Native American people of the United States
POPULARITY
Categories
98 episodes with Navajo
72 episodes with Navajo
48 episodes with Navajo
25 episodes with Navajo
20 episodes with Navajo
32 episodes with Navajo
34 episodes with Navajo
29 episodes with Navajo
35 episodes with Navajo
9 episodes with Navajo
16 episodes with Navajo
57 episodes with Navajo
17 episodes with Navajo
16 episodes with Navajo
21 episodes with Navajo
14 episodes with Navajo
12 episodes with Navajo
11 episodes with Navajo
9 episodes with Navajo
12 episodes with Navajo
13 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
10 episodes with Navajo
11 episodes with Navajo
18 episodes with Navajo
8 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
9 episodes with Navajo
8 episodes with Navajo
8 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
8 episodes with Navajo
11 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
16 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
27 episodes with Navajo
8 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
8 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
126 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
12 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
15 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
10 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
9 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
12 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
9 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
12 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
6 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
8 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
9 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
3 episodes with Navajo
5 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
4 episodes with Navajo
2 episodes with Navajo
7 episodes with Navajo
Ethan drives Highway 160 home every night. He knows the deer, the elk, the long dark stretches near the San Juan Mountains. But on a January night under a two percent moon, every house light and every street light goes dark at once, like a switch flips on the whole valley. Then something steps onto the double yellow line and starts walking straight toward his truck. He is sure it is a buck. Then the white deer turns translucent, you can almost see its bones, and it rises onto two legs.This is one of the most chilling firsthand accounts of a skinwalker we have ever brought to the membership. Ethan leads a Navajo crew, lives on the edge of Ute and Navajo land, and he never wanted to say the word first. His wife said it for him. We walk through every second of it, the grotesque seizure-like movement, the cannon-shot charge at his windshield, and the moment the thing vanished into vapor just feet from his face. Worship music is still playing. Lock the doors for this one. Want to listen to this episode and a catalog of more than 100+ other members-only episodes? How about all our main feed episodes AD FREE? Check out the vibrant community, extra episodes, and amazing perks of being a Blurry Creatures member at https://blurrycreatures.com/pages/members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On today's newscast: State lawmakers advanced $18 billion bipartisan budget proposal, Mohave County measles outbreak declared over, Navajo officials approve emergency drought declaration, and more.
The University of Washington’s WWAMI medical school program just received a new $25 million endowment for scholarships and rural education support, as Alaska Public Media's Rachel Cassandra reports. The program gets its name from the five states it serves – Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho – and educates emerging physicians in those rural states. Dr. Nick Phelps, WWAMI's assistant dean at the University of Alaska Anchorage, says the gift will go to scholarships for 30 eligible students across the five-state class. “For the students who are accepted to receive this scholarship, it covers half of their tuition.” Phelps says those eligible to apply for the scholarships are students in two specific programs: one, a rural track, and the other, a tribal and traditional medicine track. Medical school tuition – and the debt students take on to pay it – can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Phelps says the scholarships change the financial equation. “Primary care practices and primary care physicians… are the bedrock of medicine, for lack of a better term. They’re also some of the lowest paid specialties for students to go into, so for somebody who really is strongly interested in family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, some of those other primary care specialties, they have to do a bit of an internal calculus.” Many medical students choose specialties that pay better, which has helped create a shortage of primary care practitioners, both in Alaska and across the U.S. Phelps notes that the U.S. Department of Education will soon start limiting student loan amounts that Americans can take out for higher education, including medical school. Philanthropists William and Carolyn Franke and their family gave the WWAMI program the $25 million endowment to create the Franke Medical Student Scholars Program. Phelps says he hopes that the resulting scholarships encourage more Alaska students to focus on medicine that serves rural, remote and Indigenous Alaskans. The cliffs of Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation on September 1, 2023. (Photo: Chris Clements / KNAU) An energy company is asking for preliminary approval from the feds to look into building a hydropower project on the Navajo Nation. KNAU's Chris Clements has more. The company Nature and People First is asking for a preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate building a pumped storage project near Chilchinbeto, Ariz. It would include two reservoirs holding a total of 20,000 acre-feet of water. Pumped storage projects generate energy by letting water flow downhill and then pumping it back up. Nature and People First tried to get federal approval for three pumped storage projects in 2021, but the Navajo Nation and the feds later said no. Critics cited concerns about overuse of aquifers and damage to the environment of nearby Black Mesa, which is considered sacred by the Navajo and Hopi tribes. If it is granted, the permit would not allow the company to disturb any land or give them permission to enter private property. Grand Exit at Celebration 2026. (Courtesy Sealaska Heritage Institute) Thousands of Alaska Natives and visitors gathered in Juneau, Alaska last week for Celebration 2026, one of the largest Indigenous cultural events in the state. The four-day gathering, organized by Sealaska Heritage Institute, brought together Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian dancers, artists, and culture bearers from across Southeast Alaska, Canada, and beyond. The event featured traditional song and dance performances, Native art, language activities, and cultural workshops. This year’s theme was “Enduring Strength”. Celebration began more than 40 years ago as a way to preserve Native cultures and pass traditional knowledge to younger generations. Organizers say the event continues to showcase the survival and persistence of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian traditions while strengthening connections among Indigenous communities throughout the region. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, June 8, 2026 — Confronting division with Pride
Download Welcome to LOTC Presents episode 483. This week Black Glove Mysteries, Ian and Greg are looking at 1966 Navajo Joe and 1968 The Great Silence. Lastly, Mortis Vision with the Mortis's has GregaMortis and Pearl looking at 1977 House. We hope you will enjoy this weeks episode. Grab those favorite snacks and beverages as you journey with us through the Land Of The Creeps. HELP KEEP HORROR ALIVE!!MOVIE REVIEWS1966 NAVAJO JOE IAN : 9GREG : 81968 THE GREAT SILENCEIAN : 10GREG : 9.5 LINKS FOR DOUBLE DOUBLEGregaMortisFacebookTwitterLand Of The Creeps Group PageLand Of The Creeps Fan PageJay Of The Dead's New Horror Movie PodcastYoutubeInstagramEmailLetterboxdTwisted Temptress LinkLetterboxdIAN IRZA LINKSBLOG SITEFACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAMLETTERBOXDLOTC Hotline Number1-804-569-56821-804-569-LOTCLOTC Intro is provided by Andy Ussery, Below are links to his social mediaEmail:FacebookTwitterLespecial FacebookLespecial Website
Guest include:Rose Jacket - Recent ASU graduate who will be heading to South Korea as a Fulbright ETA finalist to teach EnglishAlbert Haskie - Diné software developer and founder of Nyzhon Studios, who will tell us about his Navajo education program smartphone app called Adoonee Terri Pete - Navajo/Hopi artist and owner and operator of TP DesignsSupport the show
Flight nurse Claire Barnett joins host Jana Price on Nurse Converse to share one of the most intense survival stories in flight nursing.Claire is a quadruple board-certified emergency nurse and the chief flight nurse for an international medevac company. About a year and a half ago, she and her trainee partner accepted a flight to pick up a young man with possible hantavirus. The plan was solid. The weather looked manageable. Then everything changed.Fifteen minutes into the flight, the storm closed in behind them. The pilot was forced to land in the middle of nowhere as a blizzard rolled over them. With a critically ill patient, limited oxygen, no cell service, and search and rescue unable to reach them, Claire had to make decisions that went against every protocol she had been trained on — including giving Ativan to slow her patient's breathing and save what little oxygen they had left.This episode is about more than survival. It's about what flight nurses face every shift, the weight of being someone's only hope, and the six Navajo search and rescue heroes who spent five hours building a road to reach them. Claire also shares the advice every new nurse needs to hear: don't lose your voice.Jump Ahead: 00:38 — Welcome and introducing Claire Barnett01:45 — From concrete dispatcher to nurse: the story that started it all04:27 — Why flight nursing was always the dream06:01 — The setup: a young patient with possible hantavirus09:00 — Weighing the storm and the patient's oxygen needs11:30 — At the bedside: hypoxic, tachypneic, alert and oriented13:00 — Lift-off and the storm closing in14:30 — Landing in a whiteout in the middle of nowhere17:00 — The oxygen problem and an out-of-protocol decision20:19 — The RAM cannula and the BiPAP workaround22:00 — Giving Ativan to slow the patient's breathing24:21 — The helicopter confessional26:00 — The call to prepare for the worst27:30 — Headlights in the storm: the Navajo rescue team29:00 — Wrapping the patient and sliding down the mountain30:30 — Claire's first intubation in the back of an ambulance32:30 — What it feels like knowing every flight could be your last36:07 — Claire's advice to new nurses: don't lose your voice37:30 — The nurse who became a nurse because of Claire38:44 — Closing thanksListen now at nurse.org/nurseconverse.For more information, full transcript and videos visit Nurse.org/podcastJoin our newsletter at nurse.org/joinInstagram: @nurse_orgTikTok: @nurse.orgFacebook: @nurse.orgYouTube: Nurse.org
In this episode of The Good Robot, Eleanor Drage sits down with David Griffiths, founding director of the nonprofit Then Try This. Inspired by a childhood spent coding pixels next to his mother's traditional floor loom, Dave unpacks the deep historical links between textiles and programming, arguing that technology is never neutral and that true innovation relies on grassroots, participatory design.They explore brilliant local projects like Sonic Kayaks, which use underwater soundscapes to map marine data for visually impaired paddlers, and Nurgle, an accessible game tracking public health trends using specialized audio cues. Finally, they reveal the hidden, feminist histories of computing, showing how modern microchips directly owe their legacy to the complex creativity of Navajo weavers. Tune in to discover why the future of tech belongs to frugal, community-led innovations rather than just the next iteration of GPT.Reading List:Then Try ThisIndigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic ManufactureQueer In AI: A Case Study in Community-Led Participatory AI Sensing Bodies: Engaging Postcolonial Histories through More-than-Human InteractionsEdited by: Meibel Dabodabo
What does it mean to rethink religion from the ground up? University of Colorado's religious studies professor Sam Gill draws on biology, philosophy, and decades of research and dance practice to argue that we are moving, whole organisms before we are divided into mind and body. Gill proposes that humans possess a biologically enabled capacity to hold together what we know to be different as if it were the same—a dynamic that underlies the powers of metaphor, masking, dancing, ritual action, symbol, and language. Through vivid examples from Hopi initiation, Javanese shadow puppetry and dance, and Navajo prayer ceremonials, Gill shows how religious actions create worlds, identities, and enduring cultural coherence. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 41541]
What does it mean to rethink religion from the ground up? University of Colorado's religious studies professor Sam Gill draws on biology, philosophy, and decades of research and dance practice to argue that we are moving, whole organisms before we are divided into mind and body. Gill proposes that humans possess a biologically enabled capacity to hold together what we know to be different as if it were the same—a dynamic that underlies the powers of metaphor, masking, dancing, ritual action, symbol, and language. Through vivid examples from Hopi initiation, Javanese shadow puppetry and dance, and Navajo prayer ceremonials, Gill shows how religious actions create worlds, identities, and enduring cultural coherence. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 41541]
What does it mean to rethink religion from the ground up? University of Colorado's religious studies professor Sam Gill draws on biology, philosophy, and decades of research and dance practice to argue that we are moving, whole organisms before we are divided into mind and body. Gill proposes that humans possess a biologically enabled capacity to hold together what we know to be different as if it were the same—a dynamic that underlies the powers of metaphor, masking, dancing, ritual action, symbol, and language. Through vivid examples from Hopi initiation, Javanese shadow puppetry and dance, and Navajo prayer ceremonials, Gill shows how religious actions create worlds, identities, and enduring cultural coherence. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 41541]
What does it mean to rethink religion from the ground up? University of Colorado's religious studies professor Sam Gill draws on biology, philosophy, and decades of research and dance practice to argue that we are moving, whole organisms before we are divided into mind and body. Gill proposes that humans possess a biologically enabled capacity to hold together what we know to be different as if it were the same—a dynamic that underlies the powers of metaphor, masking, dancing, ritual action, symbol, and language. Through vivid examples from Hopi initiation, Javanese shadow puppetry and dance, and Navajo prayer ceremonials, Gill shows how religious actions create worlds, identities, and enduring cultural coherence. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 41541]
What does it mean to rethink religion from the ground up? University of Colorado's religious studies professor Sam Gill draws on biology, philosophy, and decades of research and dance practice to argue that we are moving, whole organisms before we are divided into mind and body. Gill proposes that humans possess a biologically enabled capacity to hold together what we know to be different as if it were the same—a dynamic that underlies the powers of metaphor, masking, dancing, ritual action, symbol, and language. Through vivid examples from Hopi initiation, Javanese shadow puppetry and dance, and Navajo prayer ceremonials, Gill shows how religious actions create worlds, identities, and enduring cultural coherence. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 41541]
In episode 412 of the RV Miles podcast, we continue our @noovovans road trip across northern Arizona via scenic Route 89A, sharing why the overlooked drive offers great stops beyond the Grand Canyon. We take an unplanned visit to Pipe Spring National Monument, drive through Kaibab National Forest, past Vermilion Cliffs, and stop at Marble Canyon's Navajo Bridge near Lee's Ferry, *Get links and more in the show notes at https://RVMiles.com/412 *Support RV Miles and independent RV journalism
The Trump administration is moving to undo a 20-year ban on oil and gas drilling near Chaco Canyon, a place of major cultural significance to pueblos in the Southwest. The threat of new oil leases on nearly 340,000 acres of public land surrounding Chaco Canyon has put the site on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's Most Endangered Spaces. It is the second time on the same list for the land that is already a protected National Historic Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The moratorium was instituted in 2023 by then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is a Laguna Pueblo citizen. We'll hear about the options ahead for the land and the cultural significance it holds. GUESTS Charles Riley, governor of Acoma Pueblo Brian Vallo (Acoma Pueblo), chairman of the Chaco Heritage Tribal Association and former governor of Acoma Pueblo Mario Atencio (Diné), Navajo allotment stakeholder
Photo: Kim Etsitty aboard the 223-footlong research vessel, Nautilus, in 2024. (Ocean Exploration Trust) This summer, a Navajo high school teacher will sail the high seas on back-to-back research expeditions around the globe. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. Born in Chinle, Ariz., Kim Etsitty spends much of her year teaching science at Navajo Pine High School in New Mexico. That is, until summer recess, but Etsitty won't be taking a break this year. “I'll just be tired.” Because, starting in June, Etsitty will hop aboard the research vessel, Nautilus, with the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust. She will livestream her journey mapping the seafloor from Hawaii to Guam. Then in July, Etsitty is heading toward the Arctic with National Geographic where she will explore polar caps. Despite being at sea only a handful of times, Etsitty shares why the Diné have ties to it. “A lot of times we wear these jewelry, coral or abalone shell, and we don't really talk about where it came from, so I was able to like tie in a lot of stories about why Navajo people wear coral and this ancient ocean that once was here, but now it's dry land.” And she'll set foot on Navajoland again – before the new school year begins. Iḷisaġvik College's current campus on the northern side of Utqiaġvik, Alaska. (Photo: Ravenna Koenig / Alaska's Energy Desk) A tribal college on the North Slope bought a piece of land last month to build a new campus. College officials announced the purchase last week. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Iḷisaġvik College has been planning a new campus for nearly ten years. This month, the officials announced a land purchase to build it on. Justina Wilhelm is the college's president. She says the campus will sit on a 15-acre site in Utqiaġvik, Alaska near the hospital. “So this has been a long standing vision for the college, and … I'm very very excited that we have this prime location that will be a central gathering place for our people.” Illisagvik is Alaska's only tribal college. It offers hands-on educational programs in such areas as Iñupiaq studies, allied health, construction and education. And it serves about a thousand students, in person in Utqiagvik, and remotely on the North Slope and across the state. Right now, those programs are housed in buildings that were never meant to be a college. Wilhelm says the main building is a 70-year-old naval base two and a half miles out of town. Overall, the programs are spread out between 13 different facilities. “So we’re very excited to have this new campus to be under one roof, to all be together.” Last month, the college bought a piece of land for the new campus from Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation, the Alaska Native Village Corporation for Utqiaġvik. Wilhelm says the next step is completing environmental assessments and updating the design approved in 2018. The construction will start with administrative offices, family housing and workforce development garages. Down the road, the plan is to have more housing and a big wellness gym, she says. Wilhelm says the new campus is designed to include open spaces that inspire conversations and collaboration. One vision is a glass wall between the main entrance and cafeteria, overlooking the construction trades and community outreach classrooms. Wilhelm said the idea is that students at lunch can also observe some of the cultural and workforce programs available at the college. “As a tribal college with our language values and traditions, it’s so vital that we’re here to provide the spaces and provide the classes to allow for our traditions to carry on. … I’m very excited that when people come there, they’re going to want to be a part of there. I hope they don’t want to leave.” College officials did not share the exact timeline for the construction. They said work is ongoing to secure funding for the next steps. The college also recently opened a new campus in St. Paul, Alaska. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, May 27, 2026 — Oil drilling vs cultural preservation at Chaco Canyon
The Trump administration is moving to undo a 20-year ban on oil and gas drilling near Chaco Canyon, a place of major cultural significance to pueblos in the Southwest. The threat of new oil leases on nearly 340,000 acres of public land surrounding Chaco Canyon has put the site on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's Most Endangered Spaces. It is the second time on the same list for the land that is already a protected National Historic Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The moratorium was instituted in 2023 by then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is a Laguna Pueblo citizen. We'll hear about the options ahead for the land and the cultural significance it holds. GUESTS Charles Riley, governor of Acoma Pueblo Brian Vallo (Acoma Pueblo), chairman of the Chaco Heritage Tribal Association and former governor of Acoma Pueblo Mario Atencio (Diné), Navajo allotment stakeholder Break 1 Music: Anasazi Sun (song) Injunuity (artist) Fight For Survival (album) Break 2 Music: Cauyaqa Nauwa [Where's My Drum] (song) Pamyua (artist) Drums Of The North: Traditional Yup'ik Songs (album)
Don't Whistle at Night welcomes Matthew Dawes May 23rd, 2026 EP: 058 TOPIC: Matthew will be sharing his numerous experiences and encounters . About Our Guest: Matthew Dawes was born and raised in Gallup New Mexico. He is a Great Navajo Storyteller with many highly strange encounters to his name. Some of his experiences include Bigfoot, Goatman, Slenderman, SkinWalkers, Warlock, Witches, Little People . He has also had many Paranormal hide and Seek, Hospital encounters, as well as with demonic creatures ( in a cornfield). In is “off” time Matthew enjoys Volleyball, Photography and is beginning to Crochet.
In this episode, I'm joined by Christopher Seward, a documentary filmmaker and editor whose work includes Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, Ariel Phenomenon, One Child Nation, and more than 40 documentary films.Christopher's work sits at the intersection of truth, emotion, curiosity, and perspective. As an editor, he has spent much of his career helping shape complex, difficult, and often confronting stories into films that people can actually watch, feel, and understand.This conversation explores the craft of documentary storytelling, but it also goes much deeper than film. We talk about curiosity as a way of moving through the world, the difference between facts and emotional truth, the role of humour in difficult stories, and why being seen may be one of the deepest human needs we all share.Christopher also shares his own life story, from growing up surrounded by art, nature, and service, to serving in the Navy, spending time on the Navajo reservation, studying cinematography at NYU, and building a life rooted in community, gratitude, nature, and creative purpose.In This Episode, You'll DiscoverWhy curiosity can create common ground, even when people disagree.How Christopher thinks about finding the universal human thread inside complex stories.Why facts alone are not always enough in a post-truth world.The role of emotional truth in documentary filmmaking.How humour can help people stay with difficult or painful subjects.Why documentaries need space, rhythm, and moments of relief.How Christopher's time on the Navajo reservation shaped his spirituality and view of nature.What losing his father young taught him about impermanence, process, and savouring life.Why community requires showing up, not just belonging.How nature helps Christopher process the intensity of his work.Why a bountiful life may begin with changing how we define bounty.Timestamps00:00 – Opening reflection on truth, purpose, and being seen01:20 – Introduction to Christopher Seward02:39 – Growing up with art, nature, service, and imagination06:44 – Spirituality, church, curiosity, and questioning09:18 – What it means to live a bountiful life12:30 – Advice to his 25-year-old self14:34 – Self-trust, intuition, and learning to listen to your gut17:00 – Losing his father young and learning impermanence19:30 – Time on the Navajo reservation and indigenous wisdom26:10 – Studying cinematography and finding documentary editing30:13 – How to shape complex stories32:39 – Facts, emotional truth, and storytelling in a post-truth world35:34 – Working on intense documentaries and difficult subjects38:24 – Nature, perspective, and staying well while telling hard stories40:10 – Ariel Phenomenon and the power of first-person storytelling45:08 – Authenticity over spectacle46:02 – What Christopher looks for in a story48:25 – Humour, pain, pacing, and making hard subjects watchable51:04 – Tentpole scenes and the gravity of story55:37 – Nature as our operating system58:36 – Community, homecoming, and building belonging01:04:42 – Quickfire roundGuest BioChristopher Seward is a documentary filmmaker and editor whose work spans more than 40 documentary films. His credits include Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, Ariel Phenomenon, One Child Nation, and many other projects exploring politics, human rights, social issues, identity, and the unseen stories that shape our world. His work is grounded in curiosity, emotional truth, and a deep interest in helping people see complex subjects through a more human lens.About the Bountifull PodcastBountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring what it means to live a joyful and meaningful life. Through conversations with interesting people from diverse backgrounds, we explore psychology, science, creativity, resilience, connection, and practical wisdom for living a good life.
Photo: Diné Bizaad is the latest mobile app created by Albert Haskie, the lead developer, who is Diné and from the Navajo Nation. (Courtesy Adoonee) Across the United States, there are over 575 federally recognized American Indian tribes. According to the U.S. Census, Native North American language use fell by 6% from 2013 to 2021, but among those who spoke a Native language, nearly half spoke Navajo. KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) spoke to a Diné software developer who has created a mobile app to help preserve the Navajo language. Albert Haskie (Diné) spent two years building the app Diné Bizaad with a group of Navajo employees. “I’m making it for us, and that’s the primary goal.” Haskie says he learned the Navajo language at a young age but in sixth grade he transferred to a non-Navajo language school and that it was a cultural shock for him. “I kind of always missed it and always wanted to figure out how to reintroduce it into my life, but also try to reintroduce it to a lot of other people’s lives.” Haskie says users can build their own curriculum and it includes fun tools like the word of the day. He says the app differs from other language apps because this one has richer content and a practicing Navajo speaker who consulted on every word and phrase. Diné Bizaad was independently built without collaboration of the Navajo Nation. “I’ve showed them multiple times, but they just couldn’t find anything to work with me. I was more than happy to try to figure out working with them. But the reality is, it would have probably not launched within the time I wanted it to be.” A representative from the Department of Diné Education said Haskie talked with members within the department and that they are open to working with interested parties on preserving the Diné language. Haskie says he is in talks with other tribes to create language apps for their members. Whaling captain William ‘Wiyu’ Parks, right, and his wife Crystal on their way back from Punguk Island after a 3-month-long camping trip. (Courtesy Crystal Newhall) Whaling is an essential part of subsistence hunting in Siberian Yupik culture. High school student Tracy Tungiyan in the village of Gambell, Alaska on St. Lawrence Island wanted to understand more about it, so he interviewed a whaling captain from the community, William Parks, nicknamed Wiyu. He spoke to Parks in the library of the Gambell school and asked him whether whaling is easy or difficult. “There’s a degree of difficulty in it. You got to think of how enormous the whale is. You’re in basically a wash tub compared to the size of that whale. Depending on how the whale is moving, it could be pretty straightforward, catch up to it, strike. And there’s some days where the tails are really thrashing. You can’t get close to them. “We use these harpoons that have a barrel on there. We call them Puskaan [Siberian Yupik word]. I don’t know what they’re called in English. I’ve always known them as Puskaan. It has a harpoon, buoy, line buoy, and it fires either a black powder bomb or a penthrite bomb into the whale. Tungiyan asked Parks what hunting means to him and whether it was easier back then. “That’s a good question. To me, hunting is mostly about survival, it’s about tradition, and it’s about feeding family, relatives as a community, which is the most important part of life, in my opinion. You need food to survive. “I think mostly it’s like second nature to me. I don’t even think of how important this is to me anymore, more so that it’s the way I was brought up to live. It’s a part of me. It’s been a part of me since I was two, three years old. “Back then it was- seasons were more predictable. Weather was more predictable. In a way, it was easier. Nowadays, with lack of ice, bigger storms, shorter opportunities to head out. Yeah, I think it’s more difficult now compared to back then. The windows of good weather are getting shorter. “I know that everybody that goes hunting isn’t doing it for fun or sport. They’re doing it (as a) means of trying to harvest food. It's a part of who we are as people, as the community. Hunting is part of our nature. It’s been for thousands of years.” Tungiyan then asked him why catching a whale is so important for Gambell. “I think it’s important mostly because of the size of the catch. There’s enough to feed everybody. Just the sheer size of the whale. It’s an opportunity to feed the community, to have a community gather. Whaling has been part of our culture since the first whale swam and man saw it. It was a means of survival.” Tungiyan produced this story with former KNOM reporter Wali Rana and Alaska Public Media's Rachel Cassandra. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, May 18, 2026 – Trump administration takes aim at American buffalo
On today's newscast: Grand Canyon North Rim reopens after Dragon Bravo Fire, special prosecutor to refile charges against Navajo president, AG asks judge to remove Navajo County recorder, and more.
What does truly culturally responsive autism support look like—and who should lead it? In this episode, Ben speaks with Dr. Davis Henderson, Dr. Candi Running Bear, and Dr. Olivia Lindly about their work adapting the Parents Taking Action program for Diné (Navajo) families. Together, they unpack how geography, language, family structure, and cultural values shape access to autism services—and how their team is working alongside communities to close those gaps. From telehealth delivery across vast rural regions to adapting AAC tools in Indigenous languages, this conversation highlights what it really takes to move beyond “one-size-fits-all” care. The team also shares their innovative next step: empowering parents to train educators—flipping the traditional model of expertise on its head. What You'll Learn Why autism awareness and services remain limited in many Indigenous communities How the Diné Parents Taking Action program was culturally adapted The role of community advisory boards in ethical, effective research How telehealth unexpectedly improved access and connection Why AAC must be culturally and linguistically responsive The importance of extended family systems in caregiving How parents are being empowered to train educators What culturally responsive autism assessment still gets wrong—and how to improve it Key Topics & Highlights Adapting evidence-based interventions for Indigenous communities Barriers: rural geography, transportation, internet, and systemic gaps Language access—including the need for autism terminology in Navajo Cultural values like Hózhó and their role in care AAC innovation: from iPads to paper-based systems in low-resource settings Community connection as an intervention outcome Expanding work to Hopi and other Indigenous communities Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XWkC-7l19is Continuing Education Credits (https://www.cbiconsultants.com/shop) BACB: 1.0 Ethics IBAO: 1.0 Cultural QABA: 1.0 Ethics CBA/CPD: 1.0 Cultural Diversity Follow us! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behaviourspeak/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behaviourspeak TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@behaviorspeak About the Guests Dr. Davis Henderson – Associate Professor, Northern Arizona University. Navajo researcher focused on communication disorders and culturally responsive care. https://directory.nau.edu/?person=dh929 Dr. Candi Running Bear – Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico. Former special education teacher with deep experience in early childhood education on the Navajo Nation. https://coehs.unm.edu/faculty-staff/profiles/running-bear-candi.html Dr. Olivia Lindly – Associate Professor, Northern Arizona University. Public health researcher focused on maternal and child health and autism services. https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-lindly-phd-mph-3323306/ https://directory.nau.edu/?person=ojl28 Research Discussed: Lindly OJ, Running Bear CL, Henderson DE, Lopez K, Nozadi SS, Vining C, Bia S, Hill E and Leaf A (2023). Adaptation of the Parents Taking Action program for Diné (Navajo) parents of children with autism. Front. Educ. 8:1197197. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1197197 Lindly, O., Running Bear, C., Henderson, D. E., Kirby, B. R., Begay, V., Shui, A., Dababnah, S., & Magaña, S. M. (2025). Pilot study of a strengths-based education program for Diné (Navajo) families of autistic children: Feasibility, fidelity, acceptability, and initial outcomes. Research in Autism, 127, 202658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reia.2025.202658 Related Episodes: https://www.behaviourspeak.com/e/episode-37-the-realities-of-autism-in-first-nations-communities-in-canada-with-grant-bruno-phd-candidate/ https://www.behaviourspeak.com/e/episode-147-culturally-responsive-care-in-indigenous-communities-with-dr-jaxcy-turietta/ https://www.behaviourspeak.com/e/behavior-analysis-and-indigenous-ways-of-being-with-leslie-peters
Arizona travel writer Roger Naylor joins us to share 5 unforgettable Arizona hikes paired with the perfect local meal afterward. From Monument Valley and the Chiricahuas to Flagstaff and Tucson, we're talking hidden gems, scenic trails, Sonoran hot dogs, Navajo tacos, and some of the best burgers in the state. If you're looking for unique Arizona road trip ideas and outdoor adventures, this episode is packed with inspiration.
New infections aboard a cruise ship have thrust the hantavirus into the global spotlight. Hantavirus infections remain rare, with only about 1,000 cases reported in the U.S. in more than 30 years. What the world knows about the illness started in 1993 on the Navajo Nation. After struggling to identify the dangerous respiratory illness, medical researchers gained crucial insights from Navajo elders, noting that traditional oral histories had long associated spikes in deer mouse populations — driven by specific rainfall patterns — with deadly disease. That knowledge directly informed the scientific discovery of what we know now as the Sin Nombre virus. The discovery also offers a lesson in public notification of diseases. Early media reports labelled the pathogen as the “Navajo flu”, which stigmatized the community for years afterward. We'll look at the history of the hantavirus and the current efforts to prevent its spread. GUESTS Dean Seneca (Seneca), CEO of Seneca Scientific Solutions+, adjunct professor at the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University at Buffalo, and Adjunct Instructor at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Dr. Steven Bradfute, associate professor in the Center for Global Health at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine Dr. Erin Phipps, New Mexico State public health veterinarian Break 1 Music: Healing Song (song) Judy Trejo (artist) Circle Dance Songs of the Paiute and Shoshone (album) Break 2 Music: Fearless I Live (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)
Multiple witnesses from across North America call in with encounters they've never forgotten. A Virginia hunter describes watching a towering upright figure through his scope at dawn in the Shenandoah Valley. Deep inside Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest, campers hear powerful voices rolling across the ridges before the woods fall completely silent. In the Florida Panhandle, one caller shares a rare sighting of a glowing Bigfoot-shaped figure sprinting through the trees. Northern British Columbia brings a mountain encounter involving huge tracks, a face-to-face sighting, strange odors, and a desperate retreat. Then an unforgettable report from the Navajo Nation details two Bigfoot chasing down deer in the snow under a full moon. Real people, real stories, and one wild episode of Bigfoot Society.
Dr. Elmer J. Guy serves as the President of the Navajo Technical University, and he joined TJ to discuss the Navajo Technical University, Sandia National Laboratories, and Los Alamos National Laboratory Expanded Partnership to Build High-Tech Workforce on Navajo Nation. All this and more on News Radio KKOBSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pima County leaders could decide the sheriff's future; State lawmakers try to muzzle teacher's unions; A young filmmaker brings Navajo spirits to life; and more...
On today's newscast: The Trump administration examines hunting restrictions, Navajo committee okays pipeline, crews contain fire near Jacob Lake, and more.
Send us Fan MailWhat happens when you strip away the gear, the gadgets — and even the shoes? Barefoot Ken is here to show us.Meet Ken Posner, also known as Barefoot Ken — ultramarathoner, analyst, author, and the man quietly redefining what it means to connect with nature, one shoeless summit at a time. In this episode, Ken traces his journey from Chicago city kid to barefoot adventurer, sharing how a single book — Born to Run — inspired him to ditch his shoes at age 50 and never really look back.We cover it all: how the Catskills Grid (35 peaks × 12 months = 420 summits) became his modern-day pilgrimage, what it took to complete the John Muir Trail barefoot across three attempts, the meaning behind a barefoot summit of Tsoodzil — a sacred Navajo peak in New Mexico — and why his 1,000 Barefoot Mountains goal (currently at 632!) is more than just a number.Ken also opens up about his minimalist "stretch the rubber band" philosophy, what our hunter-gatherer ancestors can teach us about slowing down on trail, and the surprisingly honest Appendix C in Chasing the Grid — a full catalog of his lifetime running injuries and what they taught him.Episode Links:Barefoot Ken on InstagramBarefoot Ken's WebsiteBarefoot Ken on XPurchase Chasing the GridThis episode was Produced by Jordyn Smith, follow her on Instagram @jordyn.journeysFollow us on Instagram, @HikesandmicsThis episode's music was created by Ketsa, follow him on Instagram @Ketsamusic AllTrails+I'm excited to share that I'm now a Trailheads Ambassador for AllTrails+! If you love exploring the outdoors, AllTrails+ is your ultimate adventure companion. Get offline maps, real-time wrong-turn alerts, and trail previews to help you hike smarter and safer. Plus, with 3D maps and deeper trail insights, planning your next trek has never been easier.Try AllTrails+ free for 7 days, and when you sign up using my referral link, you'll get 30% off your AllTrails+ membership!Sign up here: AllTrails+ (promo is only redeemable via web and not the app)Ursa Minor Outfitters - Inspired by the outdoors, Created by local artists Go check them at www.ursaminoroutfitters.com and don't forget to enter the promo code HikesMics10 at checkout to receive 10% off your order.
In the case of a missing Native American woman in Arizona, the prosecution ends with a plea deal to a lesser charge. The AP's Jennifer King reports.
By Hershman John Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Shan Sharif and Bobby Belt discuss the Dallas Mavericks' blockbuster hire of Masai Ujiri and how the front office transition was managed without Mark Cuban's input. They also analyze Ben Solak's list of top defensive award candidates and highlight the unique personality and Navajo heritage of Cowboys rookie Shiaj Pete. 01:53 - NBA Playoff Update 05:10 - Tim MacMahon Discusses Ujiri 09:10 - Ujiri NBA Draft Strategy 14:15 - Mark Cuban Ownership Regret 20:40 - College Football Award Outlook 28:15 - Malachi Lawrence Scouting Report 32:15 - Shiaj Pete Wisdom Game 40:55 - AskReddit Beautiful Song Selections 48:55 - Relationship Breakup Advice
Photo: Apache Stronghold supporters converge at Oak Flat campground on February 22, 2025. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) A group opposed to a massive Arizona copper mining project filed a petition last week before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. They are hoping the court will reconsider the recent Oak Flat land swap between the U.S. Forest Service and Resolution Copper. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. A split, three-judge panel from the very same appeals court allowed the controversial transfer to proceed after tossing out a slew of lawsuits – while also lifting an injunction back in March. But plaintiffs now argue they still have a case to be made. Judge Johnnie Rawlinson agrees. In her dissenting opinion from April, she wrote that before the court stamps its seal on a decision that will “completely annihilate sacred Native lands, we must be certain that every i was dotted and every t was crossed. And that simply is not the case.” An FNX original children's series is earning national recognition. “Navajo Highways”, created by Pete Sands and filmed in Moab, Utah, has been nominated for two Emmy Awards by the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The nominations, announced recently, honor the show's educational content and set design. The Navajo-language series teaches culture and storytelling through the journey of a young girl reconnecting with her roots. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, May 4, 2026 – Demands for action grow as details of Indigenous surveillance program surface
In March 2026, the Scottsdale Art week had some discussions which were really informative. I really enjoyed this part of the programming and I wanted to share it with you. We had a booth there and I gave a lecture on Maynard Dixon and Ed Mell, but there were some other lovely panels/lectures that we recorded, and one of them included Diné weavers, Naiomi and Tyler Glasses. I've been fortunate to get to know them and I'm just so impressed with their creativity. They talked about their upbringing and the influence their grandmother had on their path towards becoming weavers. They speak on the connection between traditional Navajo weaving and contemporary fashion, and how blending utility and beauty is nothing new for the Diné. During the panel we hear about the origin of Naiomi's collaboration with Polo Ralph Lauren and how she was able to bring her brother on to help with a subsequent venture with Ralph Lauren Home. It's really interesting to get their take on how they've grown as a brother and sister team looking at fashion through the eyes of their own culture. So, I felt it was a really insightful discussion and something that you would have missed were you not in Scottsdale during the show, but luckily we are able to bring it to you today. This is Naiomi Glasses and her brother Tyler Glasses on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 393.
In this mini episode, Sheyahshe provides an update on the case of Ella Mae Begay, a Navajo elder who disappeared from her home in Sweetwater, Arizona in June 2021.After a federal judge ruled a key confession inadmissible in 2024, prosecutors moved forward with a plea agreement that would have allowed Preston Henry Tolth to plead guilty to a single robbery charge, potentially avoiding additional prison time and any future prosecution for murder or manslaughter.Earlier this month, a U.S. District Court judge rejected that agreement following testimony from Begay's family, who continue to seek accountability and the return of their loved one.Sources:https://apnews.com/article/ella-mae-begay-missing-murdered-indigenous-tolth-ddef9fd5bdaf4b29a0553fd532ead458https://www.abqjournal.com/news/suspect-enters-new-guilty-plea-in-the-case-of-missing-navajo-grandmother/3024048https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2026-04-09/judge-rejects-plea-agreement-in-case-of-missing-navajo-elder-ella-mae-begaySupport the show
An oil and gas lease sale is scheduled in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for June. The auction of drilling rights is mandated in federal law, but also reflects the Trump administration's commitment to promoting energy development in the state. The response from Indigenous residents that live in or near the refuge is mixed, as the Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced this month it will hold a lease sale in the nation's largest wildlife refuge, in the northeastern corner of Alaska. The piece of ANWR that has been the subject of passionate dispute for decades is the Coastal Plain, a swath along the Beaufort Sea that potentially has oil and gas reserves. The only community within the refuge is Kaktovik, an Iñupiaq village of about 300 people. Kaktovik Mayor Nathan Gordon Jr. says resource development in the refuge means economic opportunity because the regional government, the North Slope Borough, taxes oil and gas companies. “The taxes that come from the development pay for our schools, our water system, our sewer system. It pays for everything that has meaning in our lifestyle and protection and safety.” ANWR provides habitat for migratory birds and polar bears. And the Coastal Plain specifically is the calving grounds for the Porcupine Caribou Herd. Gordon says he believes development within the refuge will not interfere with wildlife. “With restrictions in place, it’s already set in stone for us to have safe development with our animals.” But opponents of the project are concerned that gravel roads, drilling, and seismic exploration can harm caribou, especially during their vulnerable calving period. The Gwich'in community of Arctic Village is located right outside ANWR to the south. Faith Gemmill lives in Fairbanks, but is from Arctic Village and has family there. “Imagine oil development in their core calving area. It’s going to … devastate our herd.” Gemmill says caribou support food security, culture, spirituality, and economy for Gwich'in people, including the future generations. “Our way of life is reliant on the caribou. So in my opinion, (President Donald) Trump’s incessant drive to drill in this area is a form of cultural genocide of the Gwich’in.” If the upcoming lease sale is successful, it could still take years for a project to break ground. Additional reporting from Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin Diné chef Justin Pioche, right, inspects ingredients as “Chopped” host Ted Allen watches during an episode from April 21, 2026. (Courtesy Food Network) “Chopped” is a Food Network show where four chefs compete in a race against time to make a three-course meal. The latest episode aired Tuesday night and featured an all-Indigenous lineup. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, a Navajo chef took the honors. From Chicago to Montana, Indian Country's top cooks vied for the “Chopped” title, but two of them repped the Southwest including Chef Ray Naranjo, who comes from the Santa Clara Pueblo just north of Santa Fe, N.M. Justin Pioche lives on the Navajo Nation. The 2023 James Beard finalist for Best Chef in the Southwest co-owns Pioche Food Group, a high-end catering company. He plans on using the $10,000 cash prize to help pay for his own brick-and-mortar restaurant. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native Aerica Calling episode Thursday, April 23, 2026 — Gathering of MCs: Native musicians compete for best bars, beats, and freestyles
Dr. Fred Dickason is 99 years old, a World War II vet, and spent over 30 years heading the theology department at Moody Bible Institute, where he literally wrote the textbook on angels. He's also personally counseled more than 350 demonized individuals over the last 54 years and has stories that will stop you in your tracks. A woman came to a conference with a nine-inch blade to kill him and couldn't get past a row of angels that the audience couldn't see. He once placed a demonized man's hands around his own throat and told the spirit to try. It couldn't. He has never been afraid of a demon since his second encounter, and he'll tell you why. Fred walks us through how he stumbled into deliverance ministry as the angelology professor at Moody during the Age of Aquarius, what he's learned about ancestral doorways and why more than 95% of the cases he's seen trace back to generational involvement in the occult, and how Christians have a delegated authority in Christ that most churches have never taught them to use. He also tells us the story of 12 owls on a Navajo reservation that spoke death threats to a new believer, what happened when that man took his authority in Jesus' name, and the fate of the 12 medicine men who sent them. He explains why demon possession is a mistranslation, why salvation alone doesn't automatically clear demonic ground, and why 95% of the cases he's encountered trace back to ancestral involvement in false religion and the occult. This conversation is a masterclass in spiritual warfare and the spirit world from someone who has been in the trenches for more than half a century, and it's one of the most important episodes we've done. Want to listen to this episode and a catalog of more than 100 other members-only episodes? Check out the vibrant community, extra episodes, and perks of being a Blurry Creatures member at https://blurrycreatures.com/pages/members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
# How I Made It Through Podcast## Episode: Finding Strength Through Sensitivity — A Conversation with Karen Hall**Host:** Bernadette Thompson**Guest:** Karen Hall — Publicist, Publisher, Producer at Momentum Media; Editor-in-Chief of *Global Women's Journal* and *Spanish Journal* (partnered with the *Los Angeles Tribune*); Emotional Intelligence Leadership Coach; Host of *The Hero Within* podcast---## Episode SummaryIn this deeply moving conversation, Bernadette sits down with Karen Hall to explore how early trauma, lifelong sensitivity, and a passion for storytelling shaped a career dedicated to elevating the voices of others. Born two and a half months premature, Karen spent her earliest days in an incubator — an experience that left her with preverbal trauma and an unusually sensitive nervous system. Rather than letting those challenges define her, Karen turned them into fuel for a life of writing, coaching, publishing, and connecting people to their own stories.From selling newspapers as a nine-year-old to coaching Fortune-level CEOs, from writing her first book at eleven to producing global broadcasts with hundreds of speakers, Karen's journey is a testament to what becomes possible when we learn to regulate our nervous systems, reframe our limiting beliefs, and meet ourselves with compassion.---## What You'll Hear in This Episode- How being born prematurely shaped Karen's lifelong journey with anxiety, sensitivity, and the drive to understand the nervous system- Why Karen started writing at age nine — and how journalism became her first path to healing through storytelling- The surprising way her podcast, *The Hero Within*, reached the top 3% globally within three months with no advertising- How Karen went from terrified-to-speak to a TED-style stage in New York with no notes — and what that moment taught her about authentic connection- The accidental birth of her coaching business when sales colleagues started asking, "How are you not afraid to cold call?"- Why every limiting belief, no matter how it shows up, traces back to a wound from the past- How emotional intelligence and co-regulation changed the way she coaches CEOs (one client called her a "CEO whisperer")- The launch of *Global Women's Journal* and the Spanish-language *Latin Journal* — and why creating platforms for underrepresented voices matters- The spiritual dimension of the work: Marianne Williamson's influence, ancestral connection, and seeing ourselves as beings of love- Why Karen reframed "it took me too long to learn this" into "now I have the empathy to help others"---## Key Takeaways**On trauma and the nervous system:** Karen shares how understanding preverbal trauma — trauma that happens before we have words — helped her make sense of why her brain defaulted so easily to fear. Learning to regulate her nervous system became a lifelong practice, and eventually the foundation of her coaching work.**On sensitivity as a strength:** Being a highly sensitive person (HSP) and an empath is genetic and real — and it's a gift, not a flaw. The work is learning to channel that sensitivity outward in service of others rather than letting it pull us inward.**On the universal struggle:** Whether someone is a CEO, a first-time author, or a parent, the same question surfaces when we hit a wall: *What's wrong with me?* Karen teaches that nothing is wrong — the amygdala has simply hijacked the prefrontal cortex, and the way back is through self-compassion.**On storytelling:** Everyone has a story, and someone out there needs to hear yours. Platforms, podcasts, and publications matter because they break isolation and remind people they are not alone.**On the spiritual dimension:** When we see ourselves — and others — as beings of love with unmet needs, compassion and forgiveness become natural. Unloving behavior is simply a forgetting.---## Memorable Moments- Karen's mother role-playing newspaper sales pitches with her at age nine — a practice Karen still uses today with her husband and kids before big talks- The New York stage moment where Karen threw away her notes and spoke from the heart for the first time- Being nicknamed "the queen of empathy" by her coaching clients- The realization that her nervous system work gives her something polished coaches without lived experience can't offer: authentic empathy for how long healing actually takes- Bernadette and Karen's shared reflection on ancestors visiting them during their most transformative seasons---## About the GuestKaren Hall is an emotional intelligence leadership coach, publisher, and broadcast producer who has built her life's work around elevating women's voices and helping leaders regulate their nervous systems so they can lead with connection instead of control. She is the host of *The Hero Within* podcast, Editor-in-Chief of *Global Women's Journal* and the Spanish-language *Latin Journal* (in partnership with the *Los Angeles Tribune*), and a mentor to speakers, authors, and CEOs. She has also served for a decade in volunteer ministry work with Native American communities on the Fort Apache and Navajo reservations in Arizona.---## Connect with Karen Hall- **LinkedIn:** Search for "Karen Hall — Queen of Empathy" (a title given to her by her clients)- Karen welcomes connection and would love to hear your story---## Connect with the HostBernadette Thompson is the host of the *How I Made It Through* podcast, an author, and a guide who helps people explore their ancestry and intergenerational stories as part of their healing journey. After losing her husband to alcoholism eight years ago, Bernadette reinvented herself and now helps others navigate grief, transformation, and the spiritual dimensions of coming home to who they truly are. www.tellmeourstory.com---## A Closing Thought*"When you hear stories like Bernadette's guests, you gain hope — because you know: I can make it through too. She did it. He did it. I can do it. And you can do it too."* — Karen Hall---*If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it, and subscribe to the* How I Made It Through *podcast for more conversations with people who have walked through the fire and come out with wisdom to share.*
Reddit rSlash Storytime r amithejerk? where AITA for calling the police on an elderly woman who blocked a parking spot and made me miss my doctor's appointment? WIBTA If I refused to switch dorms with a girl who was autistic? AITA smoking weed on my porch? AITA for telling my roommate that she should go to her bedroom while I have friends over? AITA for leaving my phone on “Do Not Disturb” at night and making my mom worry? AITAH For buying my stepdaughter, a traditional Navajo dress for graduation? AITA for lying to my family about how much money I have? AITA for calling my mom names after she wants me to miss my father's funeral? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Fluent Fiction - Hebrew: Threading Cultures: @Noa's Navajo Weaving Journey Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/he/episode/2026-04-16-22-34-02-he Story Transcript:He: מתחת לשמיים בהירים של אריזונה, באחד הימים היפים של האביב, ניצב בית מלאכה מסורתי בליבו של שטח הנבאחו.En: Under the clear skies of Arizona, on one of the beautiful spring days, stands a traditional workshop in the heart of the Navajo territory.He: בעצם שעות היום, המקום מלא ברעש העדין של נולי האריגה ובחוטים הצבעוניים המתנדנדים ברוח הקלה.En: During the daytime, the place is filled with the soft noise of weaving looms and the colorful threads swaying in the gentle breeze.He: נועה, נוסעת סקרנית מישראל, מגיעה לבית המלאכה.En: @Noa, a curious traveler from Israel, arrives at the workshop.He: היא אהבה תרבות מסורתית ואומנות טקסטיל.En: She loves traditional culture and textile art.He: אחרי שחצתה חצי עולם, היא רוצה ללמוד את אומנות האריגה של הנבאחו.En: Having traveled halfway around the world, she wants to learn the weaving art of the Navajo.He: זהו עבורה מסע מרגש של גילוי.En: For her, it is an exciting journey of discovery.He: לצידה עומדים אליאור ותמר, משתתפים נוספים בסדנה שבאו מכל קצוות ארץ.En: Beside her stand Elior and Tamar, additional workshop participants who have come from all over the country.He: כשנועה מתבוננת, היא מגלה כי האריגה של הנבאחו שונה מאוד מזו שלמדה קודם בישראל.En: As @Noa observes, she discovers that the Navajo weaving is very different from what she previously learned in Israel.He: הצורות הגיאומטריות המורכבות והצבעים הבהירים משכירים לה את יצירותיה של סבתה.En: The intricate geometric patterns and bright colors remind her of her grandmother's creations.He: אבל, השיטות שונות והבנת השפה המקומית גורמת לה למעט בלבול.En: However, the methods are different, and understanding the local language causes her a bit of confusion.He: מצד שני, הלב שלה כואב גם במחשבה על משפחתה בחג הפסח.En: On the other hand, her heart aches at the thought of her family during Passover.He: היא זוכרת את סדר פסח בבית, את השירים והסיפורים שסיפרו בלילה הארוך.En: She remembers Seder Passover at home, the songs and stories told during the long night.He: יש לה בחירה: לשוחח עם אמנים מקומיים וללמוד מהם או להשתתף בשיחת וידאו עם משפחתה לחג.En: She faces a choice: to converse with local artisans and learn from them or to participate in a video call with her family for the holiday.He: בסופו של דבר, נועה בוחרת להישאר בלילה וללמוד.En: In the end, @Noa chooses to stay the night and learn.He: היא מבלה את הערב בשיחות עם אומני הנבאחו ובתרגול האריגה.En: She spends the evening talking with Navajo artists and practicing weaving.He: אט אט, החוטים הארוכים והעדינים מתחילים להתחבר לכדי פיסת אמנות קטנה.En: Gradually, the long and delicate threads begin to transform into a small piece of art.He: היא יוצרת בה את יופיים של הסמלים המסורתיים של הנבאחו ואת העושר של הסמלים העבריים.En: She creates within it the beauty of the traditional Navajo symbols and the richness of Hebrew symbols.He: כשהיא מסיימת, הלב של נועה מתמלא גאווה.En: When she finishes, @Noa's heart fills with pride.He: היא הצליחה ליצור משהו שמחבר בין תרבויות, בין ארץ שהיא כל כך רחוקה לבין הבית שבו היא גדלה.En: She has managed to create something that connects cultures, between a land so far away and the home where she grew up.He: הפיסה שהאריגה מסיימת הולכת איתה כמורשת וסמל לקשר שנרקם בלבה.En: The finished weaving piece accompanies her as a heritage and a symbol of the bond woven in her heart.He: נועה מבינה שאומנות יכולה לחבר בין עולמות שונים, ועל אף המרחק תוכל לשמור על הקשר עם הבית והדורשים ממנה.En: @Noa realizes that art can connect different worlds, and despite the distance, she can maintain the connection with home and those who care about her. Vocabulary Words:weaving: אריגהgeometric: גיאומטריותbreeze: רוחdiscover: לגלותpattern: צורותintricate: מורכבותartisans: אמניםheritage: מורשתbond: קשרlooms: נוליconfusion: בלבולconnect: לחברsymbol: סמליםpain: כואבworkshop: בית מלאכהterritory: שטחdelicate: עדיניםcolorful: צבעונייםtransform: להתחברsongs: שיריםvideo call: שיחת וידאוpride: גאווהsymbols: סמליםexciting: מרגשconnects: מחברtraditional: מסורתיmethods: שיטותparticipants: משתתפיםcultures: תרבויותrichness: עושרBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/fluent-fiction-hebrew--5818690/support.
Photo: Fresh snow coats Monument Valley Tribal Park straddling Utah and Arizona in February 2026. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) The Navajo Nation signed an agreement with Utah last month that centers on advancing economic development and authentic Indigenous representation through cinema. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, it also formalizes a time-honored tradition of filmmaking on Navajoland – home to one of Hollywood's most iconic Western settings straddling Utah and Arizona. If you ever take a road trip to Monument Valley, you will see why this legendary landscape is so much more than just a movie set. It is also a tribal park, the first to be founded in 1958 and where about 100 or so Navajos actually call home. This 17-mile dirt loop – dotted with horses and hogans – is managed by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department. “If they say no, we tell the film production, no. But that doesn't mean that we're going to shut the door on you.” For Edsel Pete, who is in charge of the Navajo Nation TV and Film Office, the new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the state of Utah is all about being “film friendly”, while also caring for the environment. Scripts can be changed – the land, not so much. “As we know, film is not going anywhere, but we don't want to just give away the resources. This is all we got, and we want to protect it.” Towering red sandstone buttes have, time and again, turned into the unmistakable backdrop for some of Tinseltown's biggest blockbusters. From Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump” to the final chapter of the “Back to the Future” trilogy. No matter the genre, Monument Valley has been glittering on the silver screen for nearly a century, but its popularity began with Westerns. Virigina Pearce is director of the Utah Film Commission. “Both states claim it as our own and it does get a lot of requests.” Arizona was the first state to ink such an MOU with the Navajo Nation in 2019; talks are underway with New Mexico to follow suit. “This MOU came at such a great time for us to not only look back and consider the history, but also look forward and think about how much more could we do if we work together.” James Lujan is from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. He chairs the Cinematic Arts and Technology Department at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. and suggests these MOUs could benefit everyone. “It's a win for the production companies. It's a win for the tribe, because they have people that they're putting to work to train below-the-line crew members.” Like gaffers, camera operators, and set designers. But Lujan thinks training above-the-line talent – screenwriters, producers and directors – is even more important for representation. “Because that's the only way we're going to break into mainstream cinema is by taking ownership and control of our own stories.” Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, April 15, 2026 – Iñupiaq leaders weigh their economic future and oil drilling in the Arctic
Most banks want the casino loan. Few understand the full scope of what tribal banking actually looks like, and what it takes to do it right.In this episode of Travillian Next, host Amber Buker, Chief Research Officer at Travillian, sits down with Mike Lettig, Senior Managing Director and Group Head of Native American Financial Services at Huntington Bank, and Jackson Brossy, Vice President of Native American Financial Services at Huntington Bank, for an in-depth conversation on Native American banking, tribal sovereignty, and the growing opportunity in Indian Country that most financial institutions are overlooking.Mike and Jackson cover how Huntington built a fully integrated Native American Financial Services practice, why Indian Country is one of the safest places in the private sector to do business, and how tribal sovereignty works in practice when structuring deals, including a landmark unsecured credit facility completed entirely under Navajo law. Jackson also breaks down the $26 billion federal contracting sector, why tribes and Alaska Native corporations are uniquely positioned to access it, and why every financial institution should be paying attention.Whether you are a banker exploring tribal markets for the first time or a financial professional looking to deepen your understanding of Indigenous economic development, this conversation is a must-listen.
Oral Arguments for the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Maloney v. United States Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation
Photo: A voter fills in a ballot during Bethel’s municipal election on October 1, 2024. (MaryCait Dolan / KYUK) The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) is speaking out against a proposed federal voting bill it says could create new barriers for Alaska Native voters. In a press release issued April 6, AFN urged Congress to reject the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which is currently being debated in the U.S. Senate. AFN represents more than 190 tribes, along with Native corporations and nonprofits across Alaska. Leaders say the bill would require voters to present documentary proof of citizenship — such as a passport or birth certificate — in person at a designated election office in order to register for federal elections. For many Alaska Native communities, especially in rural areas, that could mean traveling long distances, often by plane, at significant cost. In the statement, AFN says, “The SAVE Act… would disenfranchise eligible voters and recreate the very barriers our communities have fought for decades to dismantle.” The organization also raised concerns about how the bill would treat Tribal identification, noting that many IDs do not include citizenship status and could require voters to obtain additional documentation. AFN says that process could take weeks and may be difficult or impossible for some community members. The group argues the legislation is unnecessary, calling it “a solution in search of a problem” and pointing out that noncitizen voting is already illegal and rare. AFN says the bill could also restrict systems widely used in Alaska, including mail-in and online voter registration. As the debate continues in Washington, tribal leaders are calling on Congress to focus instead on improving access to voting, particularly in rural communities. A federal judge has rejected a plea agreement in the case of missing Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay. Begay, a 62-year-old member of the Navajo Nation, was last seen in 2021 at her home in Sweetwater, Ariz. and has not been found. According to the Associated Press, the judge denied a proposed deal for Preston Henry Tolth, who is accused of assaulting Begay before she disappeared. Prosecutors say the agreement would have allowed Tolth to avoid additional prison time. Begay's family opposed the deal in court. Her niece, Seraphine Warren, told the judge, “Accountability is not time served… we still don't have the truth.” Advocates say the case highlights ongoing challenges in addressing missing and murdered Indigenous people across the country. Arizona drivers have lots of specialty license plates to choose from – 114 to be exact. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the largest tribe in the Phoenix metro area is among the latest to be featured. Back in 2023, State Rep. Teresa Martinez (R-AZ) pitched letting the Gila River Indian Community design its own plate. “Lots of people will think, ‘Oh, this is just another license plate bill.' … It is a very big deal.” Because for each plate sold, $17 will be donated to the tribe's transportation committee for traffic and road improvements. Commuters regularly travel through their reservation just south of Phoenix. “Especially when the I-10 is down.” Martinez's proposal passed as part of a larger bill that included the neighboring Ak-Chin Indian Community and Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Gila River, in March, became the fifth of Arizona's 22 federally recognized tribes to print one. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, April 14, 2026 — Native in the Spotlight: cartographer Margaret Wickens Pearce
Episode Overview In the third instalment of our series on famine and revolution, we pull away the veil of headline numbers to investigate the visceral, human reality of the Great Hunger in Ireland. This is an exploration of a land filling with desperation, where the brutal biological mechanics of what happens when the human body begins to consume itself take centre stage. We examine the fate of a terrified people, facing ruin triggered by a disease that wreaked havoc on already weak economies. From the folklore of the Fear Gorta to the harrowing clinical reports of the era, this episode explores how a society is transformed when it is blindsided by biological disaster and administrative indifference. Key Topics Covered: The Information Vacuum: Comparing our modern “Ocean of Information” to the terrifying silence of the 1840s, where the sickly sweet smell of rot was a mystery without an immediate answer. The Folklore of Famine: Why stories like Hansel and Gretel and the Navajo Dine Bahane carry the genetic memory of starvation, and the specific Irish harbinger of death: the Fear Gorta. The Structural Cage: A deep dive into the Rundale system and Gavelkind inheritance. We look at why the West was trapped in a cycle of subdivision while Ulster was shielded by the “Linen Shield” and Tenant Right. The Biology of Starvation: Using modern metabolic science and contemporary medical records to explain the “Blue Nose,” the “Sunken Orbit,” and the terrifying reality of Autophagy—the body cannibalising its own architecture. The Refeeding Trap: The physiological reason why a crust of bread could become a death sentence for a heart shrunken by atrophy. Conspicuous Consumption: The stark contrast between the “Workhouse Swineries” and the elite social calendar, including the dinner menus of the Cork Harbour Regatta. The Gregory Clause: How a single piece of legislation—the Quarter-Acre Clause—was used to engineer the clearances and force the starving into homelessness. The Ledger of the Dead: Analysis of the 1851 Census and the 20–25% demographic erasure that redefined Ireland forever. SOURCES Historical Research & Modern Analysis Delaney, Enda. (2020, December). “‘There But For The Grace of God Go I': Middle-Class Catholic Responses to Ireland's Great Famine.” The English Historical Review, Vol. 135, No. 577, pp. 1433–1460. Donnelly, James S., Jr. (2002). The Great Irish Potato Famine. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. Guinnane, Timothy W. (1994). “The Great Irish Famine and Population: The Long View.” The American Economic Review, Vol. 84, no. 2, pp. 303–08. Ó Gráda, Cormac. (2013, March). “Eating people is wrong: Famine’s darkest secret?” UCD Centre for Economic Research, Working Paper No. WP13/02. O'Riordan, Edmund. (2018, May/June). “‘Every Delicacy of the Season'—Conspicuous Consumption During the Great Hunger.” History Ireland, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 26–29. Poirteir, Cathal (Ed.). (1999). The Great Irish Famine. Dublin: Mercier Press. Woodham-Smith, Cecil. (1962). The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845–1849. London: Hamish Hamilton. Guinnane, Timothy W. “The Great Irish Famine and Population: The Long View.” The American Economic Review, vol. 84, no. 2, 1994, pp. 303–08. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2117848. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026 Scientific & Medical Analysis of Starvation Anabtawi, O., & Valente, B. (2025, August 12). “The science of starvation: This is what happens to your body when it's deprived of food.” The Conversation. Donovan, Daniel. (1848). “Observations on the Peculiar Diseases to Which the Famine of Last Year Gave Origin.” Dublin Medical Press. Keys, Ancel, et al. (1950). The Biology of Human Starvation. University of Minnesota Press. (References derived from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment). Primary Documents & Government Records Devon Commission. (1845). Report from Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of the Law and Practice in respect to the Occupation of Land in Ireland. Hansard Parliamentary Debates. (1849). HL Deb 15 June 1849 vol 106 cc285-300. (Correspondence of the Earl of Clancarty regarding Ballinasloe). O’Rourke, Canon John. (1875). The History of the Great Irish Famine of 1847. Ridgway, James. (1847). The Irish Relief Measures, Past and Future. Regional Studies & Files Best, Barbara. (2025). “Local Female Orphans and The Earl Grey Scheme 1848-1850.” Tobin, J. “The Famine in Ballyduff and the evictions of Arthur Usher Kiely.” Ballyduff Archive. University College Dublin. (2024). “Hansel and Gretel's famine folklore origins.” The Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure. Folklore & Cultural Context Dine Bahane. Navajo creation mythology regarding resource scarcity and survival. Fear Gorta (The Hungry Man). Traditional Irish folklore regarding the personification of hunger. Yoruba Mythology. Oral traditions regarding the “Leopards Famine.” The post EP068 WHEN HUNGER WALKS THE LAND appeared first on AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST.
SOMETHING SHOT BACK! | During the Korean War, an American soldier opened fire on a strange craft hovering over his regiment — and what happened next left an entire company of men hospitalized, and one man permanently changed for the rest of his life. | #WDRadio APRIL 05, 2026==========HOUR ONE: In 1882 the Ma'amtrasna murders, the brutal killing of several members of the Joyce family in rural Galway, caused outrage in Irish society and remains one of the most notorious homicides in Irish history. However a few years later Cork was rocked by an equally heinous case which has largely been forgotten. We'll look at the brutal murders of four family members that took place in Castletownroche, Ireland. (The Castletownroche Murders) *** An Arizona family encounters a creature from the dark side of a Navajo legend. (The Arizona Skinwalker) *** John Blair liked to keep things “in the family”. But in his case, it wasn't just a saying. It was literal. Because John was infamous for being bigamous. (Bigamous Blair) *** Dozens of Korean War GI's claimed an unidentified flying object made them all sick. Theories range from high-tech Soviet death rays to extraterrestrials studying how we engage in battle to combat-stress-induced hallucinations. What actually happened? (The Korean War UFO)==========HOUR TWO: In 1761, a young Frenchman died violently. This tragedy would lead to what is still one of that country's most famous cases of judicial injustice. Assuming, of course, that it truly was an injustice at all. (The Mysterious Death of Marc Antoine Calas) *** Most know them as “The Hidden Folk.” The elusive and magical residents of Iceland, who live inside rocks and sometimes play games with unsuspecting passers-by. Are they real? That's a complicated question, if you ask Icelanders. (The Elves of Iceland) *** As two boys were walking back to the house on their farm, a small stone rolled past them. Then a second one. They immediately thought some other boys were hiding in the scrub and throwing stones for a joke. They couldn't have been more wrong. (Stone Throwing Spirits) *** Belle Gunness lured numerous suitors to her Indiana farm. Not to entertain them or to be courted by them. She simply wanted to kill them in cold blood and dump their bodies in her hog pen. (Belle Gunness – The Black Widow of the Midwest) *** "They're going to steal your organs!" screamed Sabina Eriksson, before running toward oncoming traffic on the M6 highway, having already been hit head-on by a Volkswagen. Her twin sister, Ursula, legs crushed by the truck that had just run her over, was spitting and screaming at paramedics on the side of the road. Now, many years after these events, we're still no closer to understanding the chaos that occurred over two days in 2008 involving psychotic twin sisters on a UK highway. (The Disturbing Case of the Eriksson Twins)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: Were people ever really tortured in Iron Maidens? (The Iron Maiden)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:“The Disturbing Case of the Eriksson Twins” by Harrison Tenpas for Graveyard Shift: https://tinyurl.com/r6cbnxf“The Mysterious Death of Marc Antoine Calas” from Strange Company: https://tinyurl.com/rrs89rx“The Elves of Iceland” by Rob Schwarz for Stranger Dimensions: https://tinyurl.com/u4bcw6v“Stone Throwing Spirits” from The Fortean: https://tinyurl.com/qnuf7sd“Belle Gunness – The Black Widow of the Midwest” by Steven Casale for The Line Up: https://tinyurl.com/tqyceby“The Iron Maiden” by Karl Smallwood for Today I Found Out: https://tinyurl.com/t2y6vj6“The Korean War UFO” by Natasha Frost for History.com: https://tinyurl.com/y765nsgm“The Castletownroche Murders” by Fin Dwyer for the Irish Examiner: https://tinyurl.com/y9fhagfb“The Arizona Skinwalker” by Stephen Wagner for Live About: https://tinyurl.com/yxkdh9vv“Bigamous Blair” from London Overlooked: https://tinyurl.com/y9qpo54x==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2026==========To become a Weird Darkness Radio Show affiliate, contact Radio America at affiliates@radioamerica.com, or call 800-807-4703 (press 2 or dial ext 250).
The documentary aired on a Tuesday night in October, and nothing was ever the same. Within hours it was trending worldwide. Scientists came forward. Former government employees reached out. And across the country, people started paying closer attention to the forests around them.This episode brings the first volume of Born Wild to a close — but not before we hear from some of the most compelling voices in the archives. Russell Crawford, a Tennessee hunter with over fifty years in the Cherokee National Forest, describes the morning he had a clear shot at something massive and chose not to take it. Not because he couldn't — but because pulling that trigger would have felt like murder.Margaret White spent thirty years teaching biology in rural Washington and debunking every Sasquatch story her students brought to class. Then she came face to face with one on a trail in Olympic National Park, and every rational explanation she ever had turned to dust.James Whitehorse carried his story for fifty-four years. He was eight years old, herding sheep near the Chuska Mountains on the Navajo reservation, when a towering figure stepped out of the junipers and raised its hand in greeting. His grandfather told him the white world would never understand. James kept quiet — until now. Maria Santos worked the graveyard shift at a gas station on the edge of the Gila Wilderness. One night at two in the morning, something eight feet tall walked up to the pumps and started examining them like a curious child discovering something new.Thomas Erikson came from four generations of Oregon loggers. They called them the Wood Apes, and every logger in the Pacific Northwest knew about them. Thomas shares three encounters spanning decades — including the day one of them spoke to him and pointed at the trees, at him, and at itself. Like it was saying they were all part of the same thing. Thomas passed away six months after this interview.We hear from Eddie McGraw, a long-haul trucker who watched a creature stroll across a Montana rest area at two in the morning like it owned the place. From David Baker, a National Geographic photographer who captured three frames of the clearest Sasquatch image ever taken — then locked them in a safe for fifteen years. From Patricia Morgan, a Yellowstone ranger who reveals a secret file of sightings passed down from ranger to ranger since the 1950s. And from Dr. Michael Brooks, a primatologist who spent fifteen years hiding evidence that would have validated everything. Then comes the revelation no one expected. Brian's own mother, Jean Patterson, finally shares a secret she kept for decades — she saw one of the creatures on the Lyerly property a full year before Brian ever did. She stayed silent to protect him. To give him the choice to walk away.He couldn't walk away. He never could. The episode closes on the eve of the final expedition. The witnesses gather at the mountain house. The sun sets over the Appalachians. And deep in the forest, the creatures begin to sing.Tomorrow, everything changes.This is the end of Book One. The odyssey continues.Get Brian's BooksBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.Have you had a Bigfoot encounter, Sasquatch sighting, Dogman experience, or other cryptid or paranormal encounter? We'd love to hear your story. Email brian@paranormalworldproductions.com to be featured on a future episode of Sasquatch Odyssey.Sasquatch Odyssey is a leading Bigfoot and cryptid podcast exploring real encounters, field research, and scientific analysis of the Sasquatch phenomenon.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss an episode.
The Oneida Nation went from having nearly all of their land stripped from them to being one of the most powerful political and economic entities in Wisconsin. In “Unsettling Territory: The Resurgence of the Oneida Nation in the Face of Settler Backlash“, Oneida author and historian Douglas Metoxen Kiel reveals how the tribe turned displacement into opportunity and managed to strengthen and grow their presence in the face of organized opposition that many Native Americans are familiar with. Diné writer Dorothy Denetclaw and journalist Matt Fitzsimons uncover the events leading up to the murder trial involving two sons of the Navajo spiritual leader, Ahdilthdoney, also known as Gunshooter. The book, “The Sons of Gunshooter: A Navajo Resistance Story“, tells the story of the 1919 shooting death of Charles Hubbell, a member of a prominent trading family. The authors access archival research and oral storytelling to arrive at a different conclusion than what the courts and news media landed on at the time. It goes on to also tell a larger story of resistance against outside colonial oppression. Break 1 Music: Tha Mash Up (song) Wayne Silas, Jr. (artist) Infinite Passion (album) Break 2 Music: Hard Times Will Be Coming (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)
Indigenous people have had serious health issues since forced assimilation onto reservations in the 1800s changed their food sources. Today, Sun rural reporter Tracy Ross talks about a program the Navajo tribe and doctors are using to change eating habits to address those health concerns.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What makes a character so compelling that readers will forgive almost anything about the plot? How do you move beyond vague flaws and generic descriptions to create people who feel pulled from real life? In this solo episode, I share 15 actionable tips for writing deep characters, curated from past interviews on the podcast. In the intro, thoughts from London Book Fair [Instagram reel @jfpennauthor; Publishing Perspectives; Audible; Spotify]; Insights from a 7-figure author business [BookBub]. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community and get articles, discounts, and extra audio and video tutorials on writing craft, author business, and AI tools, at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn This episode has been created from previous episodes of The Creative Penn Podcast, curated by Joanna Penn, as well as chapters from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book. Links to the individual episodes are included in the transcript below. In this episode: Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' trifecta, how to hook readers on the very first page Define the Dramatic Question: Who is your character when the chips are down? Absolute specificity. Why “she's controlling” isn't good enough Understand the Heroine's Journey, strength through connection, not solo action Use ‘Metaphor Families' to anchor dialogue and give every character a distinctive voice Find the Diagnostic Detail, the moments that prove a character is real Writing pain onto the page without writing memoir Write diverse characters as real people, not stereotypes or plot devices Give your protagonist a morally neutral ‘hero' status. Compelling beats likeable. Build vibrant side characters for series longevity and spin-off potential Use voice as a rhythmic tool Link character and plot until they're inseparable Why discovery writers can write out of order and still build deep character Find the sensory details that make characters live and breathe More help with how to write fiction here, or in my book, How to Write a Novel. Writing Characters: 15 Tips for Writing Deep Character in Your Fiction In today's episode, I'm sharing fifteen tips for writing deep characters, synthesised from some of the most insightful interviews on The Creative Penn Podcast over the past few years, combined with what I've learned across more than forty books of my own. I'll be referencing episodes with Matt Bird, Will Storr, Gail Carriger, Barbara Nickless, and Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. I'll also draw on my own book, How to Write a Novel, which covers these fundamentals in detail. Whether you're writing your first novel or your fiftieth, whether you're a plotter or a discovery writer like me, these tips will help you create characters that readers believe in, care about, and invest in—and keep coming back for more. Let's get into it. 1. Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' Trifecta When I spoke with Matt Bird on episode 624, he laid out the three things you need to achieve on the very first page of your book or in the first ten minutes of a film. He calls it “Believe, Care, and Invest.” First, the reader must believe the character is a real person, somehow proving they are not a cardboard imitation of a human being, not just a generic type walking through a generic plot. Second, the reader must care about the character's circumstances. And third, the reader must invest in the character's ability to solve the story's central problem. Matt used The Hunger Games as his primary example, and it's brilliant. On the very first page, we believe Katniss's voice. Suzanne Collins writes in first person with a staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short declarative sentences—that immediately grounds us in a survivalist mentality. We care because Katniss is starving. She's protecting her little sister. And we invest because she is out there bow hunting, which Matt pointed out is one of the most badass things a character can do. She even kills a lynx two pages in and sells the pelt. We invest in her resourcefulness and grit before the plot has even begun. Matt was very clear that this has nothing to do with the character being “likable.” He said his subtitle, Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love, doesn't mean the character has to be a good person. He described “hero” as both gender-neutral and morally neutral. A hero can be totally evil or totally good. What matters is that we believe, care, and invest. He demonstrated this beautifully by breaking down the first ten minutes of WeCrashed, where the characters of Adam and Rebekah Neumann are absolutely not likable, but we are completely hooked. Adam steals his neighbour's Chinese food through a carefully orchestrated con involving an imaginary beer. It's not admirable behaviour, but the tradecraft involved, as Matt put it—using a term from spy movies—makes us invest in him. We see a character trying to solve the big problem of his life, which is that he's poor and wants to be rich, and we want to see if he can pull it off. Actionable step: Go to the first page of your current work in progress. Does it achieve all three? Does the reader believe this is a real person with a distinctive voice? Do they care about the character's circumstances? And do they invest in the character's ability to handle what's coming? If even one of those three is missing, that's your revision priority. 2. Define the Dramatic Question: Who Are They Really? Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling, came on episode 490 and gave one of the most powerful frameworks I've ever heard for character-driven fiction. He explained that the human brain evolved language primarily to swap social information—in other words, to gossip. We are wired to monitor other people, to ask the question: who is this person when the chips are down? That's what Will calls the Dramatic Question, and it's what he believes lies at the heart of all compelling storytelling. It's not a question about plot. It's a question about the character's soul. And every scene in your novel should force the character to answer it. His example of Lawrence of Arabia is unforgettable. The Dramatic Question for the entire film is: who are you, Lawrence? Are you ordinary or are you extraordinary? At the beginning, Lawrence is a cocky, rebellious young soldier who believes his rebelliousness makes him superior. Every iconic scene in that three-hour film tests that belief. Sometimes Lawrence acts as though he truly is extraordinary—leading the Arabs into battle, being hailed as a god—and sometimes the world strips him bare and he sees himself as ordinary. Because it's a tragedy, he never overcomes his flaw. He doubles down on his belief that he's extraordinary until he becomes monstrous, culminating in that iconic scene where he lifts a bloody dagger and sees his own reflection with horror. Will also used Jaws to demonstrate how this works in a pure action thriller. Brody's dramatic question is simple: are you going to be old Brody who is terrified of the water, or new Brody who can overcome that fear? Every scene where the shark appears is really asking that question. And the last moment of the film isn't the shark blowing up. It's Brody swimming back through the water, saying he used to be scared of the water and he can't imagine why. Actionable step: Write down the Dramatic Question for your protagonist in a single sentence. Is it “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you brave enough to love again?” or “Will you sacrifice your principles for survival?” If you can't answer this with specificity, your character might still be a sketch rather than a person. 3. Get rid of Vague Flaws, and use Absolute Specificity This was one of Will Storr's most important points. He said that vague thinking about characters is really the enemy. When he teaches workshops and asks writers to describe their character's flaw, most of them say something like “they're very controlling.” And Will's response is: that's not good enough. Everyone is controlling. How are they controlling? What's the specific mechanism? He gave the example of a profile he read of Theresa May during the UK's Brexit chaos. Someone who knew her said that Theresa May's problem was that she always thinks she's the only adult in every room she goes into. Will said that stopped him in his tracks because it's so precise. If you define a character with that level of specificity, you can take them and put them in any genre, any situation—a spaceship, a Victorian drawing room, a school playground—and you will know exactly how they're going to behave. The same applies to Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, as Will described it: a man who believes absolutely in capitalistic success and the idea that when you die, you're going to be weighed on a scale, just as God weighs you for sin, but now you're weighed for success. That's not a vague flaw. That's a worldview you can drop into any story and watch it combust. Will made another counterintuitive point that I found really valuable: writers often think that piling on multiple traits will create a complex character, but the opposite is true. Starting with one highly specific flaw and running it through the demands of a relentless plot is what generates complexity. You end up with a far more nuanced, original character than if you'd started with a laundry list of vague attributes. Actionable step: Take your protagonist's flaw and pressure-test it. Is it specific enough that you could place this character in any situation and predict their behaviour? If you're stuck at “she's stubborn” or “he's insecure,” keep pushing. What kind of stubborn? What kind of insecure? Find the diagnostic sentence—the Theresa May level of precision. 4. Understand the Heroine's Journey: Strength Through Connection Gail Carriger came on episode 550 to discuss her nonfiction book, The Heroine's Journey, and it completely reframed how I think about some of my own fiction. Gail explained that the core difference between the Hero's Journey and the Heroine's Journey comes down to how strength and victory are defined. The Hero's Journey is about strength through solo action. The hero must be continually isolated to get stronger. He goes out of civilisation, faces strife alone, and achieves victory through physical prowess and self-actualisation. The Heroine's Journey is the opposite. The heroine achieves her goals by activating a network. She's a delegator, a general. She identifies where she can't do something alone, finds the people who can help, and portions out the work for mutual gain. Gail put it simply: the heroine is very good at asking for help, which our culture tends to devalue but which is actually a powerful form of strength. Crucially, Gail stressed that gender is irrelevant to which journey you're writing. Her go-to examples are striking: the recent Wonder Woman film is practically a beat-for-beat hero's journey—Gilgamesh on screen, as Gail described it. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, both the first book and the series as a whole, is a classic heroine's journey. Harry's power comes from his network—Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, his friendships with Ron and Hermione. He doesn't defeat Voldemort alone. He defeats Voldemort because of love and connection. This distinction has real practical consequences for writers. If you're writing a hero's journey and you hit writer's block, Gail said, the solution is usually to isolate your hero further and pile on more strife. But if you're writing a heroine's journey, the solution is probably to throw a new character into the scene—someone who has advice to offer or a skill the heroine lacks. The actual solutions to writer's block are different depending on which narrative you're writing. As I reflected on my own work, I realised that my ARKANE thriller protagonist, Morgan Sierra, follows a hero's journey—she's a solo operative, a lone wolf like Jack Reacher or James Bond. But my Mapwalker fantasy series follows a heroine's journey, with Sienna and her group of friends working together. I hadn't consciously chosen those paths; the stories led me there. But understanding the framework helps me write more intentionally now. Actionable step: Identify which journey your protagonist is on. Does your character gain strength by being alone (hero) or by building connections (heroine)? This will inform every plot decision you make, from how they face obstacles to how your story ends. 5. Use ‘Metaphor Families' to Anchor Dialogue and Voice One of the most practical techniques Matt Bird shared on episode 624 is the idea of assigning each character a “metaphor family”—a specific well of language that they draw from. This gives each character a distinctive voice that goes beyond accent or dialect. Matt explained how in The Wire, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, every character has a different metaphor family. What struck him was that Omar, this iconic character, never utters a single curse word in the entire series. His metaphor family is pirate. He talks about parlays, uses language that feels like it belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean, and it creates this incredible ironic counterpoint against his urban setting. It tells us immediately that this is a character who sees himself in a tradition of people that doesn't match his immediate surroundings. Matt also referenced the UK version of The Office, where Gareth works at a paper company but aspires to the military. So all of his language is drawn from a military metaphor family. He doesn't talk about filing and photocopying; he talks about tactics and discipline and being on the front line. This tells us that the character has a life and dreams beyond the immediate scene—and it's the gap between aspiration and reality that makes him both funny and believable. He pointed out that a metaphor family sometimes comes from a character's background, but it's often more interesting when it comes from their aspirations. What does your character want to be? What world do they fantasise about inhabiting? That's where their language should come from. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a spiritual hermit, but his metaphor family is military. He uses the language of generals and commanders, and that ironic counterpoint is part of what makes him feel so rich. Actionable step: Assign each of your main characters a metaphor family. It could be based on their job, their background, or—more interestingly—their secret aspirations. Then go through your dialogue and make sure each character is consistently drawing from that well of language. If two characters sound the same when you strip away the dialogue tags, this is the fix. 6. Find the Diagnostic Detail: The Diagonal Toast Avoid clichéd character tags—the random scar, the eye patch, the mysterious limp—unless they serve a deep narrative purpose. Matt Bird on episode 624 was very funny about this: he pointed out that Nick Fury, Odin, and eventually Thor all have eye patches in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eye patches are done, he said. You cannot do eye patches anymore. Instead, look for what I'm calling the “diagonal toast” detail, after a scene Matt described from Captain Marvel. In the film, Captain Marvel is trying to determine whether Nick Fury is who he says he is. She asks him to prove he isn't a shapeshifting alien. Fury shares biographical details—his history, his mother—but then she pushes further and says, name one more thing you couldn't possibly have made up about yourself. And Fury says: if toast is cut diagonally, I can't eat it. Matt said that detail is gold for a writer because it feels pulled from a real life. You can pull it from your own life and gift it to your characters, and the reader can tell it's not manufactured. He gave another example from The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's mother won't answer the phone after dark. The show's creator, David Chase, confirmed on the DVD commentary that this came from his own mother, who genuinely would not answer the phone after dark and couldn't explain why. Matt's practical advice was to keep a journal. Write down the strange, specific things that people do or say. Mine your own life for those hyper-specific details. You just need one per book. In my own writing, I've used this approach. In my ARKANE thrillers, my character Morgan Sierra has always been Angelina Jolie in my mind—specifically Jolie in Lara Croft or Mr and Mrs Smith. And Blake Daniel in my crime thriller series was based on Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy. I paste pictures of actors into my Scrivener projects. It helps with visuals, but also with the sense of the character, their energy and physicality. But visual details only take you so far. It's the behavioural quirks—the diagonal toast moments—that make a character feel genuinely alive. That said, physical character tags can work brilliantly when they serve the story. As I discuss in How to Write a Novel, Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike is an amputee, and his pain and the physical challenges of his prosthesis are a key part of every story—it's not a cosmetic detail, it's woven into the action and the character's psychology. My character Blake Daniel always wears gloves to cover the scars on his hands, which provides an angle into his wounded past as well as a visual cue for the reader. And of course, Harry Potter's lightning-shaped scar isn't just a mark—it's a direct connection to his nemesis and the mythology of the entire series. The rule of thumb is: if the tag tells us something about the character's interior life or connects to the plot, it's earning its place. If it's just there to make the character visually distinctive, it's probably a crutch. Game of Thrones takes character tags further with the family houses, each with their own mottos and sigils. The Starks say “Winter is coming” and their sigil is a dire wolf. Those aren't just labels—they're worldview made visible. Actionable step: Start a “diagonal toast” notebook. Every time you notice something strange and specific about someone's behaviour—something that feels too real to be made up—write it down. Then gift it to a character who needs more texture. 7. Displace Your Own Trauma into the Work Barbara Nickless shared something deeply personal on episode 732 that fundamentally changed how I think about putting pain onto the page. While starting At First Light, the first book in her Dr. Evan Wilding series, she lost her son to epilepsy—something called SUDEP, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. One day he was there, and the next day he was gone. Barbara said that writing helped her cope with the trauma, that doing a deep dive into Old English literature and the Viking Age for the book's research became a lifeline. But here's what's important: she didn't give Dr. Evan Wilding her exact trauma. Evan Wilding is four feet five inches, and Barbara described how he has to walk through a world that won't adjust to him. That's its own form of learning to cope when circumstances are beyond your control. She displaced her genuine grief into the character's different but parallel struggle. When I asked her about the difference between writing for therapy and writing for an audience, she drew on her experience teaching creative writing to veterans through a collaboration between the US Department of Defense and the National Endowment for the Arts. She said she's found that she can pour her heartache into her characters and process it through them, even when writing professionally, and that the genuine emotion is what touches readers. We've all been through our own losses and griefs, so seeing how a character copes can be deeply meaningful. I've always found that putting my own pain onto the page is the most direct way to connect with a reader's soul. My character Morgan Sierra's musings on religion and the supernatural are often my own. Her restlessness, her fascination with the darker edges of faith—those come from me. But her Krav Maga fighting skills and her ability to kill the bad guys are definitely her own. That gap between what's mine and what's hers is where the fiction lives. Barbara also said something on that episode that I wrote down and stuck on my wall. She said the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul. I've been thinking about that ever since. On my own wall, I have “Measure your life by what you create.” Different words, same truth. Actionable step: If you're carrying something heavy—grief, anger, fear, regret—consider how you might displace it into a character's different but emotionally parallel struggle. Don't copy your exact situation; transform it. The emotion will be genuine, and the reader will feel it. 8. Write Diverse Characters as Real People When I spoke with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673—Sarah is Choctaw and a historical fiction author honoured by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian—she offered a perspective that every fiction writer needs to hear. The key message was to move away from stereotypes. Don't write your American Indian character as the “Wise Guide” who exists solely to dispense mystic wisdom to the white protagonist. Don't limit diverse characters to historical settings, as though they only exist in the past. Place them in normal, contemporary roles. Your spaceship captain, your forensic scientist, your small-town baker—any of them can be American Indian, or Nigerian, or Japanese, and their heritage should be a lived-in part of their identity, not the sole reason they exist in the story. I write international thrillers and dark fantasy, and my fiction is populated with characters from all over the world. I have a multi-cultural family and I've lived in many places and travelled widely, so I've met, worked with, and had relationships with people from different cultures. I find story ideas through travel, and if I set my books in a certain place, then the story is naturally populated with the people who live there. As I discuss in my book, How to Write a Novel, the world is a diverse place, so your fiction needs to be populated with all kinds of people. If I only populated my fiction with characters like me, they would be boring novels. There are many dimensions of difference—race, nationality, sex, age, body type, ability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, class, culture, education level—and even then, don't assume that similar types of people think the same way. Some authors worry they will make mistakes. We live in a time of outrage, and some authors have been criticised for writing outside their own experience. So is it too dangerous to try? Of course not. The media amplifies outliers, and most authors include diverse characters in every book without causing offence because they work hard to get it right. It's about awareness, research, and intent. Actionable step: Audit the cast of your current work in progress. Have you written a mono-cultural perspective for all of them? If so, consider who could bring a different background, perspective, or set of cultural specifics to the story. Not as a token addition, but as a real person with a real life. 9. Respect Tribal and Cultural Specificity Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673 was emphatic about one thing: never treat diverse groups as monolithic. If you're writing a Native American character, you must research the specific nation. Choctaw is not Navajo, just as British is not French. Sarah described the distinct cultural markers of the Choctaw people—the diamond pattern you'll see on traditional shirts and dresses, which represents the diamondback rattlesnake. They have distinct dances and songs. She said that if she saw someone in traditional dress at a distance, she would know whether they were Choctaw based on what they were wearing. She encouraged writers who want to write specifically about a nation to get to know those people. Go to events, go to a powwow, learn about the individual culture. She noted that a big misconception is that American Indians exist only in the past—she stressed that they are still here, still living their cultures, and fiction should reflect that present reality. I took a similar approach when writing Destroyer of Worlds, which is set mostly in India. I read books about Hindu myth, watched documentaries about the sadhus, and had one of my Indian readers from Mumbai check my cultural references. For Risen Gods, set in New Zealand with a young Maori protagonist, I studied books about Maori mythology and fiction by Maori authors, and had a male Maori reader check for cultural issues. Research is simply an act of empathy. The practical takeaway is this: if you're going to include a character from a specific cultural background, do the work. Use specific cultural details rather than generic signifiers. Sarah talked about how even she fell into stereotypes when she was first writing, until her mother pointed them out. If someone from within a culture can fall into those traps, the rest of us certainly can. Do the research, try your best, ask for help, and apologise if you need to. Actionable step: If you're writing a character from a specific culture, identify three to five sensory or behavioural details that are particular to that culture—not the generic version, but the real, researched, lived-in version. Consider hiring a sensitivity reader from that community to check your work. 10. Give Your Protagonist a Morally Neutral ‘Hero' Status Matt Bird was clear about this on episode 624: the word “hero” simply means the protagonist, the person we follow through the story. It's a functional role, not a moral label. We don't have to like them. We don't even have to root for their goals in a moral sense. We just have to find them compelling enough to invest our attention in their problem-solving. Think of Succession, where every member of the Roy family is varying degrees of awful, and yet the show was utterly compelling. Or WeCrashed, where Adam Neumann is a narcissistic con artist, but we can't look away because he's trying to solve the enormous problem of building an empire from nothing, and the tradecraft he employs is fascinating. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, readers must want to spend time with your characters. They don't have to be lovable or even likable—that will depend on your genre and story choices—but they have to be captivating enough that we want to spend time with them. A character who is trying to solve a massive problem will naturally draw investment from the audience, even if we wouldn't want to have tea with them. Will Storr extended this idea by pointing out that the audience will actually root for a character to solve their problem even if the audience doesn't actually want the character's goal to be achieved in the real world. We don't really want more billionaires, but we invested in Adam Neumann's rise because that was the problem the story posed, and our brains are wired to invest in problem-solving. This connects to something deeper: what does your character want, and why? As I explore in How to Write a Novel, desire operates on multiple levels. Take a character like Phil, who joins the military during wartime. On the surface, she wants to serve her country. But she also wants to escape her dead-end town and learn new skills. Deeper still, her father and grandfather served, and by joining up, she hopes to finally earn their respect. And perhaps deepest of all, her father died on a mission under mysterious circumstances, and she wants to find out what happened from the inside. That layering of motivation is what turns a flat character into a three-dimensional one. The audience doesn't need to be told all of this explicitly. It can emerge through action, dialogue, and the choices the character makes under pressure. But you, the writer, need to know it. You need to know what your character really wants deep down, because that desire—more than any external plot device—is what drives the story forward. And your antagonist needs the same depth. They also want something, often diametrically opposed to your protagonist, and they need a reason that makes sense to them. In my ARKANE thriller Tree of Life, my antagonist is the heiress of a Brazilian mining empire who wants to restore the Earth to its original state to atone for the destruction caused by her father's company. She's part of a radical ecological group who believe the only way to restore Nature is to end all human life. It's extreme, but in an era of climate change, it's a motivation readers can understand—even if they disagree with the solution. Actionable step: If you're struggling to make a morally grey character work, make sure their problem is big enough and their methods are specific and interesting enough that we invest in the how, even if we're ambivalent about the what. 11. Build Vibrant Side Characters Gail Carriger made a point on episode 550 that was equal parts craft advice and business strategy. In a Heroine's Journey model, side characters aren't just fodder to be killed off to motivate the hero. They form a network. And because you don't have to kill them—unlike in a hero's journey, where allies are often betrayed or removed so the hero can be further isolated—you can pick up those side characters and give them their own books. Gail said this creates a really voracious reader base. You write one series with vivid side characters, and then readers fall in love with those side characters and want their stories. So you write spin-offs. The romance genre does this brilliantly—think of the Bridgerton books, where each sibling gets their own novel. The side character in one book becomes the protagonist in the next. Barbara Nickless experienced this firsthand with her Dr. Evan Wilding series. She has River Wilding, Evan's adventurous brother, and Diana, the axe-throwing research assistant, and her editor has already expressed interest in a spin-off series with those characters. Barbara described creating characters she wants to spend time with, or characters who give her nightmares but also intrigue her. That's the dual test: are they interesting enough for you to write, and interesting enough for readers to demand more? As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, characters that span series can deepen the reader's relationship with them as you expand their backstory into new plots. Readers will remember the character more than the plot or the book title, and look forward to the next instalment because they want more time with those people. British crime author Angela Marsons described it as readers feeling like returning to her characters is like putting on a pair of old slippers. Actionable step: Look at your supporting cast. Is there a side character who is vivid enough to carry their own story? If not, what could you add—a specific hobby, a distinct voice, a compelling backstory—that would make readers want more of them? 12. Use Voice as a Rhythmic Tool Voice is one of the most important elements of novel writing, and Matt Bird helped me think about it in a technical, mechanical way that I found really useful. He pointed out that the ratio of periods to commas defines a character's internal reality. A staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short sentences—suggests a character who is certain, grounded, or perhaps survivalist and traumatised. Katniss in The Hunger Games has a period-heavy voice. She's in survival mode. She doesn't have time for complexity or qualification. A flowing, comma-heavy style suggests someone more academic, more nuanced, or possibly more scattered and manipulative. The character who qualifies everything, who adds sub-clauses and digressions, is a different kind of person from the character who speaks in declarations. This is something you can actually measure. Pull up a passage of your character's dialogue or internal monologue and count the periods versus the commas. If the rhythm doesn't match who the character is supposed to be, you've found a mismatch you can fix. Sentence length is the heartbeat of your character's persona. And voice extends beyond rhythm to the words themselves. As I discussed in the metaphor families tip, each character should draw from a distinctive well of language. But voice also encompasses their relationship to silence. Some characters talk around the thing they mean; others say it straight. Some are self-deprecating; others are blunt to the point of rudeness. All of these choices are character choices, not just style choices. I find it useful to read my dialogue aloud—and not just to check for naturalness, but to hear whether each character sounds distinct. If you could swap dialogue lines between two characters and nobody would notice, you have a voice problem. One practical test: cover the dialogue tags and see if you can tell who's speaking from the words alone. Actionable step: Choose a key passage from your protagonist's point of view and read it aloud. Does the rhythm match the character? A soldier under fire should not sound like a philosophy professor at a wine tasting. Adjust the ratio of periods to commas until the voice feels right. 13. Link Character and Plot Until They're Inseparable Will Storr made the case on episode 490 that the number one problem he sees in the writing he encounters—in workshops, in submissions, even in published books—is that the characters and the plots are unconnected. There's a story happening, and there are people in it, but the story isn't a product of who those people are. He said a story should be like life. In our lives, the plots are intimately connected to who we are as characters. The goals we pursue, the obstacles we face, the same problems that keep recurring—these are products of our personalities, our flaws, our specific ways of being in the world. His framework is that your plot should be designed specifically to plot against your character. You've got a character with a particular flaw; the plot exists to test that flaw over and over until the character either transforms or doubles down and explodes. Jaws is the perfect example. Brody is afraid of water. A shark shows up in the coastal town he's responsible for protecting. The entire plot is engineered to force him to confront the one thing he cannot face. Will pointed out that the whole plot of Jaws is structured around Brody's flaw. It begins with the shark arriving, the midpoint is when Brody finally gets the courage to go into the water, and the very final scene isn't the shark blowing up—it's Brody swimming back through the water. Even a film that's ninety-eight percent action is, at its core, structured around a character with a character flaw. This is the standard I aspire to in my own work, even in my action-heavy thrillers. The external plot should be a mirror of the internal struggle. When those two are aligned, the story becomes irresistible. Will also made an important point about series fiction, which is where most commercial authors live. I asked him how this works when your character can't be transformed at the end of every book because there has to be a next book. His answer was elegant: you don't cure them. Episodic TV characters like Fleabag or David Brent or Basil Fawlty never truly change—and the fact that they don't change is actually the source of the comedy. But every episode throws a new story event at them that tests and exposes their flaw. You just keep throwing story events at them again and again. That's a soap opera, a sitcom, and a book series. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, character flaws are aspects of personality that affect the person so much that facing and overcoming them becomes central to the plot. In Jaws, the protagonist Brody is afraid of the water, but he has to overcome that flaw to destroy the killer shark and save the town. But remember, your characters should feel like real people, so never define them purely by their flaws. The character addicted to painkillers might also be a brilliant and successful female lawyer who gets up at four in the morning to work out at the gym, likes eighties music, and volunteers at the local dog shelter at weekends. Character wounds are different from flaws. They're formed from life experience and are part of your character's backstory—traumatic events that happened before the events of your novel but shape the character's reactions in the present. In my ARKANE thrillers, Morgan Sierra's husband Elian died in her arms during a military operation. This happened before the series begins, but her memories of it recur when she faces a firefight, and she struggles to find happiness again for fear of losing someone she loves once more. And then there's the perennial advice: show, don't tell. Most writers have heard this so many times that it's easy to nod and then promptly write scenes that tell rather than show. Basically, you need to reveal your character through action and dialogue, rather than explanation. In my thriller Day of the Vikings, Morgan Sierra fights a Neo-Viking in the halls of the British Museum and brings him down with Krav Maga. That fight scene isn't just about showing action. It opens up questions about her backstory, demonstrates character, and moves the plot forward. Telling would be something like: “Morgan was an expert in Krav Maga.” Showing is the reader discovering it through the scene itself. Actionable step: Look at the main plot events of your novel. For each major turning point, ask: does this scene specifically test my protagonist's flaw? If not, can you redesign the scene so that it does? The tighter the connection between character and plot, the more powerful the story. 14. The ‘Maestra' Approach: Write Out of Order If you're a discovery writer like me, you may feel like the deep character work I've been describing sounds more suited to plotters. But Barbara Nickless gave me a beautiful metaphor on episode 732 that reframes it entirely. Barbara described her evolving writing process as being like a maestra standing in front of an orchestra. Sometimes you bring in the horns—a certain theme—and sometimes you bring in the strings—a certain character—and sometimes you turn to the soloist. It's a more organic and jumping-around process than linear writing, and Barbara said she's only recently given herself permission to work this way. When I told her that I use Scrivener to write in scenes out of order and then drag and drop them into a structure later, she was genuinely intrigued. And this is how I've always worked. I'll see the story in my mind like a movie trailer—flashes of the big emotional scenes, the pivotal confrontations, the moments of revelation—and I write those first. I don't know how they hang together until quite late in the process. Then I'll move scenes around, print the whole thing out, and figure out the connective tissue. The point is that discovery writers can absolutely build deep characters. Sometimes writing the big emotional scenes first is how you discover who the character is before you fill in the rest. You don't need a twenty-page character worksheet or a 200-page outline like Jeffery Deaver. You need to be willing to follow the character into the unknown and trust that the structure will emerge. As Barbara said, she writes to know what she's thinking. That's the discovery writer's credo. And I would add: I write to know who my characters are. Actionable step: If you're stuck on your current chapter, skip it. Write the scene that's burning in your imagination, even if it's from the middle or the end. That scene might be the key to unlocking who your character really is. 15. Use Research to Help with Empathy Research shouldn't just be about factual accuracy—it's a tool for finding the sensory details that create empathy. Barbara Nickless described research as almost an excuse to explore things that fascinate her, and I feel exactly the same way. I would go so far as to say that writing is an excuse for me to explore the things that interest me. Barbara and I both travel for our stories. For her Dr. Evan Wilding books, she did deep research into Old English literature and the Viking Age. For my thriller End of Days, I transcribed hours of video from Appalachian snake-handling churches on YouTube to understand the worldview of the worshippers, because my antagonist was brought up in that tradition. I couldn't just make that up. I had to hear their language, feel their conviction, understand why they would hold venomous serpents as an act of faith. Barbara also mentioned getting to Israel and the West Bank for research, and I've been to both places too. Finding that one specific sensory detail—the smell of a particular location, the specific way an expert handles a tool, the sound of a particular kind of music—makes the character's life feel lived-in. It's the difference between a character who is described as living in a place and a character who inhabits it. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, don't write what you know. Write what you want to learn about. I love research. It's part of why I'm an author in the first place. I take any excuse to dive into a world different from my own. Research using books, films, podcasts, and travel, and focus particularly on sources produced by people from the worldview you want to understand. Actionable step: For your next piece of character research, go beyond reading. Watch a documentary, visit a location, talk to someone who lives the experience. Find one sensory detail—a smell, a sound, a texture—that you couldn't have invented. That detail will make your character feel real. Bonus: Measure Your Life by What You Create In an age of AI and a tsunami of content, your ultimate brand protection is the quality of your human creation. Barbara Nickless said that the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul, and I believe that with every fibre of my being. Don't be afraid to take that step back, like I did with my deadlifting. Take the time to master these deeper craft skills. It might feel like you're slowing down or going backwards by not chasing the latest marketing trend, but it's the only way to step forward into a sustainable, high-quality career. Your characters are your signature. No AI can replicate the specificity of your lived experience, the emotional truth of your displaced trauma, or the sensory details you've gathered from a life of curiosity and travel. Those are yours. Pour them into your characters, and they will resonate for years to come. Actionable Takeaway: Identify the Dramatic Question for your current protagonist. Can you state it in a single sentence with the kind of specificity Will Storr described? Is it as clear as “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you the only adult in the room?” If you can't answer it with that kind of precision, your character might still be a sketch. Give them a diagonal toast moment today. Find the one hyper-specific detail that proves they are not an imitation of life. And then ask yourself: does your plot test your character's flaw in every major scene? If you can align those two things—a precisely defined character and a plot that exists to test them—you will have a story that readers cannot put down. References and Deep Dives The episodes I've referenced today are all available with full transcripts at TheCreativePenn.com: Episode 732 — Facing Fears, and Writing Unique Characters with Barbara Nickless Episode 673 — Writing Choctaw Characters and Diversity in Fiction with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer Episode 624 — Writing Characters with Matt Bird Episode 550 — The Heroine's Journey with Gail Carriger Episode 490 — How Character Flaws Shape Story with Will Storr Books mentioned: The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn You can find all my books for authors at CreativePennBooks.com and my fiction and memoir at JFPennBooks.com Happy writing! How was this episode created? This episode was initiated created by NotebookLM based on YouTube videos of the episodes linked above from YouTube/TheCreativePenn, plus my text chapters on character from How to Write a Novel. NotebookLM created a blog post from the material and then I expanded it and fact checked it with Claude.ai 4.6 Opus, and then I used my voice clone at ElevenLabs to narrate it. The post Writing Characters: 15 Actionable Tips For Writing Deep Character first appeared on The Creative Penn.
Deep within Navajo culture lives a creature that was once human — a witch who murdered their own family to gain the power to shapeshift, possess the living, and control the dead.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: The Navajo believe there are places where the powers of both good and evil are present and that those powers can be harnessed for either. And the masters of these powers are the skinwalkers. (Skinwalking Witches) *** If you hear the words “murder” and “London” you immediately think of Jack the Ripper – but he is only one of many brutal murderers who prowled the foggy city looking for victims. We'll look at some of the most gruesome in London's history. (Murderous London) *** Since it was built in 1981, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge connecting St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida has been a harbinger of tragedy. The four-mile-long bridge rises like a mastodon 430 feet into the bright sunlight. On or around the bridge, there have been hundreds of suicides, as well as deadly shipwrecks. And in 2016, there was the heinous murder of a child let down by the very system designed to protect her. (The Bridge to Tragedy) *** You've probably seen a street artist in person or on video appearing to defy gravity – floating as in mid-air, hoping you'll give them some of your pocket change. And of course you've seen magicians levitate the beautiful assistant, or levitate themselves. But then there are those who say they can do it for real – no trickery involved. Some are laughable, but others make you wonder. (Gravity-Defying Geezers)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:00:53.244 = Show Open00:03:10.733 = Murderous London00:14:22.509 = Skinwalker Witches ***00:27:05.454 = Bridge To Tragedy00:35:20.391 = Gravity-Defying Geezers ***00:49:26.863 = Show Outro*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/MUSIC = Songs and Videos by our Weird Darkness punk band, #DarkWeirdnesshttps://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Murderous London” by Lea Rose Emery for Unspeakable Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/9fs2mcwk“Skinwalking Witches” by Kathy Weister-Alexander for Legends of America: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/35pskwcv“The Bridge to Tragedy” by Robert A. Waters for Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/8ss6j3jy“Gravity-Defying Geezers” by Ben Gazur for ListVerse: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2vcbc4em=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: December 27, 2022EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/SkinwalkersABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: #WeirdDarkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
© 2020-2026 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
