Stories We Don't Tell

It's been a minute. You're going to have to wait a bit longer for some new stories. This episode is all updates, no content. The SWDT Crew gathers in-person for the first time in a long time to briefly discuss some upcoming things. We are all very excited about those things and think you should be too. This episode was engineered by Salmon the Cat.The big announcement is we're planning an event! If you're interested in participating, send a message through the Contact form. For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, follow the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter. All the music on the podcast was composed by the amazing singer/songwriter Arlene Paculan. Find out more about her and her music at https://www.officialarlene.com.

On this episode of the Stories We Don't Tell Podcast, the crew talks about writing stories about failure. But first, Monica shares her story about the highs and lows of her career.In addition to new episodes of the podcast, the SWDT Crew is doing online storytelling workshops over the summer. If you're interested in participating, send a message through the Contact form. For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, follow the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter. All the music on the podcast was composed by the amazing singer/songwriter Arlene Paculan. Find out more about her and her music at https://www.officialarlene.com.

On this episode of the Stories We Don't Tell Podcast, the crew discusses writing a story that takes place in a specific location. They have some tips and tricks on how to go back into your mind and imagination to tell a story rich in detail. But first, Jette shares her story about some memories of her past.In addition to new episodes of the podcast, the SWDT Crew is doing online storytelling workshops over the summer. If you're interested in participating, send a message through the Contact form. For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, follow the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter. All the music on the podcast was composed by the amazing singer/songwriter Arlene Paculan. Find out more about her and her music at https://www.officialarlene.com.

As we periodically have been over the last year, the podcast is back with some fresh stories. The SWDT crew talks about how a story can evolve over time. But before that, Vishal shares a story that he wrote during our online workshops.In addition to new episodes of the podcast, the SWDT Crew is doing online storytelling workshops. If you're interested in participating, send a message through the Contact form. For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, follow the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter. All the music on the podcast was composed by the amazing singer/songwriter Arlene Paculan. Find out more about her and her music at https://www.officialarlene.com.

On this episode, Brittany shares a deeply personal story about writing and dealing with depression. After her story, Brittany joins the SWDT crew to a wide-ranging and insightful conversation about her writing process. To learn more about Brittany, visit her website and follow her on Instagram @britcambooks.For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, follow the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter.

On this episode, Stefan shares a story about how his dreams have turned nightmarish, but his waking life is going pretty well. After the story, the crew comes together and talks about the challenges with writing and telling stories that involve dreams.In addition to new episodes of the podcast, the SWDT Crew is doing online storytelling workshops. If you're interested in participating, send a message through the Contact form. For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, follow the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter.

On this episode, Joey shares a story about receiving a poor job review, a new dress, and lighting a fire. It all comes together at the end. After the fire is over, the crew talks about writing and listening to a story that has an incredibly satisfying conclusion.In addition to new episodes of the podcast, the SWDT Crew is doing online storytelling workshops. If you're interested in participating, send a message through the Contact form. For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, follow the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter.

The SWDT Crew is back with another batch of brand new episodes for our brave new world. On this episode, Paul shares a story about looking for love during a pandemic and learning how to play the Guns N' Roses classic song November Rain. You'll even get to hear him try and play it - very awkwardly. He then joins Joey and Stefan for a quick chat about integrating music into a story.In addition to new episodes of the podcast, the SWDT Crew is doing online storytelling workshops. If you're interested in participating, send a message through the Contact form. For information on the Stories We Don't Tell book, visit the website. To keep informed of upcoming events, like the SWDT Facebook page. For all this and more, subscribe to our brand new monthly newsletter.

This is a special one-off episode that we hope provides some insight into our writing process. For each event, we hold two workshops with the intention of helping to guide storytellers to feel confident about sharing their story with an audience.The SWDT crew talks about how the workshops organically evolved over time, what participants should expect from them, and what we hope is the end result. We are offering remote workshops over the summer, so please contact us to get more information on how you can participate.

Last year, we published a book that included 61 stories that were workshopped and presented at our live event. Putting together the book was a pretty unique experience that took a lot of organizing and communication.Due to, well, you know what, it seems some people have gotten around to working on that book they always wanted to write. Since we have already gone through the process, we decided to do a mini-series about our publishing journey. For the next few episodes, we’ll be going into how we communicated with 40 other authors, the editing process, book design and layout, and marketing.For the last episode in this series, the SWDT crew comes together to talk about what you do with a book once it’s finished - marketing, launching it, and events. Included at the end of the episode is a short clip from a video that we produced for the launch event where you’ll hear directly from some of the book authors. The music under this section is from singer/songwriter and friend of SWDT Arlene Paculan. Follow Arlene and listen to her music at officialarlene.com.

Last year, we published a book that included 61 stories that were workshopped and presented at our live event. Putting together the book was a pretty unique experience that took a lot of organizing and communication.Due to, well, you know what, it seems some people have gotten around to working on that book they always wanted to write. Since we have already gone through the process, we decided to do a mini-series about our publishing journey. For the next few episodes, we’ll be going into how we communicated with 40 other authors, the editing process, book design and layout, and marketing.On this episode, Paul talks too much about the ins and outs of putting together a book from the production end: organizing 40+ authors, how to layout a manuscript, designing covers, and distribution.

Last year, we published a book that included 61 stories that were workshopped and presented at our live event. Putting together the book was a pretty unique experience that took a lot of organizing and communication.Due to, well, you know what, it seems some people have gotten around to working on that book they always wanted to write. Since we have already gone through the process, we decided to do a mini-series about our publishing journey. For the next few episodes, we’ll be going into how we communicated with 40 other authors, the editing process, book design and layout, and marketing.On this episode, the editor of the Stories We Don’t Tell book, Steve Hostetter, joins the crew to talk about his process, what it was like working with 40+ authors, and being a part of this very unusual publishing project.

Last year, we published a book that included 61 stories that were workshopped and presented at our live event. Putting together the book was a pretty unique experience that took a lot of organizing and communication.Due to, well, you know what, it seems some people have gotten around to working on that book they always wanted to write. Since we have already gone through the process, we decided to do a mini-series about our publishing journey. For the next few episodes, we’ll be going into how we communicated with 40 other authors, the editing process, book design and layout, and marketing.Join the Stories We Don’t Tell crew for this episode where we introduce the mini-series and go into where the idea came from for publishing the book.

Brianne goes way back to the beginning of Stories We Don’t Tell and joins the crew with a brand new story. She talks about how her life has changed and the surprise of becoming a romance novel enthusiast.Check out Brianne’s No End in Sight Podcast - noendinsight.co. About the podcast, Brianne writes: “I believe recording & sharing our stories is a form of testimony about how messed up medical care is right now. And it lets others bear witness to what we live with each day. And it creates resources for the undiagnosed & newly diagnosed to feel less alone or to share with friends & family.” Also follow Brianne on Twitter @bennessb and at #NEISvoid where she invites anyone to ask questions about their experiences with mental health or physical health, and are looking for advice or to just share their story.Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series of episodes. Due to, well, you know what, they’ll be recording remotely and posting new episodes with more frequency. On each episode, you’ll hear a story from one of them or from a special storytelling guest, followed by a quick discussion.

Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series of episodes. Due to, well, you know what, they’ll be recording remotely and posting new episodes with more frequency. On each episode, you’ll hear a story from one of them or from a special storytelling guest, followed by a quick discussion. The producers would like to hear from you - to say hi, share your own story, or just to check-in - visit our CONTACT page to get in touch.On today’s episode, Veronica shares a story about the playground behind her home. She is then joined by the Stories We Don’t Tell crew to talk about her isolation experience. Veronica’s show, Mosaic: Untold Lives, will take place online on April 14. RSVP here.

The Exquisite Corpse is a writing exercise that was invented by French Surrealists in the 1920s. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, but are only allowed to see what the previous person contributed. This is an audio version of this exercise, and we’ve asked each of our guests to write and record their own contribution based on a previous guest’s prompt.So, this episode includes a stitched-together story written by several people. What is the story about? Where will it go? What will happen? You’ll have to listen to find out. Welcome to the Exquisite Corpse: Chapter One.Stay with us after the story for a short After Dark chat with your hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul.

Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series of episodes. Due to, well, you know what, they’ll be recording remotely and posting new episodes with more frequency. On each episode, you’ll hear a story from one of them or from a special storytelling guest, followed by a quick discussion. The producers would like to hear from you - to say hi, share your own story, or just to check-in - visit our CONTACT page to get in touch.On today’s episode, Rob shares a story about getting ill, his distaste over hipster haircuts, and his appreciation of red carpet Christoph Waltz. He is then joined by the Stories We Don’t Tell crew to talk about finding positivity and generalized anxiety.

Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series. This episode is a throwback to before, well, you know what, where you’ll hear a story from the live event followed by a discussion on an aspect of storytelling.From last October, Georgette tells the story of two past relationships, and the lessons she learned from them. Your hosts have a discussion about writing relationship stories.

Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series of episodes. Due to, well, you know what, they’ll be recording remotely and posting new episodes with more frequency. On each episode, you’ll hear a story from one of them or from a special storytelling guest, followed by a quick discussion. The producers would like to hear from you - to say hi, share your own story, or just to check-in - visit our CONTACT page to get in touch.On today’s episode, Jon shares a story about having to shut out the world, but the world wanting back in. For more stories from Jon, visit his website jonaaronsandler.com and follow him on Instagram @jonaaronsandler.

Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series of episodes. Due to, well, you know what, they’ll be recording remotely and posting new episodes with more frequency. On each episode, you’ll hear a story from one of them or from a special storytelling guest, followed by a quick discussion. The producers would like to hear from you - to say hi, share your own story, or just to check-in - visit our CONTACT page to get in touch.On today’s episode, Paul shares a story about getting back onto the dating scene at the worst possible time.

Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series of episodes. Due to, well, you know what, they’ll be recording remotely and posting new episodes with more frequency. On each episode, you’ll hear a story from one of them or from a special storytelling guest, followed by a quick discussion. The producers would like to hear from you - to say hi, share your own story, or just to check-in - visit our CONTACT page to get in touch.On today’s episode, Joey shares a story about coming home and having to isolate, providing the space and time for reflection.

Join hosts Joey, Stefan, and Paul for this special ongoing series of episodes. Due to, well, you know what, they’ll be recording remotely and posting new episodes with more frequency. On each episode, you’ll hear a story from one of them or from a special storytelling guest, followed by a quick discussion.On today’s episode, Stefan shares a story about an elevator and how we’re all in this together. We want to hear from you - visit our website storieswedonttell.org to get in touch.

For the next few episodes, Paul and Stefan are joined by special guest co-host Joey Jakob. Each episode will include the usual: a story from the live event and a discussion about an aspect of storytelling.Our old friend Brianne returns with a story about health and diagnosis. Listen to Brianne’s podcast, No End in Sight, at noendinsight.co and follow her on Twitter @bennessb.Visit our website for more information on the Stories We Don’t Tell book, live event, and podcast.

For the next few episodes, Paul and Stefan are joined by special guest co-host Joey Jakob. Each episode will include the usual: a story from the live event and a discussion about an aspect of storytelling.Jake shares a story about learning how to cry again. In the story, Jake references a discussion he has with his wife about what is better comfort food, rice or noodles. This has been an ongoing debate at the SWDT studios, and we want to know what you think. Tweet your answer to us @Steho_ and @jeffreypauldore.Visit our website for more information on the Stories We Don’t Tell book, live event, and podcast.

For the next few episodes, Paul and Stefan are joined by special guest co-host Joey Jakob. Each episode will include the usual: a story from the live event and a discussion about an aspect of storytelling.Alia shares a story about moving to China, her struggles there, and the very creative solution that her parents come up with to help her out.Visit our website for more information on the Stories We Don’t Tell book, live event, and podcast.

For the next few episodes, Paul and Stefan are joined by special guest co-host Joey Jakob. Each episode will include the usual: a story from the live event and a discussion about an aspect of storytelling.Jon Aaron Sandler shares a story from his past that involves making some healthy decisions for himself. For more stories from Jon, visit his website jonaaronsandler.com and follow him on Instagram @jonaaronsandler.Visit our website for more information on the Stories We Don’t Tell book, live event, and podcast.

For the next few episodes, Paul and Stefan are joined by special guest co-host Joey Jakob. Each episode will include the usual: a story from the live event and a discussion about an aspect of storytelling.To honour the new co-host, Joey shares a story about friendship, reflecting on your younger self, and cherry picking.Visit our website for more information on the Stories We Don’t Tell book, live event, and podcast.

Paul and Stefan are going back to their storytelling roots. For the next bunch of episodes, they will be presenting stories recorded live off the floor at the Stories We Don’t Tell monthly event.Paul shares a funny story about getting better after something bad happened. After each performance, Stefan and Paul discuss an aspect of storytelling that was inspired by the story, either in form or content. For this episode, the guys were inspired to discuss how to talk about something without actually talking about it.

Paul and Stefan are going back to their storytelling roots. For the next bunch of episodes, they will be presenting stories recorded live off the floor at the Stories We Don’t Tell monthly event.Fatima Kamenge shares an emotional journey about finding true love and acceptance. After each performance, Stefan and Paul discuss an aspect of storytelling that was inspired by the story, either in form or content. For this episode, the guys were inspired by Fatima to talk about how to use big reveals effectively in a story.

Paul and Stefan are going back to their storytelling roots. For the next bunch of episodes, they will be presenting stories recorded live off the floor at the Stories We Don’t Tell monthly event.Rob Shirkey shares an emotional story about recovering from two concussions. After each performance, Stefan and Paul discuss an aspect of storytelling that was inspired by the story, either in form or content. For this episode, Paul and Stefan were inspired by Rob to talk about telling a story while you’re still in it.

Paul and Stefan are going back to their storytelling roots. For the next bunch of episodes, they will be presenting stories recorded live off the floor at the Stories We Don’t Tell monthly event.The man himself, Stefan, shares a story about visiting his mother at the hospital. After each performance, Stefan and Paul discuss an aspect of storytelling that was inspired by the story, either in form or content. For this episode, Paul and Stefan talk about how a piece of information can be used in a variety of ways.

Paul and Stefan are going back to their storytelling roots. For the next bunch of episodes, they will be presenting stories recorded live off the floor at the Stories We Don’t Tell monthly event.Jette Stubbs shares a story about her childhood. After each performance, Stefan and Paul discuss an aspect of storytelling that was inspired by the story, either in form or content. For this episode, Jette inspired them to talk about going back in time to tell a story from a different perspective.

Paul and Stefan are going back to their storytelling roots. For the next bunch of episodes, they will be presenting stories recorded live off the floor at the Stories We Don’t Tell monthly event.Veronica Antipolo shares a beautiful story about her grandmother. After each performance, Stefan and Paul discuss an aspect of storytelling that was inspired by the story, either in form or content. For this episode, Veronica inspired them to talk about using a repeated phrase to evoke different meanings and emotions.

Paul and Stefan are going back to their storytelling roots. For the next bunch of episodes, they will be presenting stories recorded live off the floor at the Stories We Don’t Tell monthly event.Joey Jakob shares a story about one of those small details that happen in our lives. After each performance, Stefan and Paul discuss an aspect of storytelling that was inspired by the story, either in form or content. For this episode, Joey inspired them to talk about how to write a story that might be a small moment, but one that has a large internal narrative.

On this one-off episode, Stefan tricks Paul into talking about sports. More importantly, they wanted to introduce a special project they have been working on over the summer hiatus. September 2019 is the fifth anniversary of the Stories We Don’t Tell and to mark this occasion, they put together a book of 61 stories that have been performed at the event over the years.In addition to sports, Paul and Stefan go through the process of working with all the contributors, designing the book, and what it took to pull it all together. The official book launch will be held in Toronto on Thursday, October 17th, and you can purchase tickets here.

Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, present a mash-up of the ongoing Five in Five and After Dark series, among other things. As we get closer to celebrating five years of Stories We Don’t Tell, the next five episodes will include lessons they’ve learned along the way. Paul and Stefan secretly made a list of some of these lessons separately, and in each of the next five episodes, they will both reveal one and discuss.In this episode, Stefan talks about how being too descriptive could be the death of a story and Paul talks about letting go of things. Stefan puts out a call to you, the audience: what kind of things would you like to hear on future episodes? Tweet your answers @Steho_ and @jeffreypauldore. This wraps up the season-ending series of lessons learned in the last five years. See you, or more appropriately, hear you soon.

Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, present a mash-up of the ongoing Five in Five and After Dark series, among other things. As we get closer to celebrating five years of Stories We Don’t Tell, the next five episodes will include lessons they’ve learned along the way. Paul and Stefan secretly made a list of some of these lessons separately, and in each of the next five episodes, they will both reveal one and discuss.In this episode, Paul talks about the importance of good communication when putting on an event and Stefan talks about the motivations behind why people want to tell a particular story. As an added bonus, and to insert some suspense into the episode, Paul’s sink exploded during the recording session. Will your humble hosts drown by the end of the show? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, present a mash-up of the ongoing Five in Five and After Dark series, among other things. As we get closer to celebrating five years of Stories We Don’t Tell, the next five episodes will include lessons they’ve learned along the way. Paul and Stefan secretly made a list of some of these lessons separately, and in each of the next five episodes, they will both reveal one and discuss.In this episode, Stefan talks about how each storytelling event has a life of its own and Paul talks about the importance of constructive feedback on your writing. Stefan was very excited about organizing the physical space of an event and for some reason, Paul sounded incoherent at times as though he was high. Where do you fall? #TeamSpace or #TeamHigh?

Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, present a mash-up of the ongoing Five in Five and After Dark series, among other things. As we get closer to celebrating five years of Stories We Don’t Tell, the next five episodes will include lessons they’ve learned along the way. Paul and Stefan secretly made a list of some of these lessons separately, and in each of the next five episodes, they will both reveal one and discuss.In this episode, Paul talks about continuously doing the work as a storyteller and Stefan talks about how editing improves everything.Extra bonus: You get to hear about the pooping ducklings that Stefan took care of as a five-year-old and the two cans of worms Paul opens.

Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, present a mash-up of the ongoing Five in Five and After Dark series, among other things. As we get closer to celebrating five years of Stories We Don’t Tell, the next five episodes will include lessons they’ve learned along the way. Paul and Stefan secretly made a list of some of these lessons separately, and in each of the next five episodes, they will both reveal one and discuss.This episode is about consistency in writing and being thoughtful with your intentions behind an event. Who was on #SWDTTeamConsistency and #SWDTThoughtful? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Temwa shares a story about her 25-year-old self and her 400-year-old self. Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, talk about writing a story based on a feeling.

Nicole shares a beautiful and moving story about friendship. Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, talk about telling a story that is taken from a larger piece.

Peggy Sue returns to the podcast with a powerful story about loss. Your humble hosts, Stefan and Paul, talk about storytellers that keep coming back for more.To hear more from Peggy Sue, have a listen to her earlier interview on the podcast HERE.

Jon Aaron Sandler shares a story about evolving into The Third Guitarist. Stefan and Paul talk about the community that has formed around Stories We Don't Tell.

Stefan and Paul celebrate the 100th episode of the podcast by going back in time and re-visiting the past. With beers in hand, your humble hosts re-listen to episode one to see how far they’ve come. Spoiler alert: not very far (but for good reasons). We recommend that you have a listen to that first episode and for your convenience, we re-posted it right before this one in your feed.We want to thank all our storytellers who’ve performed at the live event and allowed us to use their work on the podcast. And of course, to our supporters and listeners - we really do have the best audience in the world. And also, a big thank you to Brianne for making that fateful choice to pitch Let’s Get Personal at the Centre for Social Innovation’s summit all those years ago. It’s been swell.Cheers to another 100.

For the 100th episode of the podcast, Stefan and Paul listen to and reflect on the very first episode. We talked about such specific things about the first episode that we decided to bump it up the feed so it would be right next to the 100th. So, enjoy!Paul, Brianne and Stefan talk about how Stories We Don't Tell got started. Brianne tells the story that launched our essay group Let's Get Personal. Theme music by Rayannah.

Paul shares a story about how his inner voice is a jackass. Stefan and Paul offer another challenge - take a thought, feeling or concept and create a narrative around it.The next few episodes introduce an experiment the SWDT crew has been working on - a digital writing group. To get updates on Digital LGP (Let’s Get Personal) over the next few months, like the SWDT Facebook Page. Digital LGP involves reading prompts to inspire your writing. These episodes are the podcast version of this - sort of!

Stefan shares a story about anxiety masked in a journey through Jordan. Paul and Stefan offer another challenge - tell an internal story through external means.The next few episodes introduce an experiment the SWDT crew has been working on - a digital writing group. To get updates on Digital LGP (Let’s Get Personal) over the next few months, like the SWDT Facebook Page. Digital LGP involves reading prompts to inspire your writing. These episodes are the podcast version of this - sort of!

Joey Jakob shares a story about her life during the completion of her PhD. Stefan and Paul offer a challenge of their own - a writing exercise on how to compress time.The next few episodes introduce an experiment the SWDT crew has been working on - a digital writing group. To get updates on Digital LGP (Let’s Get Personal) over the next few months, like the SWDT Facebook Page. Digital LGP involves reading prompts to inspire your writing. These episodes are the podcast version of this - sort of!

Lawrence Alvarez shares a letter that is not what you think. Stefan and Paul are inspired by Lawrence’s story so much that they offer a prompt of their own.The next few episodes introduce an experiment the SWDT crew has been working on - a digital writing group. To get updates on Digital LGP (Let’s Get Personal) over the next few months, like the SWDT Facebook Page. Digital LGP involves reading prompts to inspire your writing. These episodes are the podcast version of this - sort of!

On this episode, you get two stories in one episode. Brianne Benness tells a story where she finds humour in dark places. Adam Zawalich shares a tale that runs parallel to Brianne’s story.Subscribe to Brianne’s No End in Sight Podcast: https://noendinsight.co. She talks to friends and strangers about their experiences managing their health, seeking a diagnosis, and building a life with chronic illness.The next few episodes introduce an experiment the SWDT crew has been working on - a digital writing group. To get updates on Digital LGP (Let’s Get Personal) over the next few months, like the SWDT Facebook Page. Digital LGP involves reading prompts to inspire your writing. These episodes are the podcast version of this - sort of!