9 Stories Up

Vabs is in the LA studio to recap the middle three episodes of this season with Hunter, who is in New York, recording on location from the apartment 9 Storeys Up, for the very last time.

This podcast series started because a one act play seemed too hard to produce . . . so now we come full circle with an episode chronicling the production and origin story of a new one act play from Maxene Kupperman-Guiñals.

Showing up to a holiday party in the same "ugly sweater" ultimately offers Hunter a new hope.

Coordinated attacks on 2 Duke Energy power stations last week left the majority of a North Carolina county without power for 4+ days. The story was covered by all reputable news outlets and 9 Stories Up is no different, embedding a very special correspondent into the chaos for an exclusive report.

Vabs is back in the virtual studio to try and make sense of the "first period" of season 3 then look ahead to period 2. For the first time in 9 Stories Up intermission history, Hunter's mic actually sounds better than that of our CTO.

In an episode that could have been titled "Scenes from an Irish midtown bar," Hunter and his siblings bring his mother to her first Florida State game watching party in 3 years where his brother and sister quickly demonstrate they know as much about college football as they do late 80s baseball players.

Unlike his exams, our favorite chemistry teacher is an open book. Mike returns to our radio lab to go through the uncanny, serendipitous steps that take a kid from the South Side of Chicago to the NCAA Wrestling Championships and back again to blow stuff up and make beaker wine in the name of educating the future leaders of the Prarie State.

Friday night of Memorial Day weekend, Parlor Pizza, Chicago. One night to see friends while in town visiting family. Very little notice given to anyone. A recipe for randomness randomly delivers Hunter's wife's friend's husband, an old work colleague who could stay for a drink, and a college friend who could promise even less time. Once everyone arrives it occurs that this is actually a serendipitous reunion of an event eighteen years prior that marked a pivotal point in their lives.

Hunter meets his pen pal Mark for the first time to discuss their parallel(ish) past and introduce the 9 Stories Up world to Mark's recently released podcast series, "A Lasting Legacy"

Vabs and Hunter are back in the virtual studio to recap the "third period" of this season and get everyone ready for overtime.

9 Stories Up applies a full court press to the monumental 2022 NCAA Men's Final Four featuring Villanova, Kansas and the reality bending rematch of North Carolina and Duke.

A lot of people make chili for the super bowl and most people who make chili feel a great sense of Pride. Well Sir, we at 9 Stories Up are no exception and hereby submit a step-by-step guide to cooking our legendary chili, complete (of course) with the legend.

My uncle David died approximately a year ago today (I say this because the medical examiner could only give us a range after he was discovered on Feb. 19 2021). 9 Stories Up was one way I was able to reconnect with him over the final year of his life. My uncle's favorite episode was the second one I ever did called "Pac Bell." In commemoration of his death, and for my Dad's 71st birthday today, I have decided to re-release that episode with some recent interview content added and maybe a rewording or two along the way. If a stunt like this is good enough for George Lucas, we can go the distance on 9 Stories Up.

Holiday cleaning in Hunter's stepmother's basement conjures memories of a past business that not only foreshadowed a current venture, but also put his oldest friendship to the test.

Vabs takes over the virtual studio to string a thread through the second period of season 2 and get to the bottom of the "lost" episodes.

In a world of socio-political polarization, we tell the story of a professional middleman's quest to bring thoughtful, informative discussion to the weary majority in the center via . . . wait for it . . . a hobby podcast!

In our very first, ground-breaking, never-been-done-before follow-up episode, we catch up with Rambling Nomad Craig Coleman as he shares his final stories from the road and heads out to sea with an old friend.

Hunter explores a crossroads his grandfather faced 70 years ago and begins to reimagine life had the old man stayed with door number 1, only to realize he knew what he was doing after all . . . or did he?

Vabs and Hunter catch up the virtual studio and get the Intermission episode back to its roots, discussing outside feedback on 9 Stories Up they recently received.

Hunter takes a break from 9 Stories Up to create a personalized episode for a friend fighting for his life against Covid-19

Worried that he has waded too far into the nostalgic end of the pool, Hunter spends an hour on the virtual couch with Mike Bechtel, Chief Futurist at Deloitte to take a look beneath the surface.

Ever wonder what it is like to drive a big rig? Hunter catches up with podcaster and CDL flat bed driver Craig Coleman to talk trucking and the new perspective available from up in the cab.

Hunter tracks down his long lost "Uncle Buck" to hear stories from the pre-internet sports betting industry and settle a debt he only recently realized he had.

Vabs and Hunter stage a flashback episode in the style of 80s sitcoms to review and reflect on season 1

Hunter examines a legacy of family conflicts and the conflicts of family legacy as his mother recounts her migration from South Georgia to NYC in the 1960s.

Imagine playing in the very first year of a little league. Now put that little league in New York City. Hunter reaches out to a panel of old friends to help tell the story (some incidental adult language).

Our plans for a larger panel with previous guests took a hit with the pandemic and then again when we set out to focus it on the pandemic. But the one interview we did do, with Episode 3 star Katie Welch, reminded us that even amidst circumstances beyond anyone's control, good news is still possible.

Hunter catches up with a mentor from his past as he comes to terms with the youth sports industrial complex and the role it has in his life and family (with the help of return guests from recent episodes).

One recurring theme of our nostalgia-heavy podcast are aspects of life that have faded from its fabric due to modern technology. This episode features stories from multiple generations centering around the Late Night Bar Room Debate.

Everybody has a birthday and many of us have cute stories about some coincidences related to our birthday or those of loved ones. In this episode we take you through a few of those from our own lives culminating in a birthday tribute to a member of the 9 Stories Up family.

Many of us say "it's like I got shot in the chest" (perhaps even adding an ironic "literally") while very few of us have actually had that happen. In this episode we introduce stories close to our own lives to help the grammatically loose exaggerators out there truly understand the experience.

Our 9 episode first season is one third of the way complete. If this were a hockey game we would head into the locker room to break down the first period. I recruited my old friend Vabs to serve as "coach" for this intermission to help talk me through the good, bad, and ugly of our opening effort as well as catching him up on what "9 Stories Up" is all about.

In our first episode with an outside voice, we bring you into the world of Katie Welch, a trusting soul whose unwavering faith in humanity leads to misadventures that play like sitcom sub plots.

Hunter recounts a dubious first visit to his favorite ball park not named Yankee Stadium and it's connection to the grandfather he never met. There is one beeped swear word in this episode.

In the story that inspired him to create 9 Stories Up, a medical discovery unravels Hunter's conception of self and forces him to investigate a family secret.