2nd Story is dedicated to creating and crafting story-sharing experiences that foster meaningful connections between individuals and communities. We believe that well-crafted, well-told stories can be a catalyst for change for artist and audience alike. We believe that stories are what bind us to each other. We want to live in a world driven by empathy. We host events in and around Chicago that elevate the storyteller’s words to deliver a unique, live, literary/theatrical experience unlike any other in the city. From small bars in Rogers Park and North Center, to big venues in Lakeview and the West Loop, to restaurants in Lincoln Park and Evanston, we produce over 30 events every season and facilitates over 145 artistic collaborations. We craft story-sharing experiences in the form of both performances and workshops and classes. A typical show or event consists of several stories dispersed throughout the evening like courses of a meal. The stories range from the earnest and serious to the light-hearted and humorous, and can simultaneously provoke and entertain. Our venues are as varied as our stories, and run the gamut from intimate wine bars and pubs to spacious performance halls, conference rooms, and open-office environments. Our storytellers are equally diverse, and come from all walks of life: a pastor, a bartender, a child psychiatrist, and a lawyer…their individual stories help to bridge the gap between the personal and the universal, and break down the walls between and unite artists and audiences in and among different communities.
In this week's story, teller Darren Meyers reflects on some recent forays into dating and the way that growing up as an only child has impacted his philosophy.
In this week's story, teller Lynnette Li shares her experience of being caught between caring for her aging father and parenting her growing children.
In this week's story, teller Kim L Hunt recalls the confidence and optimism her mother constantly spread throughout her youth and how it's followed her into adulthood.
In this week's story, teller Courtney Kotloski shares how she, along with her kids, developed a way to find strength and positivity in the face of fear.
In this week's story, tellers McKenzie Chinn and Mykele Deville look back at the way they found each other through the chaos and violence of the world around them.
In this week's story, teller Wyl Villacres explores the dissonance he felt when young love clashed with harsh reality on a teenage trip abroad.
In this week's story, teller Maegan Gwaltney reflects on the mother she once planned to be and the way we grieve and grow from the invisible losses of life.
In this week's story, teller Abra Millman shares her frantic search for proper documentation before her wedding, and the unexpected place that showed her mercy.
In this week's story, teller RJ Silva shares his experience being pulled between two worlds when he brought his husband to visit his home country for the very first time.
In this week's story, mother-daughter duo Bobbie & Liz Rice share stories of their shared Chinese values and experiences, as well as the ways they've helped each other to evolve and change.
In this week's story, our teller shares the lead up to - and follow up of - her marriage's end, and how she found her path forward through the grief of the transition.
In this week's story, teller Martinique Haller reflects on an act of rebellion from her youth and the understanding - if not forgiveness - that time has brought her.
In this week's story, Stephanie Chavara returns home and wrestles with both the vulnerability of putting down roots in familiar soil.
In this week's story, teller Jim Lupo reflects on his youth spent caring for his ill mother, and how he looks towards his future with that past in mind.
In this week's episode, we celebrate our 300th episode! Join us for a trio of stories along with a bit of nostalgia and reminiscing along the way!
In this week's story, teller Liz Blondel recalls her early college days, and the culture shock she experienced while studying just a few blocks northeast of her childhood home.
In this week's story, teller Ana Martin Sagredo shares the early days of her second child's life, the unexpected hurdles they experienced, and the decisions they made for their family.
In this week's story, teller Nestor Gomez recalls some notable conversations around this year's presidential election, with a particularly poignant metaphor for how he feels.
In this week's story, tellers Gregory and Vince Pagán-Hill share a dual story of sexual awakening and finding a partner to explore with.
In this week's story, teller Jasmin Cardenas reflects on bringing stories into her classrooms from a variety of cultures and languages and how she sees the joy of familiarity in her students.
In this week's story, tellers Ali Drumm and Christine Thoren reflect on a few of the pivotal moments from their relationship, sharing the difficult choices they've made because they're worth it.
In this week's story, teller Karla Estela Rivera shares how she and her husband navigated a particularly nasty fight that reared its head when the world around them was already in turmoil.
In this week's story, teller Yongwoo recaps his internal battle to properly represent himself, and all men who share his race, in conflict.
In this week's story, teller Linda Sullivan recounts the highs and lows of one particularly impactful friendship from her youth.
In this week's story, S and Danielle Simmons share the origin story of their marriage - and how they started off on not quite the same page about romance.
In this week's story, teller Courtney Kotloski shares the shock of her cancer diagnosis and how humor - along with the support of her family - helped keep her pushing through treatment.
In this week's story, teller Jen Schroeder shares an intensely honest and real look at her experience just before, during, and after giving birth to her twins.
In this week's story, 2nd Story Company Member LaTanya Lane shares how she lost one type of faith but found another in the people and community around her.
In this week's episode, our teller recalls how certain major climactic moments from her life didn't resolve the way the shows and books she'd consumed prepared her for.
In this week's story, teller Lexi Saunders shares the road that led to their work as educator and just one moment of many where they saw the impact of their work in real-time.
In this week's story, our teller bring us through a so-called rite of manhood thrust upon him by a dear friend in a time of emotional vulnerability.
In this week's story, teller Aaron Talley shares how the meaning we look for in the stars can sometimes be found staring us in the face when look in the mirror.
In this week's story, company member Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke reminisces on lessons of justice learned as a child, and how they changed and adapted as she grew into adulthood and independence.
In this week's story, CP Chang shares how his journey to find the love of his life and to love himself have been intertwined since childhood.
In this week's story, 2nd Story Podcast Producer Max Spitz takes the mic, sharing what he and his wife learned when their adoption took a bit more out of them than expected.
In this week's story, tellers Megan Stielstra and Aimy Tien share a dual story of fighting to live their best lives and stepping in to help lift up others when that fight gets tough.
In this week's story, teller Coya Paz shares the unexpected connection between her youthful desire for nunhood and her later realization of her queerness.
In this week's story, teller Earliana McLaurin shares a moment when help that was desperately needed finally came, and the thanks she so earnestly gave when it did.
In this week's story, 2nd Story company member Vince Pagán-Hill shares how his experience teaching a class of incarcerated women gave him insight into the lives of an all-too-often overlooked population.
In this week's story, teller Avi Bowie takes us through some of the ways they've grown to understand death and the relationship to both grief and joy they've found in mourning.
In this week's story, the Sivak family shares a moment when the strength of their love and support was tested, and the power they found to stand by each other.
In this week's story, teller Lynnette Li shares how she broke free of the need to do what's expected and stop apologizing for being herself.
In this week's story, teller Audry Farber shares the highs and lows of her openly trans identity, and how she works to find community and be visible even when others ask her for invisibility.
In this week's story, teller Darren Meyers shares the highs and lows of an acting rivalry and what happens when real life intervenes.
In this week's story, teller and company member LaTanya Lane helps us ring in the 25th season with a story about a few memorable birthdays of her own.
In this week's story, teller Jane deLaubenfels brings us back to a moment of terror and shares the community that helped her move through it.
In this week's story, teller Sheree L. Greer shares the moments that lead to a few big decisions in her life - and how she learned to recognize when it's the right time to make them.
In this week's story, teller Kim L Hunt helps celebrate Pride Month with a story about finding her voice and the power it holds.
In this week's story, teller Nestor Gomez brings us on a journey through the way his language has moved and evolved just as he and his community did so as well.
In this week's story, teller Amanda Dunne Acevedo shares the moment she learned of her adoption, and how her experience since clashes with the classic clichés.
In this week's story, teller Jeff Bakkensen shares the memory of one particularly strong friendship, and how the loss of that friend stayed with him as the world expected him to move on.
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