from New Orleans when life threw him a curve ball he couldn't catch. This is a story is about adversity, breaking the rules, and finding your way.
In the spring of 2020, Stanford University made the decision to cut 11 of their varsity teams due to financial issues and lack of success. This episode follows the men’s wrestling team and their coaches in the months following the decision to cut their team as they navigate the challenges of fighting for their spot back.
Food insecurity and other environmental issues disproportionately impact low-income, disinvested neighborhoods, but urban agriculture has the potential to promote equity, green space, and food access in these areas. The story of the NYC-based urban agriculture initiative "the Green Bronx Machine," will show us how. This episode was written and produced by Sophia Manolis and Lisiane Nemlin with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes can be found at www.storytelling.stanford.edu.
Whether we want to believe it or not, we are inextricably bound to our food systems. Thousands of miles away from the continental US, the story in Guam ultimately teaches us how embracing traditional Indigenous values may heal our relationships with people, place, and power. Join us in unraveling the history of Guam's food Systems and learn how the island community came together to organize for food sovereignty. This episode was produced by Natasha Zia Charfauros and Lizbeth Luevano with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes can be found at www.storytelling.stanford.edu.
Have you ever considered the impacts that walking can have on our cities? In this episode, we explore the history of the car in America, its effects on urban design and community health, and learn from Brooklyn Open Streets activist Clara Smith and Professor Dehan Glanz how walkability can improve the health, street safety, and sustainability of American Cities.This episode was produced by Catherine Dickerman and Connie Hong with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes can be found at www.storytelling.stanford.edu.
With wildfires and rising sea-levels, climate change is terrifying to think about on a global scale. That’s why this episode takes it local, as we learn why we’re so disconnected from our local ecologies, what it means to reconnect with the seemingly invisible ecological web that ties our cities, cookies, and urban wildlife together. This episode was produced by Arusha Patil and Chloe Cheng with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes can be found at www.storytelling.stanford.edu.
We've been told to go vegetarian to help the climate, but what if we can reduce meat-related emissions without sacrificing our palates? In this episode, we learn about two cow feed supplements that inhibit methane, how they came to be, and how they are changing the role of agriculture in fighting climate change. Walk with us through the entire lifecycle of two impactful climate innovations, from problem discovery, to solution, to real-world product in farmers’ hands.This episode was produced by Allison John and Rachel Wu with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes can be found at www.storytelling.stanford.edu.
Agriculture, and especially cattle ranching, is a chief user of land and resources around the world, and frequently a choice is made to clear land and reduce biodiversity. What if it wasn't this way - what ifagriculture had the potential to produce food and heal the planet? This episode was produced by Alex Strong and Jett Carruth with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes can be found at www.storytelling.stanford.edu.
In this episode, Aadya and James explore the importance of insects and how we can bring them back with native plants.To find native plants:https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/PlantsThis episode was produced by Aadya Joshi and James Varah with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes can be found at www.storytelling.stanford.edu.
In just 10 weeks, Stanford students learn how to craft and create Broadcast-quality narrative podcast episodes from start to finish. The Winter 2023 class was taught by Stanford lecturer and managing editor Laura Joyce Davis, and includes stories that explore the benefits and pitfalls to our reliance on technology, the connection between language and culture, and what our bodies communicate about our ancestral and personal histories.
In just 10 weeks, Stanford students learn how to craft and create Broadcast-quality narrative podcast episodes from start to finish. The Winter 2023 class was taught by Stanford lecturer and managing editor Laura Joyce Davis, and includes stories that explore the benefits and pitfalls to our reliance on technology, the connection between language and culture, and what our bodies communicate about our ancestral and personal histories.
In just 10 weeks, Stanford students learn how to craft and create Broadcast-quality narrative podcast episodes from start to finish. The Winter 2023 class was taught by Stanford lecturer and managing editor Laura Joyce Davis, and includes stories that explore the benefits and pitfalls to our reliance on technology, the connection between language and culture, and what our bodies communicate about our ancestral and personal histories.
In just 10 weeks, Stanford students learn how to craft and create Broadcast-quality narrative podcast episodes from start to finish. The Winter 2023 class was taught by Stanford lecturer and managing editor Laura Joyce Davis, and includes stories that explore the benefits and pitfalls to our reliance on technology, the connection between language and culture, and what our bodies communicate about our ancestral and personal histories.
Little Tokyo is a small neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. Since 1905, it has been home to generations of Japanese Americans. Today, gentrification is threatening to destroy everything these families have built. This episode tells the story of one community's struggle for survival and the ways in which historical development has both fractured and solidified its people. For some, home is a bed one sleeps in. For us, home is Little Tokyo.
After months apart, a mother and daughter pick an unlikely reunion activity: a pilgrimage. Follow them as they take a journey up coastal Scotland and deepen their understanding of themselves and their relationship.
The town of Rhinelander Wisconsin has a curious obsession: the Hodag, a fearsome green beast that a lumberjack allegedly discovered there in 1893. Entranced by the legend, Isabella and Sam travel to Rhinelander to uncover what’s behind the Hodag— and to decide if they should believe, too. Music in this story is provided by Blue Dot Sessions (An Unknown Visitor, Vernouillet, Color Country, Darn that Weasel, Still Nite, Gamboler, and The Bus at Dawn) as well as Hodag Hunters by Ben Burnell and Andrew Egan. Sound provided by freesound.org.
This is the story of a mother fighting grief after the loss of her daughter, and navigating what it means to be Indigenous within a criminal justice system that tries to take away her voice. These are her words. To learn more about Skye, visit: https://justiceforskyejim.com/ and for resources on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women visit: https://theskyewomanproject.com/ .
Come on a journey to understand our fascination with sea monsters and what they inspire in humans. In particular, hear about the Icelandic Lagarfljótsormur, the water monster that sparked a 13 person commission of the Icelandic government to investigate its existence.
What does it mean to protest and are there ways to do so that bring creativity to the forefront along with the issues? Listen to how those who were on the front lines of the WTO protests in Seattle used puppetry to get their ideas and demands across to those in power.
A story about people experiencing homelessness and their path to reconnection with their loved ones. Listen to learn why no matter where you are and what your journey in life has been, you will always be someone’s somebody.
Every year, a small group of Stanford Students are awarded grants to complete audio stories under the teaching, training, and mentorship of the Stanford Storytelling Project. These are the stories that came out of that process from 2020 to 2021.
What are you supposed to do after a noose is found on your campus? Stanford’s answer to that question was, in part, to invite The Experience Sankofa Project, a living museum on black history to campus. This story details what the Project can teach us about racism, activism, and (maybe most importantly), community.
Producer: Adesuwa Agbonile
Featuring: Venus Morris, Dereca Blackmon, Mizan Alkebulan-Abakah, Sizwe Andrews-Abakah, Frank Omowale Satterwhite, Jeanette Smith-Laws, Persis Drell
Music: “Multiple Crystal Bowl Rhythm - Freesound.org - Geerose “All the Answers” - Lee Rosevere “It’s a Mystery” - Lee Rosevere “You’re Enough Version C” - Lee Rosevere
Producer: Sophie McNulty
In her late thirties, Lanie, Sophie’s mom, became a born again Christian. Christianity gave her life meaning and happiness. When Lanie found God, “All the heaviness was just lifted.” Sophie, an atheist, struggles to find purpose in her own life. In this story, Sophie sets out to determine if what saved her mother could save her, too.
Music: The Healing (Sergey Cheremisinov) Precisamos de um plano (rui) Valantis (Blue Dot Sessions) Waves (Pictures of the Floating World) Multiverse (Ketsa) Postcards mastered
Producer: Daniel Helena Alexander
In the summer of 2019, I fly to Israel with a single goal in mind. I want to play a song. But not just any song. I want to play a Klezmer song. This podcast follows my journey meeting Jewish musicians and dealing with family tragedy to compose a personal song. “Music doesn’t lie.” You'll agree when you hear how beautiful, haunting, and inspiring Klezmer music can be.
Music: “Miter Der Lerrer” by Di Gasn Trio “Schwartz Doina and Al’s Dances” by Daniel Hoffman “San Diego” by Blink-182 “Bagopolier Freylekhs” by Klezmer Israel “Hora de Concert” by Emil Aybinder “In Your Arms” by Forestt “Music for Bows and Feet” by Daniel Hoffman “Festival Excerpts” by HaBalkania “Hora Mittsibeles” by Alicia Svigels “Excerpts” by HaBalkania “Niggun” by Gal Klein
Producer: Ethan Lo
What’s the point of all of this? It’s a question we've all asked ourselves. For child-refugees who’ve come to America (and their descendants), attempting to answer this question is inevitably tied with wondering why fate, God, or whatever higher power they believe in has given them opportunities that those who came before them did not have.If you’ve ever asked yourself what it is that you need to be doing in life, this story is for you. You don’t have to come from a refugee background to relate. It’s simply the story of a young man who’s beginning to seriously question his lot in life, intertwining it with his family background, and coming to terms with the nature of it all. By exploring the three lives of a now-reintegrated middle-aged man who was sentenced to prison at 15, a college student who once couldn’t dream, and a high school student balancing what she owes to her mother and to herself; Ethan hopes to answer one question: what am I here for, if anything?
Featured voices: Ethan Lo, Choy, Paw, Neesha
Music: Opening Credits, Johnny Ripper Rain, Aaron Ximm Night Caves, Lee Rosevere Ominous Beat, Setuniman freesound.org/people/Setuniman/ Harmonious Ending, Setuniman freesound.org/people/Setuniman/
Producer: Elena Press
In the summer of 2019, I took off on a cross-country road trip to discover my father’s mysterious hippie past. Though I grew up with a dad who worked as an accounting professor, all throughout my childhood I heard stories of my dad building log cabins in Washington Woodlands, running a granola coop and my half-sister born on the kitchen table. Join me as I travel across time and space to uncover the truth of it all and learn from “the reality teacher.”
Music: Unthunk Monplaisir An Eagle in Your Mind Les Hayden Lobo Loco Kathleen Martin Mutherpluckin Silicon Transmitter Latch Swing
Producer: Mylan Gray
When you feel at home thousands of miles away from your birthplace, what choice do you have but to return? I take a return trip to the Festival of the Rosary—an African syncretic festival in the southeast of Brazil. In returning, I learned African diasporic peoples might be connected by more than just African ancestry. Marked by cultural loss from the middle passage, this festival births a culture of its own. Its songs and rituals speak to the suffering of slavery and embrace a remembrance of forgotten homelands. As a black person from the United States, being in the presence of this grieving made room for something else to take root.
Featuring: Ana Luzia Da Silva Padre Jailson Rainha Cleusa Dayonna Tucker Ramona Greene Cameron Woods
Music: Original music from the Festival of the Rosary Blear Moon Brevyn Kai Engel Zion Dirty Sound Ikebe Shakedown
Producer: Hannah Scott
I grew up in the sprawl of Los Angeles. I grew up on garage shows, Whiskey-A-Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard, classmates rapping on SoundCloud, my mom driving me an hour and a half to a venue in Orange County. My experiences with DIY music communities have been among the most important aspects of my life; yet, the deeper I get into this world, the more I hear people tell me that I missed out on “the glory days.” In this story, I travel to Asheville, North Carolina to prove that DIY is, in fact, not dead, but that young people today are making the subculture more accessible and creative.
Featuring: Mark Hosler Emma Hutchens Davaion “Spaceman Jones” Bristol
Music: Scott Shoemaker, the Well Drinkers (live at the Grey Eagle) alright lover: “II”, “divorced father son all stars”, “furukawa” Ulises Lima: “Mark 1” Richard Jonas: “hhhaaarrrdddcccooorrreee” Pudge: “Sweetheart” Negativland: “Destroying Anything” Spaceman Jones and the Motherships: “My City Has Lights” “Around the Cliffs” Slugly: “Poison” (live at the Mothlight) Dude Babe (live at Fleetwoods)
Special Thanks: David McConville Alice Sebrell Andrea Burns Debevoise Teresa Clark Fred Turner
Producer: Julie Fukunaga
What does it mean to (be queer) and come of age on the internet?
In the past ten years, the queer games movement has exploded. Around the world, more and more people feel like they can make free and simple and strange games - ones that speak to queer stories and experiences. But it wasn’t always this easy.
Some queer gamers used the earliest, clunkiest internet to find each other in crisis, to find friends, community, and a lifeline support in a time when no one was paying attention. Follow the journeys of queer gamers as they reflect on their earliest experiences online - experiences of freedom and discomfort, of community and isolation. They’ve since become architects of the internet, contributing to online communities as media scholars and game developers, but for these queer gamers, it all started way back.
Featured voice (subjects names if they want to share): Pedro Gallardo (he/him), Teddy Pozo (they/them), Kat Brewster (they/she)
Au Clair de Lune (Sunhiilow) Sad Day Slow Game Music (HeatleyBros) PlaymateX, In My Head (Podington Bear) Flight of Lulu (Possimiste) Notice the Absence of You is Here (Monplaisir) You Can Calmly Put This Thing Together (Junior85) Opening Credits (JohnnyRipper) Route 3 (Mikel (Game Chops)) Various themes from Animal Crossing
Judy, a Bay Area native, advocates for the release and fair treatment of inmates. But how did that come to be? In this episode, gain insight into Judy, life behind bars, and how a children's’ television show can inspire investigation.
Stories of people waiting at the San Mateo County Jail. Waiting to go home, waiting to visit a loved one, and waiting to learn what their future holds.
On February 13, 2019 the famed rover Opportunity, which explored the Martian surface for 14 years, was declared dead. But what does it mean for Opportunity to have died? There’s something in its name that induces both grief and inspiration. In fact, there something similar that happens with all names.
El Camino Real is a California icon, but its history is often confused with the one the auto industry used to sell cars in the early 1900s. What really happened on this historic street?
100 billion servings of instant noodles are sold every year. What does their journey across the world tell us?
If a river could talk, who’s story would it tell? Running 51 miles through one of the most urbanized landscapes in the world, the Los Angeles River is overflowing with a rich history, a complex present, and a contested future. Travel down its concrete banks with producer Cameron Tenner, as he uncovers a story of power, exploitation, and resilience. Special thanks to Catherine Gudis, Robert García, Irma Muñoz, Steven Appleton, Johanna Hackett, and all those who spoke with and guided me along the way. Music: Memory Wind by Podington Bear, Los Angeles New Years by Woody Guthrie
I would have been born here, had my parents never left this town for the U.S. In my journey, I retrace my steps back to Malinaltenango, Mexico, the land my parents have always called home and a land I have never really known on my own. During my time here, I struggle with ideas of identity, belonging, family, and trauma. I re-open wounds that have long been sealed to make sense of my life in relation to my grandmothers. “It’s a part of my history that I never like to think about, because it makes me sad, or maybe guilty for being born when I was and where I was. Or maybe I don’t think about it because it makes me fear loneliness. Because what if they pain of loneliness is just as transferable as their love?”
Producer: Andrea Flores
Description: In Hue, Vietnam, bullet holes and bunkers are constant reminders of the stories no one mentions. In New York, a daughter tries to understand how the war in Vietnam has shaped her father’s life and hers. In both worlds, however, “History is politics” and silence is the rule. But what happens when we start asking about memory, not History?
Producer: Axelle Marcantetti
Besher grew up in Syria till the war forced him, and his family, to flee. This non-narrated portrait follows his journey from Aleppo to California and finally to Stanford Medical School. Produced as part of MED 232 Global Health course (2018)
Producer: Besher Ashouri (and Jake warga)
Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/seier/1477997213
Hurricane Maria revealed a dependency on the government but there was one community that used it as an opportunity to claim their independence. “There was no government here. And we couldn't wait for the government. We couldn't wait for anyone.” In this story I visit of the community of Mariana that has tried to separate themselves from the government.
Producer: Gabriela Nagle Alverio
Music: Puerto Rico from Pastel Beach by Englewood, Elementary wave by Erokia, Night Cave by Lee Rosevere.
What does a war taste like? Tracing the history of U.S. military combat ration in Korea, the podcast tells the Koreans’ bittersweet encounters with America.
Producer: Won-Gi Jung
Music: “Submerging Blue-Black” by Podington Bear, in Fathomless-Ambient “Memory Wind” by Podington Bear, in Fathomless-Ambient
Octavius Catto, a 19th century activist, stands in bronze as the first statue of a black man on Philadelphia public property. And he’s coming back to life in other ways--on a giant mural, and in the art and social justice scenes of the city. What would this statue of an activist from history say to the activists surrounding it now...why is he back, and what’s he trying to tell us? Produced in memory of Willis “Nomo” Humphrey.
Producer: Melina Walling
Featuring: Melina Walling, Keir Johnston, Shakirah, Eddy, Kim McCleary, Branly Cadet, Dejay Duckett, Paul Farber
Music: sonder, johnny_ripper, epilogue; Everybody Wants Gold and a Mermaid, Tony Higgins, Ray-A Life Underwater; You Can Calmly Put This Thing Together (Piece by Piece), junior85, Upside Down, Left to Right; Flight, Nctrnm, EQUINOX
If sound matters, why? I am not alone in fearing blindness, because we live in a world of visuals. Whether I am reading a book, following street signs, or hopping on a train, I can’t imagine navigating a world without my eyes. I tune out the cacophony of cars, squeaks, barks, and pedestrian crossings on a daily basis. In privileging sight, what am I missing in sound?
“When you close your eyes you begin to feel your body. You become aware of your non-visual abilities,” said Thomas Tajo, a blind echolocator. I speak with human echolocators, eye researchers, and music professors to discover just how much sound has to offer. Close your eyes. Tune in, and listen to what is revealed.
Producer: Chloe Barreau
Music: Veni Creator Spiritus by John Dunstable (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dYAEpf-A-A) Lost and Found by Podington Bear Three Colors by Podington Bear
You’re six years old. Child protective services removed you from the only life you’ve ever known and placed you in state custody, into the foster care system.
Producer: Rachel Vaughan
Music: Junior85 - You can calmly put this thing together Lee Rosevere - And So Then Podington Bear - Daydreamer
Coursework from students in "Your American Life" Oralcomm 130 Winter18. Storytelling.stanford.edu
Course work from students in "Your American Life" Oralcomm 130 Winter18. Storytelling.stanford.edu
Coursework from students in "Your American Life" Oralcomm 130 Winter18. Storytelling.stanford.edu
Coursework from students in "Your American Life" Oralcomm 130 Winter18. Storytelling.stanford.edu
Coursework from students in "Your American Life" Oralcomm 130 Winter18. Storytelling.stanford.edu
Coursework from students in "Your American Life" Oralcomm 130 Winter18. Storytelling.stanford.edu
Claudia Heymach, Megan Calfas, Isaac Goldstein Individual stories here: https://soundcloud.com/stanfordsoundings/sets/braden-grant-stories-2017
Producer: Katie Lan
Some people pray to gods, but other people pray to ghosts. In this story, Katie Lan explores the temples and folk religion in Taiwan, where her parents and the rest of her family is from. Here, she explores ghost temples and even learns to pray to a dog?
Music: 晶晶 1969 鄧麗君 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI0lHGnKtSI
How does one build a new home after losing all of one’s family? A son interviews his mother, a Cambodian refugee and genocide survivor, about her experience resettling in the U.S. He learns how her past has shaped his life.
Producer: Bunnard Phan
Featuring: Nickie Phan, Bunnard Phan,
Music: Khnom Min Sok Chet Te by Pan Ron Chnam oun Dop-Pram Muy by Ros Sereysothea Orchestral version of “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers performed at The (Military) Music Show of Nations 2002 Bremen, Germany (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejm3Q5ZKr28)
Producer: Nya Hughes
From the rhyming styles of breakbeat poets and Bronx backyard jams of the 1980s, hip-hop sprang forth from the heart of urban black culture to give voice to the silenced narratives of black communities. The rhythm of resistance. Uncontainable, the sound waves traveled much farther than the national border. In the 1990s, young Cubans living in the barrio of Alamar resonated with the rhythms and attitude in the music and adopted the art form as their own. Moving through this rich oral history and into the present, we will hear the way hip-hop brought these two cultures together in a perfect storm.
Thank you to Luna Gallegos, Laura Cantana, Rolando Almirante, Dr. Cecil Brown, Jeff Chang, “The Wizard”/ “El Brujo,” Yulier, La Rafa El Individuo, and Alejandra Zamora for your honesty and warmth throughout the interview process.
Music: The Message – Grandmaster Flash Get By – Talib Kweli Latino & Proud – DJ Raff Tengo – Hermanos De Causa Mi Raza - El Individuo 1981 SPECIAL REPORT: “SOUTH BRONX” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLSDY8jPRds) The Bronx in The 1980's PART 1 (Original) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgUsEVwXch0) CHUPI CHUPI – Osmani Garcia
Photo by Nya Hughes
Explore the ties between language and identity in South Africa with two women who see Afrikaans as the language of reconciliation.
Two women in South Africa are currently challenging the assumption that Afrikaans is solely the language of the oppressor. One is a poet. The other runs a community radio station. Through a retelling of the true history of the language and the people who created the language, words arise that begin to break down the ties between language and identity over 20 years post-apartheid: “you can’t blame a language for what a group of people did with it.” Producer: Isaac Goldstein Music: The last offering, Sunhiilow No sudden movements, Rui Magic Torquoise, Sunhiilow Butterfly Lullaby, Possimiste
In Abra, a province of the northern Philippines, members of several indigenous communities - collectively called the Tinggian - are fighting to protect their histories. Listen to the stories of an elder charged with upholding a centuries-old peace pact; a pastor whose ancestors fought as revolutionaries; a mayor who evaded assassination to build a school in his hometown; and a weaver who’s made it her mission to revive a tradition of ritual and weaving.
Producer: Ethan Chua
Featuring: Elder Bansilan Sawadan Elder Johnny Guinaban Pastor Ruben Elder Norma Mina
With thanks to: Ate Minda Guinaban Raffy Tejero The Center for Community Transformation (CCT) My parents, Ronald and Anabelle Chua
Music Podington Bear
Producer: Alyssa Vann Description: This podcast explores the burgeoning natural hair movement in the Dominican Republic, where the vast majority of women prefer to straighten their hair. In doing so, it explores the intersections of race, gender, and history in the country’s capital.
Music: All music recorded in the plaza in the Colonial District of Santo Domingo, or in salons.
As indigenous people from Mexico migrate to California, their languages and cultures are threatened. One indigenous trilingual rapper based in Fresno is fighting back.
“We are taught that we're not valuable, we are taught that we have no history, we are ignorant, we don’t have richness of culture…. I’m trying to turn everything around.”
Miguel Villegas Ventura came to the US at age 7 speaking only Mixteco, an indigenous language spoken by the Ñuu Savi nation in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla. He came of age in Fresno, California, amidst poverty, bullying and the constant pressure to hide his roots.
But when Miguel learned the history of Una Isu, a 12th century Mixteco warrior, everything changed.
Today Miguel demands respect and dignity through trilingual hip hop. Like Una Isu, he seeks to unite indigenous Mexicans who have found a new home in the United States.
Producer: Jackie Botts
Featuring voices of Miguel Villegas, Leoncio Vasquez and Irma Luna
Music: “Mixteco es un Lenguaje” by Una Isu “Intro [Prod. Esteban]” by Una Isu “Quisieron [Prod. Esteban]” by Una Isu “Se que avanzare (Con Mixteko) [Prod. Starbeats]” by Una Isu “Soñadores [Prod. Fenix]” by Una Isu “Cinco años (Con Mixteko) [Prod. Guerrero]” by Una Isu “Asi quiero sanar [Prod. N3w Lment]” by Una Isu “Pop Song” by Johnny Ripper “Lamentos en Aula Remix” by Toiletrolltube “If You Should Lose Me” by Lil Rob “Summer Nights” by Lil Rob
Una Isu complete music at https://soundcloud.com/miguel-villegas-29
Producer: Megan Calfas After delivering one child, the Head Nurse Nassara turns around, changes her gloves, and delivers another. In Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Zanzibar, 30-50 babies are born a day. Often, in the maternity ward, there are only 3-4 nurses working at a time. As the largest public hospital in Zanzibar, Mnazi Mmoja faces the island’s high rate of maternal mortality head on, yet, the root of the problem is hard to uncover--it’s tangled up in a much larger system. This piece would not be possible without the Program in Global Health Technologies at Boston University led by Dr. Zaman, the Stanford Storytelling Project, and the kindness of everyone at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital. Music: Rui -- “Caress me to Sleep”, “Selbstheilend”, “No sudden movements”, Johnny Ripper --”Nicolas”, Orbique-- “Simple”, Cuban Cowboys-- “Outro”
Sandbranch is a community outside of Dallas that hasn’t had running water or well water for decades, but the residents refuse to leave. Founded by former slaves, it used to be a thriving town of over 500 people. In the 1980s, its wells were contaminated. The residents have been fighting for running water ever since. Now, led by a pastor, an environmental lawyer, and past and present residents of the community, Sandbranch is on the brink of change. Producer: Claudia Heymach featuring: Eugene Keahey, Mary Nash, John Wiley Price, Mark McPherson, Ivory Hall, Chess Jones, and the choir of Mt Zion baptist church. Special Thanks: Carol Francois, Clay Jenkins, Edward Shore, the residents of Sandbranch, Catherine Girardeau, Jackson Roach, and Jake Warga.
Music: Music used (Title(s), Artist, Album. Include links and permissions) From freesound.org: Slow Sad Tones by TJ Mothy https://freesound.org/people/TJ%20Mothy/sounds/92734/ Wind Howl 2 by swiftoid https://freesound.org/people/swiftoid/sounds/117610/
A touching and honest non-narrated produced portrait of one of the first people to be detained at JFK under the initial Trump travel ban order. Stanford PhD student traveling from Sudan: Nisrin Abdelrahman
Aired on: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/the-doc-project/segment/13703580 https://www.radioproject.org/2017/09/arrival-trumps-travel-refugee-ban/ http://kalw.org/post/stanford-grad-student-was-one-first-trump-travel-ban-detainees#stream/0
“80s interlude” (Album: Or Up We Fall), by Fanas “Theme 4”, “Sleep”, “Intermission” & “In a Dream” (soundtrack for a film that doesn't exist), by Johnny Ripper “Data” (don't), by Johnny Ripper
Final Script - Matt Klein
START
Its been pretty active with home burglaries and stuff like that - so we are going to do some supression, make contacts, stuff like that - do some traffic enforcement - {pause} see what happens
Eddie’s an officer with the menlo park police department- We start the day by going to a recent hotspot for crime. We park and idle in a shady spot near an intersection and eddie begins to size up each car that drives by. He’s looking for suspicious vehicles and probable cause to pull them over.
We pull over a chevy impala for having excessively tinted windows. Eddie tells me to stay in the cruiser so I watch him slowly approach the car- he waves and smiles at the grandma in the back seat, talks to the driver of the car for a couple of minutes-
Suddenly he runs back to the cruiser, jumps in and we zoom off
Eddie had seen a suspicious SUV fly by us with tinted windows and no license plates, so he gave the first vehicle a warning, and we chase after the SUV
We pull them over, but It turns out that they had just hadn't put their license plates on, so eddie gives them a warning and we head back out on the road
I've worked at menlo park since 2013 - i was a community service officer first - then the position opened up for a police officer - went through the academy - and i've been on patrol as a menlo park police officer for almost two years now
Eddie’s a young cop, but his instincts and reactions are quick and almost veteran like. I asked him how they trained him for that and he said they didn't. His training officer just threw him into it.
Alright you want to swim? Okay no lessons you are going straight into the water. And you kind of learn that way.
Intro Hook: Cascade of 911 What’s Your Emergency sound bites. If you ever call 911, you’re probably in a bit of a panic, and don’t really care who answers as long as they answer quickly
Ambient noise from police HQ Menlo Park Police this is John. (1. 05:00) When a call comes in, John answers.
My name is John Murphy. I work for the Menlo Park Police Department. I am a dispatcher here. I have been in this field for 28 years. (1. 00:00) Ambient noise from Police HQ.
Act I: Spring Romantic ideal Call comes in: Language/Stress
Music/Hum of John and Office. He takes the call. If necessary, he uses a 10-code language to dispatch patrolman. I have no idea what’s going on, but John explains, There is a whole 10 code 11 code. He said 1186 means he is making a traffic stop in the 800 block of Sharron Park Drive. She recorded the location and told him to go to the licence plate. That is what he did and he gave a color of the vehicle he stopped. That officer just said I’m 10-8 I’ll be in route to Robert 50. 10-8 means I am done with what I’m doing and he is going to the other officer to help out. (1. 03:00) Even when John’s not on a call, he is always “on”. His shift is always one call away from someone’s crisis. You just don’t know what’s going to happen next. (2. 29.18)
Jennifer Manry Final Podcast Transcript By: Hannah Nguyen and Lea Zawada
[Typing on keyboards, faint radio chatter, the phone rings.]
JM: 911 emergency. I grew up in a law enforcement family. I was running around the police department since I was born.
[Cue Music]
[Narration:] Jennifer Manry is a dispatcher at the Menlo Park Police Department. She’s just celebrated her 28th birthday. She’s wearing the blue polo of the MPPD and on one of the many screens is a photo of her pug, wearing the same uniform. She grew up listening to exciting stories of cop life.
JM: My dad was a sergeant for 30 years and he was at redwood city police department. They would tell me stories as i got older.
[Narration:] Like the time he was in a shootout.
JM: The guy was pointing a gun at his pregnant girlfriend and he had my dad on the ground and my dad just took a chance and shot the guy. The only thing he brought home with him was if he had a stressful day you could always tell. He was a little bit quieter he was a little bit more short. But I only know that now because I have days like that too.
[Narration:] It felt natural for Manry to work in law enforcement. She was proud of the work her dad did, putting away bad guys.
JM: My dad loved his dispatchers and he appreciated them very much. So was like yah you know talk to a couple of them you know I would do little sit alongs. I remember the first day that I did my first sit along that was something where I was like this is fricken awesome. So after that I just kept doing little sit alongs and I’m like yep that’s what I wanna do.
[Narration:] She found a job that excited her. It was stressful at first, especially when she was on her own for the first time.
“Mike” LifeMoves by Crystal Escolero
[Introduction]
Hi my name’s Mike. Grew up in Santa Clara. Good neighborhood. Decent anyway. Not rich. Not exactly poor. Depends who you ask.
I went straight to work, in a machine shop. That’s when IBM used to give all their jobs to all the little teeny companies in the bay area. So, I had a great job for six months. Next thing I know everyone got laid off and everybody was out of work.
So, then getting a job after that was...you know, I just turned 18. When you turn 18, it’s like “Oh you’re not trying hard enough. Get a job you bum.” And there were no jobs to get. All you can do is find little part time jobs. So, you never make a dime to do anything. Except feed yourself, buy your cigarettes, and drink your beer.
I just got stuck in that realm...
Title: The Unthinkable Brink (working title) Elisabeth Dee & Tyler Brooks
Kim: I would say keep your head down. I would say be careful. I would say that self-preservation is your upmost responsibility because until you can come out in a safe and open and caring environment, the system that you’re growing up in is designed to destroy you. So you may have to keep your head down. And it may be the thing that drives you to the brink. The unthinkable brink.
Elisabeth #1: I’ve known Kimberly for eight years. She taught photography at my high school, right outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. There was something about her I was drawn to. I felt like she saw things in me I didn’t know where there. When she came out as intersex and transgender, I realized why we had been pulled into each other’s orbits: we were both outsiders. We were both Mormon and queer and struggling.
Anchor #1: We regard same sex marriage as a particularly grievous or significant serious kind of sin that requires church discipline.
Anchor #2: Well the number one killer of Utah’s kids is suicide according to new numbers from the state health department. And there’s no definitive reason for this abrupt rise in suicide among Utah youth but there are many pointing to Utah’s religious culture.
Tyler Glenn: Please don’t let this be a summer of more gay suicides, please make a space for your gay members, please tell them they are okay and they are made in the image of god.
Summer is Missouri means humid air, fresh blackberries and lazy rivers. With my grandfather's 1971 river log in hand, I'm headed back to the Gasconade River in southern Missouri to recreate a portion of one of his long canoe trips. Can the river teach me things about my family’s Missouri heritage? By exploring the river, its history, and my grandfather's connection to it, I endeavor to better understand myself.
Featuring: Maria Doerr, Cyrille Jourdain, Christine Doerr, Karen Doerr Hiatt, John Bradbury Producer: Maria Doerr Special Thanks: Claire Schoen
Music: “Down in the River to Pray” Jean Banwarth, 2016 “Ebeneezer” Black Twig Pickers, 2012 “Aces and Twos” The Devil Makes Three, 2009 “Thought Soup” Doctor Turtle, 2016 “King of the Road” Roger Miller “Mid Day Blues” Tate Peterson, 2015
Two years after the death of one of Canada’s most beloved slam poets, Zaccheus Jackson is remembered for the work he did in mentoring the next generation of poets, showing pride in his Indigenous heritage, and building a vibrant, creative community. A poet, an arts educator, an artist, and a friend offer their thoughts on his legacy, then and now, as a former mentee travels to the places that started it all.
Featuring: Zaccheus Jackson, Johnny Macrae, Marie Wustner, and Jillian Christmas
Producer: Eva Louise Grant (evagrant@stanford.edu)
Music: Dry Air - Poddington Bear Recorded samples of music (with artist's permission) Original compositions Grandfather Song - Mob Bounce Peace Era - Mob Bounce
A story about professionals in various fields involved in end-of-life caregiving. As a premedical student, I explored their experiences, both negative and positive, for the purposes of finding purpose and direction through my pre-professional journey (and in life).
Featuring: Torrey Simons, MD, Joshua Fronk, MD, Jo Darius, Heather Shaw, NP, Vilma Buck, Colleen Vega, NP, Lynn Hutton, LCSW, Carol Stasio, LCSW, David Magnus, Ph.D Producer(s): Lauren Joseph, storytelling.stanford.edu Music: FreeSound.org, Podington Bear Production date: Dec. 12, 2016
Mao Zedong’s 1950s China was the world’s bicycle production capital. In the 90’s, when the economy opened up, bicycle manufacturing was commoditized and anyone could start a bicycle factory, right in their backyards. We immerse ourselves in the rural town of Wangqingtuo, one of the towns that transformed itself from a backwater agricultural village, to a bustling center of bicycle production. What did bicycles do for this town, and the people in it? Listen on for a tale of their hustle, of inspired imitation, and how bikes changed the lives of the people in this town.
Featuring:
Chinese: Yu Heyong, Cao Jianqin, Liu Xinnian, Zhu Shaobo Voiceover: Jay Huang, Jake Warga, Dennis Chang, Mike D’Andreas, Rachel Ren, Albert Chen, Jackson Roach, Daniel Hu, Claire Schoen
Producer(s): Gloria Chua, Alice Fang
Music:
● "百花魁~綠萼梅" by 史志有, 楊秀蘭 & 歐陽謙 (YouTube), Standard YouTube License, link here ● "Destiny Day" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ● "Odyssey" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ● "Thinking Music" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ● “Fringe” Topher Mohr and Alex Elena (YouTube Free Music), No attribution required
Image: Man riding a bicycle, Photo by Alice Fang, Link here
Production date: Dec 12, 2016
Jim Yount is chief operating officer of the American Cryonics Society. Produced by: Nicole Bennett-Fite
Iceland’s Concealed Conservationists is about the elf population in Iceland and how Icelanders’ tradition of hidden creatures living in the landscape encourages a deep respect for nature and a sense of responsibility to preserve the wilderness which is an essential part of Iceland’s culture and identity. But over the past few years the numbers of tourists travelling to Iceland has increased drastically as people from other countries seek these rare and dramatic locations and so Iceland’s untouched wilderness is at risk of losing its essential character. This story is about the landscape of Iceland and the magic and life that it holds, and Icelanders’ efforts to ensure that it is not lost.
Produced by: Michaela Elias Featuring: Michaela Elias, Steinar Kaldal, Olof Yrr Atladottir, Oddur Sturluson, Ragga Jonsdottir, Terry Gunnel, Gudmundur Ögmundarson
Producer(s): Michaela Elias, storytelling.stanford.edu Music: Two Stragers, Rachel Mason, Live at WFMU on Scoot Williams show Song Four, Bridget St John—Live at WFMU’s Monty Hall Calendula, Ava Zandieh, Patterns and Drones Henfight, Itasca, Live at WFMU on The Avant Ghetto with Jeff Conklin Open your eyes, Jarkko Hietanen
Iceland’s Concealed Conservationists is about the elf population in Iceland and how Icelanders’ tradition of hidden creatures living in the landscape encourages a deep respect for nature and a sense of responsibility to preserve the wilderness which is an essential part of Iceland’s culture and identity. But over the past few years the numbers of tourists travelling to Iceland has increased drastically as people from other countries seek these rare and dramatic locations and so Iceland’s untouched wilderness is at risk of losing its essential character. This story is about the landscape of Iceland and the magic and life that it holds, and Icelanders’ efforts to ensure that it is not lost.
Produced by: Michaela Elias Featuring: Michaela Elias, Steinar Kaldal, Olof Yrr Atladottir, Oddur Sturluson, Ragga Jonsdottir, Terry Gunnel, Gudmundur Ögmundarson
Producer(s): Michaela Elias, storytelling.stanford.edu Music: Two Stragers, Rachel Mason, Live at WFMU on Scoot Williams show Song Four, Bridget St John—Live at WFMU’s Monty Hall Calendula, Ava Zandieh, Patterns and Drones Henfight, Itasca, Live at WFMU on The Avant Ghetto with Jeff Conklin Open your eyes, Jarkko Hietanen
A body, a feeling, or an object—it’s possible to bury nearly anything. Sometimes, we bury because we want to forget. Other times, we want to remember. In this episode, we consider what it means to bury--and what happens when we fail.
"Burying" from State of the Human: https://soundcloud.com/stateofthehuman/sets/burying
After I retired I thought… what do I do next?” We all the know the rags to riches story of immigration and the American dream – but what happens next? The East and West have clashing views of what it means to age, and each person has to define for themselves what it means to grow old in a country that’s not their own. This piece tells the stories of immigrants learning to grow old in America, and how they have found their homes in each other during that process.
Produced by: Annabel Chen Featuring: Tei Decus, Ann Jordan, Nori Kobayakawa, Jean Yih, Gwen Yeo, Ousha Pancholi, Kusam Patel Music: Fragile, do not drop (Podington Bear, Tender); Gentle Chase (Podington Bear, Background), CSM (Podington Bear, Neoclassical), Triste (Podington Bear, Solo Instruments), Wilt (Podington Bear, Duets)
In the rural Himalayas healers called dhami have used local plants and mantras to treat the sick for thousands of years. However, westernized medicine is now coming into the area and rendering the traditional ways obsolete. The tension between between the two healing practices plays itself out in a surprising way.
Produced by: Christopher LeBoa
“It was a makeshift circle in the tent and someone suggested that we play spin the bottle…” What is it about a first kiss that makes it so interesting? Everyone has a story to tell even if it isn’t romantic or mint flavored. This week, the Stanford Storytelling Project asked you to tell us about your first kiss.
Featuring: Voices from Stanford University
Producers: Sienna White, Rachel Lam, Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, Claudia Heymach, Yue Li, Dustin Dienhart, Christine Chen, Eileen Williams, Alec Glassford, Hadley Reid, Kate Nelson, Jackson Roach, Tia Schwab, Max Pienkny, Claire Schoen, Andrea Lim, Rosie La Puma, Jack Alexander Herrera
Music: Pretty Build, Chrom, Lola, Whiplash Sting Swell, Podington Bear http://www.soundofpicture.com/download/
Image via flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynnfriedman/8859836877
“For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives.”- Audre Lorde
Featuring: Alfalfa Brown, Queens D. Light, Ericka Huggins, narrated by Natasha Mmonatau
Producer(s): Natasha Mmonatau and the Braden Storytelling Department (storytelling.stanford.edu)
A Neglected Story - Hatred in Yemen highlights the story of Shoshanna Shechter, a 30-year-old Jewish woman who escaped Yemen at age 14. She speaks of physical abuse, verbal abuse, rape, murder, and kidnapping against herself and all Jews in Yemen. More symbolically, she brings to light the reasoning as to why we never hear about this silent war against Jews occurring in Yemen – escapees fear that if they share their story, the Yemeni government will kill them. As a result, they flee the country, and never look back at their past again. This podcast aims to share this silent story, and to teach us that the anti-semitic war still exists today.
Narrated by Ariela Safira Producer(s): Ariela Safira and the Braden Storytelling Department (storytelling.stanford.edu)
In an isolated fishing village in Papua New Guinea, a linguist sets out to write the first dictionary of the Ende language. Not long after she begins, she finds that one word was more difficult to translate: mokwang, Ende’s word for love, which also means survival.
In this story, we’ll hear how Ende women define what it means to love in Limol, Papua New Guinea.
Featuring: Grace Maher, Lois Sadua (translator), Musato Giwo (translator), Joshua Dobola, Robai Reend, Donai Kurupel, Manaleato Kolea, Jenny Dobola, Pingam Uziag, Loni Garaiyi, Sandra Dikai, Merol Kwe, Wagiba Geser Writer: Kate L. Lindsey Producers: Kate L. Lindsey, with help from Claire Schoen Music: Women from Limol Image caption: Kate Lindsey listening to Limol women Image photographer: Grace Maher Production date: April 16th, 2016
Carolyn and Corina survived abuse, illness, addiction, crime, and prison. What ways have they found to successfully reintegrate into the world? This is a story of how we heal ourselves against the specters of our pasts. Featuring: Corina Shortall, Carolyn Crowley Producer: Chuong Phan, with help from Will Rogers
Image: Meltwater Via flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/meltwater/578304919/
What is Rondon? What does it mean to be Creole in Nicaragua? In a world that increasingly seems to strive for uniformity, afro-descendant Creole people on the eastern coast of Nicaragua seek to hold on to their unique culture through their food. Join us as we travel between the farm, the lagoon and the city to explore how Creole food is changing due to outside pressures.
"Why we appreciate Rondon, it is the strongest food in our gastronomy. And it comes from Africa. I have met many Africans and they cook rondon just like us. It’s a cultural thing. That makes me proud to be black. I'm proud of my Rondon." - Ms. Gay Sterling
Featuring: Connie Tinoko, Kenneth Fox, Edward (Daha) Fox, Gay Sterling Producer: Maria Doerr Music: Take Dis Five, Run-Down Orchestra Bluefield Sound System 2009 Zion-O, Run-Down Orchestra, Bluefield Sound System 2009
Braden Grant Recipient Reade Levinson travels to Mongolia in hopes of witnessing a practice known as sky burial, in which the bodies of the dead are prepared for the afterlife. But as Reade learns on her journey, in Mongolia the forces of urbanization, modernization and environmental change may be threatening this sacred ritual. “The scene would be not very nice, when you look at a dog running around with someone’s hand in his mouth.”
Featuring: Ganbat Namjilsangarav, Christine Murphy, Tsogbadrakh and Tuya Banzragch, and Dr. Keith Bildstein. Producer: Reade Levinson Special Thanks: Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, and Generation Anthropocene Music: All ambient recorded by Reade Levinson, sound effects downloaded from FreeSound. Image via thinkstockphotos: http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/image/stock-photo-mongolian-vultures-in-the-wild/469839700
Molly Antopol's debut story collection, The UnAmericans, won the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award and a "5 Under 35" Award from the National Book Foundation. It was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, the Barnes & Noble Discover Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and others. She's a Jones Lecturer in Stanford's Creative Writing Program.
http://storytelling.stanford.edu/index.php/off-the-page.html
A young man’s intuition guides him toward something in the woods.
Producers: Jackson Roach, Margaret Wenzlau, Rachel Hamburg image via wikimedia: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Cougar_track.jpg
It wasn’t until she grew up that Lisa realized the extent of her Uncle Howie’s eminence in odd circles. Was his influence in her life a blessing or a curse?
Producer: Mischa Shoni, assisted by Will Rogers Featuring: Lisa Medoff
Music: Candlegravity (Blowing Up Seaford) Ending Satellites (Ellyn’s Melody) Long Hair (Yeti) Podington Bear (Happiness Is, Operatives, Jack, Spring Solstice, Whiplash String Swell)
This piece explores traditional healing in Native Hawaiian culture, examining the relevance of ancient values and traditions in today's society. Nicole details her journey throughout the Hawaiian Islands, presenting stories from Native healers who share their experiences in seeking truth, wisdom, and health. These stories delve into fundamental issues such as identity, balance, and nature, while showing how cultural complexity can be rooted in simple universal truths.
Producer: Nicole Marie Rodriguez
Featuring: Dane Silva, Puahi Chun, Kawika, Helen
Special thanks: Stanford School of Earth Sciences, Prof. Peter Vitousek, Dr. Noa Lincoln, University of Hawaii, Waianae Coast Community Health Center
Image courtesy of Nicole Marie Rodriguez
In the past few decades, orphans in Africa have become defined by snapshots: snapshots of jutting ribs, ragged clothes, hopeless eyes. Those images have become the face of international charity work and have helped drive the idea that we should send resources to help. But there are things that can’t be captured in snapshots. In this story, Christine Chen travels to the West African country of Ghana, to talk with the people directly involved with orphan care there—the social workers, orphanage directors, families, and kids. There, she encounters narratives that put an unexpected twist on our understanding of orphanages—and push us to reconsider our assumptions about the children living inside them.
This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Christine Chen Featuring: Samuel Anaglate, Helena Obeng-Asamoah, Akosua Marfo, Emmanuel, Richmond, Hannah Special thanks to: Christy Hartman Sounds: Music: A Smile for Timbuctu, Chris Zabriskie, Lee Rosevere Image courtesy of Brandee Cooklin
What differentiates what is labeled as mental dysfunction—mania, psychosis, seizures—from what is magic, spirit, or simply … beyond the scientific method? Mischa Shoni embarks on a journey to understand her own brain. On the path, she meets dragons, gryphons, crystal-eyed snakes … and some extraordinary people who see the mind beyond the limited lens of psychiatry.
This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Mischa Shoni Featuring: Anusuya Starbear, Michelle Boyle Special thanks: Will Rogers Music: Man of Suit (Echos of Space, Fog Divided by 2, Quiet Mountaintop, Lost in the Forest, Trees of Mystery, Howling Wind, The Dancing Chairs, Wind Chimera, Redwoods & Skyscrapers) Image via Wikimedia
This story traces the origins of “We Shall Overcome” from the eighteenth century to the March on Washington, and to today. It focuses on the development of the song at the Highlander Folk School, a social justice center in Tennessee.
This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Beatrix Lockwood Featuring: Candie Carawan, Clayborne Carson, Pam McMichael Sounds: Martin Luther King, Workers in Selma, AL, March on Washington Music: Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, Charlie Haden & Hank Jones, The Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, Paul Robeson, Rev. Gary Davis, Azuza Oacific Gospel Choir, Zilphia Horton, Dave Van Ronk, Fats Waller, Elizabeth Cotten Image via Wikimedia
It's easy to look around and see signs of social fragmentation, so today's show takes a different approach and examines a few instances of people coming together: community. We explore an off-campus house that aimed to be an intentional community devoted to sustainability and find out where they failed and succeeded. We meet a community of Burning Man devotees who came together for a floating party on the Sacramento River Delta. Also we hear music made by a community of people who'd never met each other. Plus, the solution to the dirty dish dilemma.
Producers: Charlie Mintz, Rachel Hamburg, Matt Harnack Host: Charlie Mintz Featuring: Daniel Steinbock, Philip Narodick, Zuzanna Drozdz Music: Noah Burbank
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/201-community.html
Genetics promised us the book of life laid open. But even after the sequencing of the human genome, there's still a lot we don't know. How do people make choices based on the imperfect knowledge that genetic science provides? Today we look at a few examples of that. We hear a story about sperm donation and the perils of choosing your child's father out of a book. We hear a story about using genetics to make a decision about surgery. We walk into an MRI to investigate the genetic basis of personality. And a short story about cannibalistic vultures. Prepare for a show that will leave you doubled up in a helix of joy.
Producers: Charlie Mintz, Matt Larson, Laura Chao, Angela Castellanos, Leah Bakst Host: Charlie Mintz Featuring: Max McClure Music: Cults, Boomsnake, Mothlight
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/199-genetics.html
We throw all kinds of things away without really thinking about it. These five stories take a look at where our trash goes, the creative things that people do with it, and even question what it means to throw something away. First, a story about small-scale composting and the worms who do it. Next, a story about what to do with all your old scraps of fabric lying around. Third, how what's left in a city dump can provide inspiration for an art movement. Fourth, behind the scenes at an estate sale. And last, a short story about bringing a box of forgotten photographs back to life.
Producers: Hannah Krakauer, Lydia Santos, Killeen Hanson, Laura Chao, Rebecca Pfiffner, Matt Larson, Kasiana Mclenaghan Host: Hannah Krakauer
Music: Noah Burbank, Japandi, Nimbleweed, Kissing Johnny
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/189-trash.html
What happens when we put people on pedestals? And what happens when we take them off? Host Killeen Hanson interviews her father about his estranged father. Andrew Altschul exposes the ordinariness of rock-stars in an excerpt from his novel Lady Lazarus. Lee Konstantinou interviews Arnold Rampersad about his biography of Ralph Ellison; his question is not What kept Ellison from publishing anything after Invisible Man? but rather, How did this author climb onto that pedestal in the first place?
Producers: Killeen Hanson, Noah Burbank, Lee Konstantinou Host: Killeen Hanson Featuring: Brent Hanson, Andrew Altschul, Arnold Rampersad Music: Noah Burbank
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/195-episode-305-off-the-pedestal.html
Sometimes a simple question is all it takes to get someone telling a story. We begin this show by asking people to tell the story of their first kiss. Every story is the same. Every story is different. After that, changes of hearts and a deeper understanding of one's capacity to love. Then we have two glimpses into potential future realities, android love and a Valentinian Apocalypse. Have a great V Day.
Producers: Aaron Thayer, Eme Akpabio, Claire Woodard, Charlie Mintz, Will Rogers, and Jonah Willihnganz Host: Rachel Hamburg Featuring: Max McClure, Heidi Thorsen, and members of the Stanford community who told us their story in White Plaza. Music: Daniel Steinbock, Max McClure, Fleet Street, and a spontaneous mishmash of singers who were out serenading people on the Saturday night before this story aired, in February 2009.
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/349-valentines-3.html
Childhood is a funny thing, especially since that window we call adolescence keeps getting longer and longer. When do we stop being children, and when do we become adults? We bring you an hour of radio built from a creative writing Stanford class--stories of growing up, not growing up and the moments that stick with us the most.
Producer: Hannah Krakauer Host: Hannah Krakauer Featuring: Michelle Goldring, Lexie Spiranac, Sarah Grossman, Jeff Bauman, Chrystal Lee Music: Nataly Dawn
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/191-mollys-class.html
We're all talking about our relationship to food lately, thanks to everyone from Michael Pollan to Oprah (even Michael Pollan on Oprah). Fast food, slow food, smart food, food miles, food pyramids, food security. Yes, we're joining the fray, but turning the tables a bit to look at how food and food movements are a medium for forms of change—personal, social and otherwise—especially in the big city, where we so often rely on others for our food. We take the show to San Francisco, visiting the foggy gardens of the Sunset and the sunny fruit stands of the Mission, and even the rooftops in the Tenderloin. We talk to a new breed of urban farmer and we meet an earth scientist, a chef, a Salvadorian emigrant, a city rat, a country mouse, and a whole class of third graders. In our last segment we return to Stanford to find out how students are changing their own relationship to the their environment through our new favorite medium, food.
Producers: Natacha Ruck, Charlie Mintz Host: Natacha Ruck Featuring: Page Chamberlain, Susannah Poland, Caitlin Brown, Maya Donelson, Rebecca Alonzi, Tree, Suzi Palladino Music: Bibio, Alessandro Ricciarelli, Gerd Baumann, Ken Grobe
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/48-ep215.html
This is a tale of the other. Things are changing and the LGBTQ communities that were formerly exiled are now, slowly, being noticed and accepted by the mainstream--whether or not these communities give a hoot about "normal" acceptance. Just because we live in a more open-minded era for gays, gender-benders, and women alike (and there are many who would find this idea contentious) does not mean that the turbulent story of how drag got to the spotlight should be glossed over, nor the deeply transgressive nature of gender-bending forgotten.
Lest the contemporary “it-gets-better” ethos rewrite a subversive history forged outside the norm and by those who have always felt different, Brittany Newell have sought to record the oral history of 7 dazzling American queens and gender-artists working today. What is the trajectory from misfit to show-stopper, fringe to the spotlight, boy to beautiful woman or creature? Is drag the sparkling manifestation of an less-pretty past, the alchemy of the alienated? In documenting their experiences, inspirations, and struggles as The Other, she hopes to pay tribute to the art of transformation, as perfected to an almost mystical degree by these 7 artists, gender-rebels, and visionaries. This is a tale of the other, the queer, the blunt, and the brave. Their stories go against the grain and beyond the rainbow.
Producer: Brittany Newell
Featuring: Macy Rodman, Peaches Christ, Alexis Blair Penney, Heklina, Sissy Spastik, Mathu Andersen, & Cher Noble.
Special thanks: to all the beautiful people and amazing artists who made this possible! The Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, the Stanford Storytelling Project, Ziva Schatz, and Eric Eich
Image via Ziva Scatz (of drag queen Alaska Thunderf*ck)
This work was supported by the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative. More information about the Braden Grant here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Understanding someone who experiences the world differently than you can be hard. In fact, it can be downright scary.
In this piece, Austin Meyer, a senior from Stanford University, visits the Earle Baum Center for People With Vision Loss to tell his story of what it's like to navigate the intimidating space between two opposite ways of experiencing the world... one with vision and one without.
Producer: Austin Meyer
Featuring: Denise Vancil, Scott Murray, and Sharon Brown
Special thanks: Dan Needham and The Earle Baum Center
Image via flickr
For more information about the Braden Grant for Oral Narrative: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Rachel Kelley interviewed over two dozen activists, artists, and their friends as part of her effort to capture an oral history of Greenlands, an intentional community in Nashville, Tennessee. Their reflections ranged from the ethics of air conditioning to Occupy antics to the moral quandaries of gentrification. Here is a snapshot of Rachel's experience and some of the Greenlanders' stories.
Producer: Rachel Kelley
Featuring: Karl Meyer, DJ Hudson, Kate Savage, Tristan Call, Jena Robinson, Matt Christy, Keith Caldwell, Trevor Bradshaw, Megan Gilbreth, Rachel Kelley, and the Greenlands community
Special thanks: community members and friends of Nashville Greenlands, Charlie Mintz
Music links: "Bluegrass Banjo," "Insomnie", "Slide Cowboy," "Cerises," "Quasi Motion," "Hip-Hop 4," "La Toupie,” "Rae & Christian Remix dub 'Testify'," "We Shall Overcome,” Broke for Free
Image courtesy of Matt Christy
For more information about the Braden Grant for Oral Narrative: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
On February 22nd, 2002 a train carrying 58 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya was attacked by a group of Muslims, resulting in the death of all of its passengers. What followed was a series of violent, retaliatory attacks against Muslims in the state and the death of over 1,000 people.
In this piece, Stanford students Claire Colberg 14’ and Ravi Patel 13’ travel to Anand, India, to understand how these riots have affected Gujarat’s youth. Despite deep-rooted challenges, their conversations with both Hindu and Muslim students reveal the future vision of communal unity shared by Gujarat’s youth.
Producers: Claire Colberg and Ravi Patel
Featuring: The students of D.Z. Patel High School, D.N High School, the Hanifa School, and the Chaortar Institute of Technology - Changa.
Special Thanks: Andrew Todhunter, Kiran Patel, and all the students who shared their stories with us in Gujarat.
Image courtesy of Claire Colberg
For more information about the Braden Grant for Oral Narrative: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
There’s something special about theatrical improvisation. There’s a trust, a confidence, and a sense of risk that can help individuals grow and bring groups together. But what happens when you graduate and your source of improv (mainly, your college improv group) goes away?
In this piece, Mona Thompson, Stanford class of 2013, explores the concept of improvisation in the “real world.” Would it be possible to create a whole life centered around improv? And if so, would it be meaningful?
Producer: Mona Thompson
Featuring: William Hall, Dr. Nika Quirk, & Patricia Ryan Madson
Special Thanks: Charlie Mintz, John Lee, and everyone at Stanford Storytelling Project
Image via Flickr
For more information about the Braden Grant for Oral Narrative: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
What makes young Australians such eager globe-trotters? Aliza Gazek and Kelly Vicars swung on their packs and set off “down under” to find out. The travelers they met along the way shared stories of their adventures and offered surprising insight into Australia’s history as a nation, providing a trail of clues to why it’s so easy to find an Aussie backpacker in any hostel in the world.
Producers: Aliza Gazek and Kelly Vicars
Featuring: John Grant, Prashan Paramanathan, Ashley Carruthers, Theo Ell, Mel Ronca, Sandra Ronca, Aileen “Nan” Grant
Special Thanks: Andrew Todhunter and Jeanne Snider for their guidance, our generous Aussie hosts, and everyone else who shared their stories: Alex Dumbrell, Murray and Rosie Fisher, Robin Grant, and Paul Rowley.
Music: Rusted Root, Men at Work, Grizzly Bear, Norah Jones, Sydney Children's Choir, Slightly Stoopid, River Ran, Enya, Lucius
Image via flickr
For more information about the Braden Grant for Oral Narrative: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
A Mississippi county fair, the real deal on Sarah Palin, high school elections, campaign calls to grandparents, and what happens when one same-sex couple finds their fate tied to the opinions of an entire state. In this show we look at the small side of big politics, "smallitics," or how the national stage is truly made up small actors with big roles.
Host: Dan Hirsh Producers: Jonah Willihnganz, Clare Bennett, Charlie Mintz, Micah Cratty, Lee Konstantinou, and Dan Hirsch Featured: Bridget Whearty, Ronnie Musgrove, Jenna Reback, Allison Fink Music: Nimbleweed
Following a surprising decision by the California Supreme Court, one couple decides to put their reservations aside and use the ‘M’ word. At the time, they had no idea that this very personal decision could turn into a discussion for an entire state. Producer: Lee Konstantinou Featuring: Bridget Whearty image via flickr
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/137-episode-201.html
It's natural to want to be someone you're not. So why demonize the impostor? Today we have three stories of people who tried to pass themselves off as someone they weren't. First, a story about a degenerating mobster turned private investigator, with some very unorthodox ways of getting the job done. Then a story about a scientist who invented his data and got busted. Finally, a memoir about one woman's longing to have curly hair. Each one recalls an oh-so-typical journey of self-deception: after attempting to recreate themselves from the outside-in, they deal with the consequences.
Host: Charlie Mintz Producers: Charlie Mintz and Matt Larson Featured: Lawrence Klein, Tommy Wallach and Maria Hummel Music: Pascalle, George Pritzker and Andy Seymour
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/105-episode-202.html
When you live in a place, it's hard not to take it for granted. But in California that’s almost impossible -- the landscape is simply too striking to forget or ignore. Today’s show is about what happens when you attempt to really appreciate the place you call home. Two travelers spend five days retracing the historic and unmarked trail of the Buffalo Soldiers. Then a portrait of backcountry life in Yosemite. Finally, a poem about a wild tree with a universe inside it. And in this podcast, a supplemental interview between poet Peter Kline and Storytelling Poetry Editor, Elizabeth Bradfield.
Host: Bonnie Swift Producers: Justine Lai, Killeen Hanson, Liz Bradfield, Bonnie Swift Featuring: Shelton Johnson, Ward Eldridge, Peter Kline Music: Noah Burbank, Mt. Eerie, The Microphones, Kate Wolf
Producers: Justine Lai and Bonnie Swift Featuring: Shelton Johnson and Ward Eldridge
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/123-episode-203.html
November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a prize-less, month-long contest in which thousands around the world attempt to write their novel in one month. Thirty days, fifty thousand words minimum, and no prize at the end (save for their own satisfaction). On this week's show we follow of National Novel Writing Month and learn a little about the novel while we're at it. A class of Stanford students tries to finish their novels without flunking out, a San Francisco write-a-thon filled with wannabe novelists, and the elusive 150 thousand word woman. Plus interviews with a professor, a PhD, and a book critic on the history of the novel.
Host: Charlie Mintz Producers: Lee Konstantinou, Charlie Mintz, Killeen Hanson, Dan Hirsch, Jonah Willihnganz
Featured: Emily Rials, Bianca Ceralvo, Mark McGurl, Emma Ziker, Chris Baty, Noam Cohen Music: Max Citron URLs: Chris Baty
Featured: Chris Baty
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/141-episode-205.html
We all do the things we do for fun a little bit seriously. Basketball, belly dancing, or playing in a band -- these all take practice and hard work to be really fun. But some people take fun more seriously than the rest of us. Some of them are just more competitive. Some of them want to expand the arena of fine art. And some of them want to re-enchant the world. This episode has stories about a historical re-enactment society that has helped professors make new discoveries about medieval warfare, video games that are becoming professional sports, and the tragic tale of a fan club so obsessed with a character from a book that they got rid of the author. And finally, Ken Kesey reads the children's story that he took seriously enough to say, "This was my best piece of work ever."
Host/Producer: Rachel Hamburg Featured: Tony Ricciardi, Patrick Thill, Joshua Landy, Michael Saler, Ken Kesey, Arthur Maddox, Michael Lawrence Music: Kevin Macleod, The Yeltsin Collective, Arthur Maddox, William McGlaughlin, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Producer: Rachel Hamburg Featuring: Michael Saler image via Wikipedia In a musically accompanied rendition of Ken Kesey’s self-acclaimed “best piece,” we find a seriously fun story of a crafty critter armed only with a good vantage point and a sly disposition.
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/131-episode-206.html
What happens to us when we travel? How do we get beyond the brochure (and should we)? Poets, a professor of ecology, an observer of the Malaysian meat market, and a researcher who studies sense of place work toward answers and share stories of discovery on the road.
Producers: Elizabeth Bradfield, Daniel Hirsch Host: Elizabeth Bradfield Featuring: Joshua Rivkin, John Evans, Laura McKee, Peter Vitousek, Nicole Ardoin, Samantha Wai, Michelle Traub, Selena Simmons-Duffin, Daniel MacDougall Music: Volunteer Pioneer, Johnny Hwin, Natalie Dawn, Eli Herwitz, The Reiterators, and Midawe
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/109-episode-207.html
Normally Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate coming together, but today we're exploring the reasons people drift apart. In four stories, we explore all the reasons we fail to click. We have a story about a Stanford student who tried, and failed, to sell her eggs to an elite donation agency, an investigation into the paradoxical allure of French women, a radio play about the perils of matchmaking, and an essay on love that offers an unusual take on arranged marriages.
Producers: Charlie Mintz, Hannah Krakauer, Rachel Hamburg Host: Charlie Mintz Featuring: Eva Glasrud, Paula England, Harville Hendrix, Stuart Blaire and Art Tosborvorn Music: George Pritzker, Jeff Striker, Snuffaluffagus
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/115-episode-208.html
The human brain was built to predict the future. If you can't see what's coming, you can't survive. Tea leaves, entrails, and complicated algorithms are just a few of the ways humans have tried to divine the future for personal gain. Today on our show we have three stories about various attempts to look into the future. A Berkeley undergraduate tries to beat the racetrack, economists attempt to predict recessions, and a software that can listen to a song and predict whether it's going to be a hit. Guess which one is the most successful, and who forgot about a couple very important variables.
Producers: Charlie Mintz, Daniel MacDougall, Bonnie Swift Jonah Willihnganz Host: Charlie Mintz Featuring: Sarah Rizk, Sam Alemayehu, Paul David, Howard Schwartz, Mike McCready, Jadena, Koji Gardiner, Eleanor Safridge Fields, Kasiana McLenaghan, Robert Mintz Music: Koji Gardiner, Ian Burrell, Andy Seymour, Jeff Striker, Pascel, Boomsnake
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/153-episode-209.html
There all sorts of ways to send a messages: composing an email, writing a text message, pasting up fliers, or literally writing on the wall. In this show, we explore the various ways people communicate: digital and analog, private and public, even legal and illegal. The surprising origins of online social networks, the world of graffiti art, and bathroom stall vandalism.
Producers: Dan Hirsch, Will Rogers, Host: Dan Hirsch Featuring: Fred Turner, Molly Butcher, Lyndsey Garlock, Lexi Tsien-Shiang, Mitchell Wilcox, Music: Johnny Hwin, Lauchlan Casey, Ill-Conditioned
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/99-episode-210.html
Why are we drawn to stories of escape? How do we know when we've escaped or when we’ve been captured? Today’s show features stories of narrow escapes, written and read by the winners of our first story contest. The dangers of professional panty sniffing, a maybe catastrophic encounter with abandoned tires, and a short story recalling a scary chapter in Stanford's past.
Producers: Lee Konstantinou and Charlie Mintz Host: Lee Konstantinou Featuring: Amanda Glasser, Erika Harrell, Mandy MacCalla
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/133-episode-211.html
Sometimes our rites of passage are marked by large ceremonies, like graduations or weddings. But often the transformative moments of our lives come not on stage, but when we quietly face the challenges we are presented with. The strange importance of the unicycle in a young man’s life, Texas debutantes, and a 22-year-old trying to make it as a reporter in the real world.
Producers: Micah Cratty, Matt Larson, Will Rogers Host: Micah Cratty Featuring: Jon Ho Music: Volunteer Pioneer, Kissing Johnny, Noah Burbank
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/129-episode-212.html
What is it to be a toy or a tool? What is the difference between work and play, or is there a difference at all? Seriously playful stories from an archaeologist, a designer of toys for disabled children, and circuit-bending musicians. Who is influencing who in the process of design, creation, and the use of toys and tools?
Producers: Hannah Krakauer, Liz Bradfield, Daniel Hirsch Host: Hannah Krakauer Featuring: Michael Shanks, Jessica Zarin Kessin, Reed Ghazala, Sridharan Devarajan, Mike Rosenthall, Mike Mellenthin, Heather Roberts Music: Kissing Johnny, Dubious Ranger, Nimbleweed
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/117-episode-214.html
Although superheroes may seem like two dimensional relics of our childhoods, they can have a significant impact on our lives. Stories of superheroes battling in academia, superheroes living among us, and fictional superheroes fighting real-world battles.
Producers: Micah Cratty, Lee Konstantinou and Matt Larson Host: Micah Cratty Featuring: Professor Scott Bukatman and Robert Walker Music: Kissing Johnny and Noah Burbank
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/161-episode-215.html
We attempt to come to better terms with our impending doom. This is such a mind-blowing episode that it is in a record eight parts: one short story, one excerpt from a novel, two poems, one interview, one story-booth vignette, one ballad, and a correspondence with our friend Pete, on the other side.
Producers: Jonah Willihnganz, Bonnie Swift, Dan Hirsch, Micah Cratty, Lee Konstantinou, Killeen Hanson, Elizabeth Bradfield, Hannah Krakauer, Jack Wang Host: Bonnie Swift Featuring: Daniel Steinbock, Adrienne Chung Music: Nataly Dawn
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-2/163-episode-216.html
Animals play strange roles in our lives. Often, critters captivate those of us in the of the so-called dominant species. Our debut show includes four stories and a poem. Students search for salamanders in Stanford's Lake Lagunita. A scientist hatches a plan to "Re-wild" North America with endangered predators from Africa. Cats and Dogs inflict drama on couples who try to co-own them. Elephants may or may not have rescued tourists in Thailand, and Fireflies illuminate the soul in a poem by Troy Jollimore. Will animals captivate you this week?
Host: Bonnie SwiftProducers: Bonnie Swift and Jonah Willihnganz Featuring: Rebecca Jacobs and Kalani Leifer, Kate Youngman and Tom James, Tracy Shepard, Hilton Obenzinger, Troy Jollimore. Music: Hunt Alcott, Ambika, Cem Durouz URL's: Hilton Obenzinger, Troy Jollimore.
Featuring: Hilton Obenzinger
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/155-episode-101.html
More stories about the ways that animals shape our lives. A tour of Stanford's Animal Research Facility, and a short story about one father's strange relationship with the family dog.
Producers: Steven Tagle and James Madson
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/111-episode-102.html
How do different groups approach Africa? Stories about media coverage of Africa, a student who taught poetry at a Zambian refugee camp, and how Ghana influenced Martin Luther King Jr.
Host: Micah Cratty Producers: Micah Cratty and Jonah Willihnganz Featuring: Chrissie Coxon, Stefanie Garcia, William Loel Von Hoene, Clayborne Carson Music: Grant Newsome, Kissing Johnny
Producer: Micah Cratty Featuring: William Loel Von Hoene
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/143-episode-103.html
This special episode features three documentary stories about the ways in which, as the old saying goes, "you are what you eat." The modern industry of food, the ritual of eating, and the politics of agricultural production. You'll hear about how long a twinkie can last, and about whether or not the US government puts its money where its mouth is, regarding what it tells us to eat, compared to what it subsidizes through the farm bill. What we eat - and how we eat it - reveals the workings of our societies.
Host: Bonnie SwiftProducers: Micah Cratty and Jonah WillihnganzFeatured: Bonnie Swift, Jessica Schaefer, Mozzi Etemadi, Katherine Wells, Sherrie Chung, Micah Cratty Music: David Chilsolm, John Serna, Taylormayd Video Podcast: Pie from Scratch by Matt Harnack
Producer: Micah Cratty Featuring: Walter Falcon
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/127-episode-104.html
Sometimes the normal words just don't work, and we need to figure out an entirely new way of talking. This episode presents a story on Esperanto, the international language that could-have-been-and-might-yet-still-become, followed by a short story by Suzanne Rivecca.
Producers: Micah Cratty Producers: Bonnie Swift and Jonah Willihnganz Featuring: Micah Cratty, Ben Savage, David Heyman, Nate Solon, Suzanne Rivecca Music: Kissing Johnny, DJ Danny Glover, Julian Wass URL: Storytelling Project's interview with Suzanne Rivecca
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/139-episode-105.html
Inspired by a 200 year old design for a more efficient prison called the panopticon, this show explores just a few of the ways we experience surveillance in society today, and how we respond to it. A story by Andrew Altschul about phones and loss, an interview with the founder of a site that uses cell phones to fight street harassment, and a speech about the joys of Facebook.
Producer: Charlie Mintz Featuring: Eli Edwards and Hollaback
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/113-episode-106.html
Stories about the faithful in conflict with society, their families, and themselves. First, two Stanford students (one who is gay and another who is a conservative Christian) map out the battlefield between gay marriage and Christianity. Second, a story about how the ‘divine divide’ in America entered into one student’s relationships with his parents and his girlfriend. And third, Will Rogers faces the same ‘divine divide’ in himself and is able to bridge part of it by posting videos online.
Host: Micah CrattyProducers: Micah Cratty Featured: Vinni Intersimone, Matt Buchanan, Drew Jacoby-Senghor Music: Amboy Kelso, Dave Chisolm, Hunt Alcott, Jennifer Lindsay, Kissing Johnny
Producers: Vinni Intersimone, Matt Buchanan Featuring: Richard Barbour, Rev. Scotty McLennan
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/149-episode-107.html
Stories of the education system struggling, and sometimes failing, to adjust. First, a look at how some high schools are responding to the increasing presence of gangs, and how their policies are often backfiring. Second, we assess the progress of schools in fulfilling their educational mission while facing increasing numbers of minority students. And third, English lecturer Adam Johnson tells a true story involving a bloody murder, police detectives, and a fiction writing class.
Host: Micah CrattyProducers: Bonnie Swift, Elizabeth Bradfield, Tom Freeland, Christina Ho, Danielle Spoor, and Lily Kornbluth Featured: Micah Cratty, Molly Roberts, Britton Caillouette, Richard Norte, Adam Johnson, Lee Konstantinou Music: Supergreen JellyBean, Zach Katagiri, Taylor Murchison, Kissing Johnny
Producer: Lee Konstantinou Featuring: Adam Johnson
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/119-episode-108.html
A Valentine's Day special. The unlikely story of Saint Valentine, but as it turns out, most good love stories seem just as improbable. Second, we stood in Stanford's White Plaza and asked passersby about just who - or what - they love. You'll hear their strange replies, followed by a story about the risky and rewarding world of online dating. But that's not all: four splendid love poems are dispersed throughout this episode.
Host: Rachel HamburgProducers: Bonnie Swift, Elizabeth Bradfield, Tom Freeland, Christina Ho, Danielle Spoor, and Lily Kornbluth Featured: people passing through White Plaza Music: Side by Side (Maxine Tang, Michelle Goldring, Deri Kusuma, Madalyn Radlauer, Alison Herson, Jose Araneta, and Michael Hsueh), Talisman, Matt Anderson
SSP producers brave the bicycles of White Plaza to record stories of love from passersby. Featuring music from Side by Side.
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/151-episode-109.html
Remakes are all around us. This week's show is made up of stories of remaking sound-- through instruments, living organisms, and other means. First, an experimental instrument designer brings joy to our ears with some of his wackier creations. Then we speak with some innovative inhabitants of Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, who have turned old junk into something truly exquisite. And, stay tuned, tomatoes sing...
Host: Daniel MacDougall Producers: Charlie Mintz, Noah Burbank, Daniel MacDougall Featured: Bart Hopkin, Sasha Leitman, Jen Carlile, Chris Chafe Music: Johnny Hwin, Bart Hopkin
Producer: Daniel MacDougall Featuring: Jade Wang, Karen Warner, Hannah Krakauer, Shelly Ni Creative organologist Bart Hopkin remakes the sounds of the world. He is the founder of Experimental Musical Instruments, an organization that explores the acoustic potential of metals, woods, string, tubes, and anything else that makes a sound.
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/159-episode-110.html
Campaigns are about getting people to vote for your candidate, and today's show is about the missteps that can happen along the way. First, we tell the story of the musical jingles that help put people in (and keep others out) of office. Second, we answer the question you’ve always wondered: why is there so much negativity in most campaigns? And last, one student goes door-to-door and the people who answer either don't vote, or won't vote, for her candidate.
Host: Micah Cratty Producer: Micah Cratty Featured: Gabe Winant, Kalani Leifer, Jonah Berger, Elissa Morales, Wesley Lim, Monica Uddin, Jeremy Newman, and Omair Saddat Music: Brad Wolfe, Taylor Murchison, Rego Sen, and Kissing Johnny
Producer: Micah Cratty Featuring: Gabe Winant and Kalani Leifer
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/101-episode-111.html
Today's show is about the different ways we experience time. In our first story, we explore the evolution of nostalgia and how it has become a way for us to cope with our rapidly changing lives. Then, we interview families about how one particular kind of time, 'the time of grieving,' has been changed radically by advances in medicine. Finally, we hear the story of how two people decided to make the time of their own personal lives synchronize with major historical events.
Host: Micah Cratty Producer: Micah Cratty Featured: Aaron Zarraga, Hanna Michelsen, Rachel Dowling, Daniel MacDougall, Tom Wiltzius, Nadja Blagojevic, Kirstin Ganz, Sam Tanzer, Amy Freedman, Chris Noxon, the Dowling family, the Vantrain family Music: Chris Ayer, Brad Wolfe and Dave Chisolm
Featuring: Rachel Dowling, Daniel MacDougall, and Tom Wiltzius
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/121-episode-112.html
We usually think of mind control as part of the realm of fantasy, with witches and alien species as its perpetrators. But actually, mind control is all around us, in almost every area of our lives, and the consequences of ignoring its power range from failed pick-up-lines to genocide. In this episode, you'll hear stories of Stanford students who tried to out the calculated techniques of a famous pick-up artist at a campus party, poet Elizabeth Bradfield discuss how being a tour guide in Alaska involves mind control, and some of her and Emily Dickinson’s exquisite poetry. You'll also hear about mind control taken to its most extreme, from controlling the minds of whole cultures through fairy tales, to controlling only your own mind through lucid dreaming.
Host: Rachel Hamburg Producers: Elizabeth Bradfield and Noah Burbank Featuring: Joshua Landy, Lanier Anderson, Fred Burbank, James Fearon, James Sheehan, William Dement, Christopher Collette, Ellora Karmarkar, Amber Davis and Lea Yelverton
Producers: Noah Burbank, Ellora Karmarkar and Amber Davis Featuring: Joshua Landy, Lanier Anderson, Fred Burbank, James Fearon, James Sheehan
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/103-episode-113.html
Where does the physical end and the metaphysical begin? This week's show is about scientists who use traditional methods to investigate untraditional questions. We start in Special Collections of the Stanford Libraries, with a brief history of para-psychology and spiritualism at Stanford, and continue with the story of three contemporary researchers who study psychic phenomena. Today's one-hour journey reveals some of the social aspects that come into play in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
Host: Bonnie Swift Producer: Bonnie Swift Featured: Margaret Kimball, Robert Jahn, Brenda Dunne, Helen Longino and Dean Radin Music: Noah Burbank, Ambika, Jimi Hendrix, Thelonius Monk, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Featuring: Margaret Kimball
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/157-episode-114.html
What's at stake when we try to tell another person's story? We explore this question in two parts. First, a class at Stanford works to tell a real woman's tragic life story in graphic novel form, discovering huge challenges collaborating as a group and getting the story right. Second, Emily Prince takes on the overwhelming and somber task of drawing a portrait of every American soldier who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Host: Micah Cratty Producers: Dan Hirsch, Hannah Krakauer Featured: Emily Prince, Tom Kealey, Adam Johnson, Eric Pape, The Stanford Graphic Novel Project Music: Dengue Fever, Cambodian Cassette Tapes vol.1, Brother URLs: Emily Prince, Shake Girl
Producers: Dan Hirsch, Lee Konstantinou Featuring: Tom Kealey, Adam Johnson, The Stanford Graphic Novel Class. URL: Shake Girl
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/147-episode-115.html
The theme of this week's show is self-preservation -- that is, the preserving of whatever it is that makes you you, be it letters, journal entries, or a digital measurement of your heart rate and blood sugar for every hour of the day. We bring you stories of cybernetic "lifeloggers," a crafty, image-tweaking Founding Father, and the most astoundingly comprehensive diary ever to find its way into Stanford's Special Collections. We also have poems from one of Stanford's poets in residence, Kirsten Andersen.
Host: Charlie MintzProducer: Charlie Mintz Featured: Kirsten Anderson, Liz Bradfield, Hsiao-Yun Chu, and Judith Richardson Music: Boomsnake, Howard Hello, George Pritzker There are scrapbooks, and then there is the legendary Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Chronofile. Fuller was a designer, futurist, speaker, and prolific life-logger. Stanford has his diary, if that word even applies to the massive collection of documents, notes, letters, and much more. Host Charlie Mintz interviews the curator who made sense of the Chronofile, and learns about the wisdom of self-preservation. Producer: Charlie Mintz Featuring: Hsiao-Yun Chu
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/97-episode-116.html
What is it about live performance that makes it so appealing, terrifying, and wonderful? What drives people to stand up in front of an audience, to perform without a safety net and put themselves on the line? In today's data-driven world, where everything can be recorded, stored, and recalled at any time, what role does live performance play? This episode begins with the harrowing experience of our host subjecting himself to the most extreme form of live performance of all: stand-up comedy. We continue with a story from playwright Amy Freed and Stanford professor of drama Kay Kostopoulos. And finally, we follow a production of the Stanford Spoken Word Collective, and get a peek at what goes on behind the curtain.
Host: Micah Cratty Producers: Daniel MacDougall, Micah Cratty Featured: Amy Freed, Kay Kostopilous Music: Noah Burbank, Dave Chisholm, Greg Sell, Chris Babson, Zach Katagiri, and Kissing Johnny
Producer: Daniel MacDougall Featuring: Amy Freed and Kay Kostopilous
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/135-episode-117.html
This week, we have three stories about the life-changing, transformative power of sound. First, we look at brain activity during moments of silence in music. Then, a student investigates the healing powers of traditional Cambodian chants. Finally, a class of Stanford students led by John-Carlos Perea find a new community while learning the art of the powwow drum.
Host: Hannah Krakauer Producers: Angela Castellanos, Bonnie Swift, Hannah Krakauer Featured: Trent Walker, Vinod Menon, Daniel Levitin, Jonathan Berger, Chris Chafe, Gabe Turow, Pat Moffitt Cook, Sherwood Chen, John Carlos-Perea, Michaela Raikes, Ben Burdick, Luke Taylor, Jidenna Mobbison Music: Chloe Krakauer
Producers: Bonnie Swift and Hannah Krakauer Featuring: John-Carlos Perea, Michaela Raikes, Ben Burdick, Luke Taylor and Jidenna Mobbison
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/125-episode-118.html
Hidden structures and forms constantly influence the way we think, from social norms to rules of grammar. This week we give you four stories that illuminate the forms that underpin our lives. First, you’ll learn about a successful cosmetic surgery industry in modern day Korea. Second, a software predicts hit songs before they're hits, based on a formula (note: this piece also aired on our "Prediction" show). Third, Iambic Pentameter makes itself known in the modern world. And finally, An artist incorporates naturally occurring patterns into her audio art.
Host: Bonnie Swift Producers: Bonnie Swift, Hannah Krakauer and Noah Burbank Featured: Olivia Puerta, Nellie Olsen, Olivia Prevost, Noah Burbank, Sarah Rizk, Sam Alemayehu, Jill McDonough and Jen Carlile Music: Palaviccini, Talisman, The Yeltsin Collective
Producers: Lee Konstantiou Featuring: Jill McDonough A new software predicts the next big music sensation, and some local talent is put to through the software to see how they measure up. Does this mean the end of true artistic integrity and creativity? (note: this piece also aired in our episode titled "Prediction")
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/299-episode-119.html
In Egypt, in Iran, and in Tunisia, we've heard a lot about the so-called Twitter and Facebook revolutions. But what about the radio revolution? Working from archives in New Delhi and London, Neel Thakkar resurrects the forgotten story of the Congress Radio -- the secret, underground radio station which, during the Quit India movement of 1942, helped keep the Indian nationalist movement alive during some of its darkest days.
This project was funded by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. More info on the Braden Grant here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Neel Thakkar Featuring: Usha Mehta, C.K. Narayanswami, K.A. Abbas, Anant Kanekar, and J.N. Sahini Special thanks: Kevin Greenbank at the Cambridge Centre for South Asia, and Kamlesh and Naina Ramani Image via wikimedia
Some 76 million years ago an asteroid smashed into our planet, killing the dinosaurs and three-quarters of the Earth’s plants and animals. Once again our planet is facing a wave of extinctions, this one of man's making, and more than ever we need to know what it takes for a species to survive a cataclysm. Laura Cussen traces the improbable story of an ancient, venomous mammal of the Caribbean, and of the local people who have unearthed its secret to survival.
This project was made possible by a Braden Grant from the Stanford Storytelling Project. More info about the Braden Grant: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Laura Cussen Featuring: César Abril, Nicolás Corona, Pedro Martínez, and Alexis Mychajliw Special thanks: The Last Survivors, Natacha Ruck, Will Rogers, Graham Roth, Weston Gaylord, Professor Elizabeth Hadly, to all the people who have made this project possible, and to the Hispaniolan solenodon. Music: Sunsearcher, Chris Zabriskie, Nicolás Corona Image via flickr
In 1999, France created the French equivalent of a civil union. The PACS--an acronym for "pacte civile de solidarité"-- was intended as an alternative to marriage for gay couples, but it was open to straight couples as well. And it was used by them--perhaps paradoxically, 94% of PACS couples are straight. With the legalization of gay marriage in May 2013, gay couples who want legal protection are no longer relegated to the PACS. What does the PACS mean to the people who get it, and how is it different from marriage? How can love and commitment be expressed, and how is this changing in modern French society?
Savannah Kopp interviews PACS couples in Paris about their love stories and their PACS stories. This piece explores how a culturally specific label for a relationship comes to have meaning and how, as the cliché goes, maybe the French can teach us about love.
This story was supported by a Braden Grant from the Stanford Storytelling Project. Click here to learn more about the Braden Grant: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Savannah Kopp Featuring: Laura Berrey, Guido Panel, Kelsy Wilson, Suzanne Newman, Sylvia Calle, Valerie Lincy, Anne Bayley, Dana Conley, Channa Galhenege, Coralie Ossant, Diane Bonifaix, Roberto Conradi Merci à: Estelle Halevi, Wilfried Rault, Natacha Ruck, the Stanford Storytelling Project, the PACS couples, and everyone who helped me realize this project. Music: Podington Bear, Broke for Free, Kevin MacLeod, Everybody Was In the French Resistance Image courtesy of Savannah Kopp
Birth is celebrated as one of the most profound and joyous moments in life. Yet in the nation of Uganda, delivering a child is an undertaking steeped in danger. The African country faces one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Why are so many Ugandan women dying in childbirth?
In this piece, Charlotte Sagan explores the issues surrounding maternal health in the Southeastern district of Iganga. Conversations with Ugandan mothers, fathers and health care practitioners reveal intimate narratives of health, perseverance and family. The delivery story of a young woman named Miriam, in particular, illustrates the perils and joys of childbirth.
This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Charlotte Sagan Featuring: Nabalumba Miriam, Joshua Moangze, Dr. Charles Waiswa, Kaina Rita, Nampina Ruth Special thanks: Christy Hartman, John Lee, Victoria Hurst Muirhead, Jacquie Cutts, Nakasango Evelyn, Mukalu Mohamed, Margreth Mpossi Music: Kevin MacLeod, Jamal Wasswa, Mohr Productions, Jess, Eddy Kenzo Image courtesy of Charlotte Sagan