Podcasts about national storytelling network

What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint.   Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe,   Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point.   Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning.   Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden.   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines?   Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there.   Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff.   Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45   Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start.   Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So   Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston.   Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South   Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie?   Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand,   Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now,   Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you   Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that   Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the   Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified.   Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn.   Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the   Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good.   Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know   Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This   Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset.   Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college?   Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right?   Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public?   Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool.   Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as   Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and   Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner.   Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up?   Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss.   Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor?   Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure   Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during   Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition   Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you?   Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G   Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah   Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones,   Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star.   Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was   Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family.   Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway,   Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no,   Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity   Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and   Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story.   Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time.   Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got   Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV.   Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did.   Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great   Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy   Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and   Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that,   Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story.   Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's   Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know,   Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip.   Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes.   Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us.   Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No,   Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts,   Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And,   Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it   Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope.   Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean,   Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff   Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated   Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You   Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers.   Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch.   Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah.   Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that   Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh,   Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick   Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible.   Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool.   Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking.   Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner,   Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times.   Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much   Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry.   Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep?   Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the   Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do.   Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them   Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights,   Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor,   Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry.   Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes?   Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that   Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just   Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I   Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they   Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And   Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike?   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went,   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le

Storytelling can be found across cultures. It's been used to teach morals, share news, and entertain. In this latest episode of the Down the Road podcast, Laura Boosinger sits down with professional storyteller Connie Regan-Blake to share how storytelling jumped from personal circles (campfires, living rooms, and porches) to stages. Connie Regan-Blake is an award-winning storyteller, coach, and workshop facilitator. Among her many awards and accolades, she has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Storytelling Network. Connie has also been honored by the NC Arts Council and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. She served on the board of directors for the National Storytelling Association at varying intervals between 1974 and 1984. Learn more about Connie Reagan-Black by visiting her profile page in the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area's Traditional Artist Directory.  Recordings in this episode:Ray Hicks “Hunting with Jack” The PodcastThe “Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina” podcast highlights bluegrass and old-time music stories, performers, and traditions across the mountain and foothills counties of Western North Carolina. Hosted and scripted by Laura Boosinger and produced by Jaclyn Anthony and Joe Kendrick of WNCW-FM, the podcast is a joint effort of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and WNCW-FM.

Storytelling can be found across cultures. It's been used to teach morals, share news, and entertain. In this latest episode of the Down the Road podcast, Laura Boosinger sits down with professional storyteller Connie Regan-Blake to share how storytelling jumped from personal circles (campfires, living rooms, and porches) to stages. Connie Regan-Blake is an award-winning storyteller, coach, and workshop facilitator. Among her many awards and accolades, she has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Storytelling Network. Connie has also been honored by the NC Arts Council and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. She served on the board of directors for the National Storytelling Association at varying intervals between 1974 and 1984. Learn more about Connie Reagan-Black by visiting her profile page in the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area's Traditional Artist Directory.  Recordings in this episode:Ray Hicks “Hunting with Jack” The PodcastThe “Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina” podcast highlights bluegrass and old-time music stories, performers, and traditions across the mountain and foothills counties of Western North Carolina. Hosted and scripted by Laura Boosinger and produced by Jaclyn Anthony and Joe Kendrick of WNCW-FM, the podcast is a joint effort of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and WNCW-FM.

Breaking Silence: A Journey from Mental Hellness to Mental Wellness with David Woods Bartley Show Notes In this episode of Suicide Zen Forgiveness, host Elaine welcomes David Woods Bartley, who shares his powerful and emotional story of surviving a suicide attempt and his journey towards mental wellness. David discusses his battle with depression, the profound impact of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and the importance of human connection in suicide prevention. He also reflects on the influence of supportive relationships and the significance of openly sharing struggles to encourage empathy and hope.   0:00 David-W-Bartley Audio 01:17 Welcome and Introduction 02:53 David's Struggle with Depression 04:54 The Turning Point: Forest Hill Bridge 08:23 The Power of Connection 10:24 Journey to Mental Wellness 16:20 Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Experience 19:11 Reflecting on Trauma and Healing 29:59 Reflecting on Family and Relationships 31:31 Military Family and Personal Heroes 33:29 The Impact of ECT on Memory 36:19 Insights on Mental Health and Neuroplasticity 39:25 Sharing Personal Stories and Writing a Book 43:28 Customer Service Philosophy and Personal Anecdotes 45:53 Concluding Thoughts and Gratitude   Bio My name is David Woods Bartley. I am both a suicide attempt and childhood rape survivor turned two-time TED Talker and international mental health trainer.  David Woods Bartley has seen his fair share of successes and setbacks, from directing a nationally recognized nonprofit to battling the long-term effects of childhood sexual trauma and a life-threatening mental illness. The latter, a brutal knock-down, drag-out fight with clinical depression, led David to a suicide attempt. Thanks to the support of many people and being shown the necessity of putting one's self-care on a pedestal, David continues the essential yet challenging journey from the isolation of mental “hellness” to the inclusive space of mental wellness. His life having been saved, David is committed to moving the conversation about suicide, male sexual trauma, and mental illness from the dark shadows where they now live to the forefront of public concern. In doing so, his mission is to shine a bright light on the crisis we now face and open doors to the possibility of mental health for everyone, everywhere. Currently, David is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the International Association for Youth Mental Health, the National Storytelling Network's Healing Story Alliance, and Active Minds. In addition, David holds certifications in Mental Health First Aid for Adults and Youth, SafeTALK (Suicide Awareness for Everyone), and the suicide prevention technique known as QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer). In addition to giving two TED talks and being named a 2021 Mental Health Champion by the prestigious Steinberg Institute, David has presented more than 600 times to audiences across the United States, Canada, Central America, and India, giving in-person and virtual presentations on the subjects of suicide, male sexual trauma, mental health, organizational culture, and servant leadership. David has been invited to present to organizations such as the United States Army, the United States Coast Guard, the Food and Drug Administration, OSH India, Sutter Health, AbleTo, the California Highway Patrol, the Indiana Organization for Nursing Leadership, the University of Connecticut, Boston College, the California Northstate School of Medicine, and a wide range of elementary, middle and high schools, community organizations, and diverse faith denominations 2-TimeTEDx Speaker | International Mental Health Presenter | SME on Suicide 2021 Steinberg Institute Mental Health Champion Links and Socials www.davidwoodsbartley.com X:  david@davidwoodsbartley.com FACEBOOK: @davidwoodsbartley

Breaking Silence: A Journey from Mental Hellness to Mental Wellness with David Woods Bartley Show Notes In this episode of Suicide Zen Forgiveness, host Elaine welcomes David Woods Bartley, who shares his powerful and emotional story of surviving a suicide attempt and his journey towards mental wellness. David discusses his battle with depression, the profound impact of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and the importance of human connection in suicide prevention. He also reflects on the influence of supportive relationships and the significance of openly sharing struggles to encourage empathy and hope.   0:00 David-W-Bartley Audio 01:17 Welcome and Introduction 02:53 David's Struggle with Depression 04:54 The Turning Point: Forest Hill Bridge 08:23 The Power of Connection 10:24 Journey to Mental Wellness 16:20 Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Experience 19:11 Reflecting on Trauma and Healing 29:59 Reflecting on Family and Relationships 31:31 Military Family and Personal Heroes 33:29 The Impact of ECT on Memory 36:19 Insights on Mental Health and Neuroplasticity 39:25 Sharing Personal Stories and Writing a Book 43:28 Customer Service Philosophy and Personal Anecdotes 45:53 Concluding Thoughts and Gratitude   Bio My name is David Woods Bartley. I am both a suicide attempt and childhood rape survivor turned two-time TED Talker and international mental health trainer.  David Woods Bartley has seen his fair share of successes and setbacks, from directing a nationally recognized nonprofit to battling the long-term effects of childhood sexual trauma and a life-threatening mental illness. The latter, a brutal knock-down, drag-out fight with clinical depression, led David to a suicide attempt. Thanks to the support of many people and being shown the necessity of putting one's self-care on a pedestal, David continues the essential yet challenging journey from the isolation of mental “hellness” to the inclusive space of mental wellness. His life having been saved, David is committed to moving the conversation about suicide, male sexual trauma, and mental illness from the dark shadows where they now live to the forefront of public concern. In doing so, his mission is to shine a bright light on the crisis we now face and open doors to the possibility of mental health for everyone, everywhere. Currently, David is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the International Association for Youth Mental Health, the National Storytelling Network's Healing Story Alliance, and Active Minds. In addition, David holds certifications in Mental Health First Aid for Adults and Youth, SafeTALK (Suicide Awareness for Everyone), and the suicide prevention technique known as QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer). In addition to giving two TED talks and being named a 2021 Mental Health Champion by the prestigious Steinberg Institute, David has presented more than 600 times to audiences across the United States, Canada, Central America, and India, giving in-person and virtual presentations on the subjects of suicide, male sexual trauma, mental health, organizational culture, and servant leadership. David has been invited to present to organizations such as the United States Army, the United States Coast Guard, the Food and Drug Administration, OSH India, Sutter Health, AbleTo, the California Highway Patrol, the Indiana Organization for Nursing Leadership, the University of Connecticut, Boston College, the California Northstate School of Medicine, and a wide range of elementary, middle and high schools, community organizations, and diverse faith denominations 2-TimeTEDx Speaker | International Mental Health Presenter | SME on Suicide 2021 Steinberg Institute Mental Health Champion Links and Socials www.davidwoodsbartley.com X:  david@davidwoodsbartley.com FACEBOOK: @davidwoodsbartley

Our brains crave powerful narratives. Stories help us interpret new information and shape our understanding of the world. They can also motivate us into action. That's what makes storytelling such a powerful tool for organizing within a union. In this episode, Dr. Kevin Cordi and Katie Fuller continue to share their insights and their own stories to explain. Plus, we hear from the OEA endorsed STRS candidate Sandy Smith Fischer, who shares her story about what led her to run to represent active teachers on the State Teachers Retirment System board and how those experiences will shape her work, if elected.STRS VOTING DEADLINE: May 6, 2024, by 4:30 p.m. | If you are an active teacher who did not receive a ballot in the mail, or if you've lost your ballot, contact the Election Services help desk at STRSOHHelp@electionservicescorp.com or 866-276-1506. SUBSCRIBE | Click here to subscribe to Public Education Matters on Apple Podcasts or click here to subscribe on Google podcasts so you don't miss a thing. And don't forget you can listen to all of the previous episodes anytime on your favorite podcast platform, or by clicking here.LEARN MORE ABOUT THE OEA ENDORSED STRS CANDIDATE | Click here for more information on why Sandy Smith Fischer is running to represent active teachers on the State Teachers Retirment Board and her priorities to best serve the state's teachers in that position. Featured Public Education Matters guests: Katie Fuller, Huber Heights Education Association memberMs. Katie Fuller is a 5th Social Studies Teacher at Rushmore Elementary School in the Huber Heights City Schools District. Prior to this position, she had 7 years as a Positive Behavior Expert (PSC) Coach and Educational Consultant for grades K - 12 in the Dayton Public Schools District. In PBIS, her professional focus was education reform, the scaling up of evidence-based practices, cultural proficiency and organizational systems change.Ms. Fuller is from Dayton, Ohio and has four children and a dog named Hafe'.  She is in-tune with the community, performing organizing work as one of Ohio's New Educator Member Ambassadors (ONE).  She has a profound love and passion for teaching, reaching, and inspiring people to action.Ms. Fuller is a professional motivational speaker and workshop presenter and uses her powerful voice and international speaking platform to tell her life story and her “Why”.  She strives to share with people what drives education and social activism.  She encouraged her audience to find YOUR voice and tell YOUR story!!! Dr. Kevin Cordi, Associate Professor, Ohio University LancasterDr. Kevin Cordi is an Associate Professor of Education, Literacy, and Storytelling at Ohio University Lancaster where he has the honor of serving as the Middle Childhood Coordinator and the Advisor for the Aspiring Educators OEA Chapter.  According to the National Storytelling Network, he was “the first full time ;high school storytelling teacher in the country.”    He holds a Doctorate in Storytelling and Education from The Ohio State University.  He is an internationally known professional storytelling and presenter.  He has presented and performed in over 44 states, England, Japan,  Singapore, Scotland, and Qatar.  He has written book on storytelling, most recently, You don't know Jack: A Storyteller Goes to School by the University of Mississippi Press.  Although he has studied storytelling as a discipline, he learned the art from listening to his mother tell West Virginia stories  to him and his five brothers and sisters.   He believes that story is the way we think and we can significantly change the way students learn in a positive way by including stories and storytelling in the curriculum.   You can find out more about him and his work at www.kevincordi.com Sandy Smith Fischer, Streetsboro Education Association member and OEA-endorsed STRS candidate.A highly experienced Intervention Specialist with over 23 years of dedicated service in the field of education, Sandy Smith Fischer is committed to supporting students with diverse learning needs, ensuring their academic, social, and emotional growth. In the early years, Sandy Smith Fischer worked as a Direct Care Worker at Rose Mary Center in Euclid, a home for children with disabilities. Sandy loved learning, and became very interested in helping the children more. She began working on the wing with non-ambulatory children and worked closely with the occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, and the psychologist in charge of behavior. The love of learning and helping others continued to grow, and Sandy dreamed of earning her degree one day.Life happened, and Sandy found herself as a single mother of three, and returned to Kent State University in 1996 part time. While attending KSU part time, Sandy taught Head Start and went through the process of obtaining her Child Development Associates Degree for Portage County. During the years of obtaining her Bachelors Degree, Sandy would bring her children to her afternoon and evening classes. Throughout these times, she was also a Brownie Leader for her daughters Girl Scout troop, and would often take her children camping. Sandy graduated with her Bachelors degree in December 1999.As the educational journey continued, Sandy's Professors asked her to be part of a Master's program grant for one year and she would graduate with her Master's Degree. Sandy Smith Fischer continuously demonstrated a passion for fostering inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive. In 2000, Sandy Smith Fischer graduated with a Master's degree in Special Education, equipping her with the knowledge and expertise necessary to address the unique challenges faced by students with various learning differences.Over the years, Sandy Smith Fischer has worked in a variety of educational settings, including public schools, extended school year programs, and specialized programs such as the Help Foundation in Cleveland. She has served students across all grade levels, from early childhood to high school, and has developed a deep understanding of the diverse needs of learners at each stage of their educational journey.As Sandy began teaching in 2001, her passion for learning continued as she was now teaching an inclusion science class in 7th and 8th grade. Sandy went to countless workshops, and even took more college credits to gain a better understanding of the subject she was teaching. The lust for knowledge did not stop, Sandy took more classes to learn about Autism and other disabilities. She even began taking counseling classes to gain a better understanding of how to help more people. In 2005, Sandy...

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Women's History Month than to bring back our our conversation with storyteller, Jennifer Munro.Born in the heart of the industrial midlands in England, Jennifer Munro is a natural born storyteller. Since moving to the USA, she's been working as a  professional storyteller for more than twenty-five years, garnering numerous awards:National Storytelling Network's prestigious Circle of Excellence Award, winner in Storytelling World Magazine for her three recordings and short story collection, Aunty Lily and other Delightfully Perverse Stories. She has been featured at major festivals across the nation, most notably the National Storytelling Festival, TN, and the Timpanogos Festival, UT.Stacy sat down with Jen shortly  after she returned from a residency at the International Storytelling Center  in Jonesboro, TN to talk about the creative process, trusting in the Universe, and the gift that is story.Help Support Full Spirals and give healing a Voice!Join the community of "Spinners" on Patreon and contribute to the production of our impactful content for as little as $1/month!Make a one time donation of your support in any amount! Work with host Stacy ParishSupport the show

This month on Conversations from the Pointed Firs, host Peter Neill sits down with Joan (Jo) Radner, of Lovell, Maine, professor emerita of literature at American University, holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and is enjoying a second career as an oral historian, writer, and professional storyteller in her family's home region of western Maine. Jo has been studying, teaching, telling, and collecting stories most of her life, and has performed from Maine to Hawaii to Finland. Past president of the American Folklore Society and the National Storytelling Network, she has published books and articles on subjects ranging from early Irish historiography and Anglo-Irish drama to women's folklore, Deaf culture, and New England social history. Her new book (University of Massachusetts Press, 2023) is Wit and Wisdom: The Forgotten Literary Life of New England Villages. She has also published two award-winning CDs grounded in New England history, Yankee Ingenuity: Stories of Headstrong and Resourceful People and Burnt Into Memory: How Brownfield Faced the Fire 

In science, we're constantly learning, adapting and evolving. In this week's episode, both of our storytellers need to reckon with a new normal.Part 1: After a neurological disorder leaves Tracey Starin visually impaired, she struggles to fill the void of her love for reading.Part 2: At first comedian Ayanna Dookie doesn't take her Lupus diagnosis seriously.Tracey Starin is a writer and storyteller from Queens, NY. She has performed on actual and virtual stages in Boston, San Diego, Chicago, Toronto, and all over New York City. Tracey has appeared on numerous podcasts, including RISK!, Love Hurts, and The Volume Knob, as well as Stories from the Stage for World Channel. Tracey is the co-producer of the storytelling series Food for Thought for the National Storytelling Network. She also co-hosts a monthly storytelling show at Pine Box Rock Shop in Brooklyn called Just One More Thing. Ayanna Dookie is a stand-up comedian based in Brooklyn, New York. She is the 2014 winner of The She Devil Comedy Festival. She also earned a spot in the semi-finals of NBC's Stand-Up for Diversity and a finalist in the New York Underground Comedy Festival Emerging Comics Competition. She has appeared on Comcast-on-Demand, is currently a cast member on Fox's Laughs, and has been featured in the New York Post, Health Magazine, and the Lifetime Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In science, we're constantly learning, adapting and evolving. In this week's episode, both of our storytellers need to reckon with a new normal. Part 1: After a neurological disorder leaves Tracey Starin visually impaired, she struggles to fill the void of her love for reading. Part 2: At first comedian Ayanna Dookie doesn't take her Lupus diagnosis seriously. Tracey Starin is a writer and storyteller from Queens, NY. She has performed on actual and virtual stages in Boston, San Diego, Chicago, Toronto, and all over New York City. Tracey has appeared on numerous podcasts, including RISK!, Love Hurts, and The Volume Knob, as well as Stories from the Stage for World Channel. Tracey is the co-producer of the storytelling series Food for Thought for the National Storytelling Network. She also co-hosts a monthly storytelling show at Pine Box Rock Shop in Brooklyn called Just One More Thing.  Ayanna Dookie is a stand-up comedian based in Brooklyn, New York. She is the 2014 winner of The She Devil Comedy Festival. She also earned a spot in the semi-finals of NBC's Stand-Up for Diversity and a finalist in the New York Underground Comedy Festival Emerging Comics Competition. She has appeared on Comcast-on-Demand, is currently a cast member on Fox's Laughs, and has been featured in the New York Post, Health Magazine, and the Lifetime Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support the Show: Join the community of spinners on Patreon and contribute to the production of impactful content.  Or make a one time donation of your support. Born in the heart of the industrial midlands in England, Jennifer Munro is a natural born storyteller. Since moving to the USA, she's been working as a  professional storyteller for more than twenty-five years, garnering numerous awards: National Storytelling Network's prestigious Circle of Excellence Award, winner in Storytelling World Magazine for her three recordings and short story collection, Aunty Lily and other Delightfully Perverse Stories. She has been featured at major festivals across the nation, most notably the National Storytelling Festival, TN, and the Timpanogos Festival, UT.Stacy sat down with Jen shortly  after she returned from a residency at the International Storytelling Center  in Jonesboro, TN to talk about the creative process, trusting in the Universe, and the gift that is story.Support the show

There may be no better person that embodies the vision of “Plant Stories” like herbal troubadour and Appalachian naturalist, Doug Elliot. A gifted storyteller, Doug recites both wisdom and whimsical through spoken word and song. We've compiled some of our favorite songs that Doug has recorded with us and are releasing them together, in this delightful and heart-warming episode. Our host, Thomas, gives a brief introduction in between Doug's sets, offering context for each of the four botanical tales & tunes.  Today's episode also comes with a special visual bonus! We had the pleasure of visiting with Doug in the summer of 2022 at his Appalachian homestead. Click here to see some of the photos of Doug in his element.  Visit the links below to watch the videos of Doug's storytelling serenades on our YouTube channel: Dandelion Tips, Tales, & Tunes Life Lessons Through a Song About an Apple Rural Riddles & Blackberry Boogie A Sweet Strawberry Tale & Tune Want to hear more from Doug? Give “Interviews on Herbal Radio | Featuring Doug Elliot” a listen! Visit Doug Elliot's website here Doug Elliot is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, basket maker, back-country guide, philosopher, and harmonica wizard. For many years made his living as a traveling herbalist, gathering and selling herbs, teas, and remedies. He has spent a great deal of time with traditional country folk and indigenous people, learning their stories, folklore and traditional ways of relating to the natural world. In recent years he has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival. He has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness experiences from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler's Grove Festival in Union Grove, N.C. He is the author of five books, many articles in regional and national magazines, has recorded a number of award winning albums of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on PBS-TV, and the History and National Geographic Channels. In recent years, he has received a variety of honors. The National Storytelling Network (the largest storytelling membership organization in the world) inducted him into their Circle of Excellence for “exceptional commitment and exemplary contribution to the art of storytelling.” The International Herb Association presented him with the Otto Richter Award honoring his work with herbs and useful wild plants. The National Association for Interpretation (the professional organization of park rangers, naturalists, museum curators, etc.) gave him the Master Front Line Interpreter Award for his “mastery of interpretive techniques, program development, and design of creative projects” celebrating the natural world and our human connection to nature.  Elliot's passion for the natural world developed in early childhood roaming the woods and waters around his home. His dad used to say, “That boy knows what's under every rock between here and town.” He still roams the woods today. He has traveled from the Canadian North to the Central American jungles studying plant and animal life and seeking out the traditional wisdom of people with intimate connections to the natural world. And he still looks under rocks. These days he uncovers more than just a few strange critters; he brings to light the human connection to this vibrant world of which we are a part. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Totally geeked-out about talking to Donald Davis. My daughters grew up listening to his stories and hearing him for the first time changed my life. He'll be telling stories at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival at Thanksgiving Point on Sept. 7-9. Donald Davis has been telling stories at national festivals for more than 40 years.  He was born in a Southern Appalachian mountain world,  rich in stories. While he heard many traditional stories about Jack and other heroic characters, he was most attracted to the stories of his own family and places of origin.   During his twenty-five year career as a United Methodist Minister, Davis began to use stories more and more.  He was also asked to begin performing at festivals and in other settings until he retired from the church to tell stories full time. The author of eighteen books and more than forty original recordings, Davis is the recipient of both the Circle of Excellence and the Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Storytelling Network.

This week Amanda is joined by professional storyteller and MBE Liz Weir who has made an international career out of writing and the art of story telling.This episode is full of heart, purpose, humour, insights on creating community, the power of following your purpose in life, having a positive outlook to be able to look for the possibilities that present themselves along the way and how Liz has dedicated her life to promoting and encouraging/educating others to make careers out of story telling.Liz has won many awards and has an incredibly infectious outlook on life, she shares much wisdom on how she created adventure, connection and freedom in her own life and even shares inspiring and courageous insights on her recent challenge of overcoming Cancer.ABOUT LIZ WEIR:Liz Weir is an Irish storyteller with an international reputation. She was the first winner of the International Story Bridge Award from the National Storytelling Network, USA, which cited her “exemplary work promoting the art of storytelling”. She has told her stories to people of all ages on five continents. She has performed in pubs and prisons and hospital rooms. She worked on stages in the mighty Vanderbilt Hall of New York's Grand Central Station and in the Royal Albert Hall.Liz has written two collections of stories for children Boom Chicka Boom and Here, There and Everywhere (O'Brien Press) and When Dad Was Away (Frances Lincoln Books), a picture book based on her work in prisons. Liz is the director of the Glens Storytelling Festival www.goastories.org and a committee member of the Cape Clear International Storytelling Festival www.capeclearstorytelling.comIn 2019 she was awarded an MBE for her services to the arts and to education.Connect with Liz:www.lizweir.orgwww.Ballyeamon barn.com***********LAST CHANCE to join this round of Amanda's 8 week online course 'Building Confidence and Self Esteem'Started Thursday 11th May at 7.30pm on Zoom (watch the replay and join us for the 2nd Live on Thurs 18th)https://amandastjohn.lpages.co/building-confidence-and-self-esteem-8-week-course/**********To BOOK Amanda for coaching/mentoring/public speaking email - amandastjohnmusic@gmail.comor follow her:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/acreatedlife_coach Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we have a special episode featuring David Woods Bartley, a mental health expert, and family member. In this episode, David shares his story of success and setbacks, from directing a nationally recognized nonprofit to battling depression caused by childhood sexual trauma. His journey led him to attempt suicide, but with the support of others and a focus on self-care, he moved from mental "hellness" to mental wellness.One in five US adults experiences a mental health condition every year, and the suicide rate has increased by 35% since 1999. With 48 million people struggling with anxiety, 17% of youth experiencing a mental health condition, and an average delay of 11 years between the onset of a mental health illness and seeking help, it's crucial to talk about and seek help for mental health challenges.David's mission is to shine a light on mental health crises, including suicide, male sexual trauma, and mental illness, and to remove the stigma around seeking help. He holds certifications in mental health first aid and is a member of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, the International Association for Youth Mental Health, and the National Storytelling Network. David's personal stories, including those involving animals, make him a phenomenal storyteller. Tune in to this episode for resources, comfort, and a new perspective on mental health.Important Links:• Learn more about David and his work here: https://www.davidwoodsbartley.com/• Learn more about The Better Love Club http://thebetterloveclub.com/• Get your copy of my brand new book Feeling Like Your Marriage Is Dead? http://lifetimeoflove.me/• Relationship Check-up - tired of re-hashing your issues with your partner without making progress? Schedule your check-up today! https://stacibartley.com/private-sessions

Welcome to the second episode of “Plant Stories” on Herbal Radio. Our hope is for this show to be entertaining and fun – and maybe we'll learn a little something along the way too.  There may be no better person that embodies the vision of “Plant Stories” like herbal troubadour and Appalachian naturalist, Doug Elliot. A gifted storyteller, Doug recites both wisdom and whimsical through spoken word and song. We've compiled some of our favorite songs that Doug has recorded with us and are releasing them together, in this delightful and heart-warming episode. Our host, Thomas, gives a brief introduction in between Doug's sets, offering context for each of the four botanical tales & tunes.  Today's episode also comes with a special visual bonus! We had the pleasure of visiting with Doug in the summer of 2022 at his Appalachian homestead. Click here to see some of the photos of Doug in his element.  Visit the links below to watch the videos of Doug's storytelling serenades on our YouTube channel: Dandelion Tips, Tales, & Tunes Life Lessons Through a Song About an Apple Rural Riddles & Blackberry Boogie A Sweet Strawberry Tale & Tune Want to hear more from Doug? Give “Interviews on Herbal Radio | Featuring Doug Elliot” a listen! Visit Doug Elliot's website here   Doug Elliot is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, basket maker, back-country guide, philosopher, and harmonica wizard. For many years made his living as a traveling herbalist, gathering and selling herbs, teas, and remedies. He has spent a great deal of time with traditional country folk and indigenous people, learning their stories, folklore and traditional ways of relating to the natural world. In recent years he has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival. He has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness experiences from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler's Grove Festival in Union Grove, N.C. He is the author of five books, many articles in regional and national magazines, has recorded a number of award winning albums of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on PBS-TV, and the History and National Geographic Channels. In recent years, he has received a variety of honors. The National Storytelling Network (the largest storytelling membership organization in the world) inducted him into their Circle of Excellence for “exceptional commitment and exemplary contribution to the art of storytelling.” The International Herb Association presented him with the Otto Richter Award honoring his work with herbs and useful wild plants. The National Association for Interpretation (the professional organization of park rangers, naturalists, museum curators, etc.) gave him the Master Front Line Interpreter Award for his “mastery of interpretive techniques, program development, and design of creative projects” celebrating the natural world and our human connection to nature.  Elliot's passion for the natural world developed in early childhood roaming the woods and waters around his home. His dad used to say, “That boy knows what's under every rock between here and town.” He still roams the woods today. He has traveled from the Canadian North to the Central American jungles studying plant and animal life and seeking out the traditional wisdom of people with intimate connections to the natural world. And he still looks under rocks. These days he uncovers more than just a few strange critters; he brings to light the human connection to this vibrant world of which we are a part. On a side note, we're so excited for the upcoming International Herb Symposium, June 9 – 11, 2023. Are you interested in attending? Buy your early bird tickets before Feb. 28, 2023 for discounted pricing. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok

In this episode of My Blunt Truth, Candi and her co-host of the week Charles Gates, talk about how mentality plays a huge part in human progression as a collective and in the world. Charles S. Gates is a high-energy, award winning, no-nonsense speaker, presentation coach, emcee and author. He is a former Marine with 30 years as corporate trainer. He helps business leaders bottle their messages in 15 words or less and deliver with power and poise. His goal is to create better workplace presenters—one word at a time. Charles is passionate about inspiring and equipping individuals to become the best presenters they can be. His interactive talks and workshops are designed to change your thought process through enjoyable, easy to implement strategies. His success is determined by your willingness to say, “I can do that.” He has spoken at Dollar Tree, Capital One, National Storytelling Network, American Association of Government Accountants, the American Society of Military Comptrollers and the Help Desk Institute, to name a few. He is a frequent guest on podcasts, television and radio shows. His e-book: Bring the Zing—5 Keys for Powerful Presentations, Briefings and Meetings, is available on Amazon Kindle https://a.co/fAmGZvI. Charles has always been active in his community. Currently he serves as the 2nd VP and Community Coordination Committee chair with YJCW NAACP, is an inaugural member of the Williamsburg Citizen Advisory Committee, the FBI Roundtable and is a past District Director and Region Advisor with Toastmasters International. He is married to the lovely Lei Lana. They have four children, Tania, Tiffany, Chris and Zeke, a German Shepard puppy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/candi20/message

Today's episode was recorded in late summer of 2022 at Doug Elliott's home in Appalachia. You'll hear a symphony of crickets and other wildlife in the background as Thomas and Doug discuss his childhood, learning folk methods from 'old timers', as well as the path of learning about and connecting with medicinal plants. We hope you enjoy the wonderful and entertaining stories from our dear and magical friend, Doug Elliott. Introduction song "Dandelion Tips" sung by Doug Elliott. Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, basket maker, back-country guide, philosopher, and harmonica wizard. For many years made his living as a traveling herbalist, gathering and selling herbs, teas, and remedies. He has spent a great deal of time with traditional country folk and indigenous people, learning their stories, folklore and traditional ways of relating to the natural world. In recent years he has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival. He has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness experiences from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler's Grove Festival in Union Grove, N.C. He is the author of five books, many articles in regional and national magazines, has recorded a number of award winning albums of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on PBS-TV, and the History and National Geographic Channels. In recent years he has received a variety of honors. The National Storytelling Network (the largest storytelling membership organization in the world) inducted him into their Circle of Excellence for “exceptional commitment and exemplary contribution to the art of storytelling.” The International Herb Association presented him with the Otto Richter Award honoring his work with herbs and useful wild plants. The National Association for Interpretation (the professional organization of park rangers, naturalists, museum curators, etc.) gave him the Master Front Line Interpreter Award for his “mastery of interpretive techniques, program development, and design of creative projects” celebrating the natural world and our human connection to nature. Elliott's passion for the natural world developed in early childhood roaming the woods and waters around his home. His dad used to say, “That boy knows what's under every rock between here and town.” He still roams the woods today. He has traveled from the Canadian North to the Central American jungles studying plant and animal life and seeking out the traditional wisdom of people with intimate connections to the natural world. And he still looks under rocks. These days he uncovers more than just a few strange critters; he brings to light the human connection to this vibrant world of which we are a part. Visit Doug Elliott's website here. Watch Doug Elliott's videos on the Mountain Rose Herbs YouTube channel: A Sweet Strawberry Tale & Tune Dandelion Tips, Tales & Tunes Life Lessons Through a Song About an Apple Rural Riddles & Blackberry Boogie   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

On this episode I talk with the tall man w/ short name, Mr. Kory Thomas May (Iowa City), who is an accomplished speaker, storyteller, producer, coach, dad and the National Storytelling Network's recently-appointed Chairman of the Board (aka NSN's Superman).UPCOMING Grit EVENTSMental Health Happyish Hour (virtual open mic)

In 2021, Juneteenth Day became a federally recognized national holiday. On June 19, 1865, enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas received word that they were finally free, despite President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation two years prior. Today, we continue to celebrate this momentous day in not only commemorating African American freedom, but also in uplifting Black educators, scholars, artists, and communities. (source: juneteenth.com) We were honored to welcome professional storyteller Binnie Tate Wilkin. Binnie Tate Wilkin is an award-winning storyteller, writer and library services consultant. She has cultivated years of experience working in public libraries, focusing on children's librarianship and outreach services. Her recent work has been involved with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the American Library Association, the California Library Association, and the Los Angeles County Library. In 2019, she was inducted into the California Library Hall of Fame, and in 2021, she received the National Storytelling Network's Western Region Oracle Award. Access the captioned version of this webcast at https://youtu.be/5eDHjIukpFE

Blossom Your Awesome Episode #55 Creating Connection With David Woods BartleyDavid Woods Bartley helps people journey from Mental Wellness to Mental Wellness. David has seen his fair share of successes and setbacks; from directing a nationally recognized nonprofit to battling a life-threatening mental illness. But over the last seven years, David has successfully navigated from the isolation of mental “hellness” to the inclusive space of mental wellness.David is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the International Association for Youth Mental Health, the National Storytelling Network's Healing Story Alliance, and Active Minds. David holds certifications in Mental Health First Aid for Adults and Youth, SafeTALK (Suicide Awareness for Everyone), and is a national trainer for the groundbreaking suicide prevention technique known as QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer).David has been invited to speak to domestic and international audiences, giving keynote speeches and leading workshops on a variety of aspects of mental health, including suicide awareness and prevention, the power of connection to create hope, and the use of language as a tool for healing. In addition to giving a TEDx talk in the fall of 2018, David has been invited to present to organizations such as the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, Novartis, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Lyft, Sutter Health, Vision Service Plan, the University of Connecticut, the California Northstate School of Medicine, UC Davis, Sacramento State, William Jessup University, along with various faith denominations, law enforcement agencies and community organizations at the local, state and national level.David's goal for each speech and workshop is the same: to shed light on the issue of mental illness, teach people how to leverage curiosity to overcome our fears and use connection to create hope. Topics We Discuss:Mental Illness and Mental HealthSuicide awareness and preventionDepression and other related conditionsThe effect of stigma and ways to change perceptionsHow to create connection and hopeAdvice for those sufferingPractical tips to help loved ones who are sufferingThe power of connection to create hope, and the use of hope to save livesUsing storytelling to aid in the healing and help10 Interview Questions You Can Ask MeWhat led up to you wanting to kill yourself on August 31, 2011?What did your life look like at the time, and did anyone know you were suffering?How meaningful is it now to be doing such purposeful work?You are saving lives. How does that feel?What does it feel like to live with a mental illness, and how it impacts daily living?What are some of the causes of mental illness?What do you see as the biggest obstacles for people to experience true mental health? CONNECT WITH DAVIDWebsitehttps://www.davidwoodsbartley.com/LinkedIn URLhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/david-woods-bartley-96325512/Facebook URLhttps://www.facebook.com/david.w.bartley.5YouTube URLhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFEo9TcsIGCcQgBiihgXdrg/videosTo see more of my work go to Blossom Your Awesome. Or you can see some of my other work at suesblues.com Or follow me on instagram where I post fairly regularly and ask an inquisitive question or two weekly in hopes of getting you thinking about your life and going deeper with it. My Instagra

Welcome to an episode with a sought-after keynote speaker and a National Champion storyteller, Kindra Hall. Get Kindra's book here: https://amzn.to/3sRmOp3 In this episode, Kindra spoke about the importance of understanding the power of stories that an individual tells and believes and how it impacts our daily lives. She discussed how self-stories influence everything you do, everything you say, and everything you are. Kindra Hall is President and Chief Storytelling Officer at Steller Collective, a consulting firm focused on the strategic application of storytelling to today's communication challenges. Kindra is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers trusted by global brands to deliver presentations and training that inspire teams and individuals to better communicate the value of their company, their products and their individuality through strategic storytelling. What began as a chance encounter at age 13 with a storytelling cassette tape grew into a passion for not only telling stories, but a mastery for teaching others the methods and science of storytelling so they can better tell their own. Kindra was a National Champion storyteller, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network and has her master's degree in communications where she conducted original research studying the role of storytelling in defining and revealing organizational culture. She is a former Director of Marketing and VP of Sales. Today, Kindra's work can be seen at Inc.com, Entrepreneur.com and as a contributing editor for SUCCESS Magazine. Kindra's message spans all industries and her clients include Facebook, Hilton Hotels, Tyson Foods, Target, Berkshire Hathaway and the Harvard Medical School. Her much anticipated book will be released by Harper Leadership in the fall of 2019. Regardless of the industry, Kindra has become a conference favorite for her clients. The blend of inspiration and education in her keynotes mean that audiences leave feeling excited and equipped to finally put their stories to work in a tangible way. Choose Your Story, Change Your Life: Silence Your Inner Critic and Rewrite Your Life from the Inside Out. Kindra Hall: https://amzn.to/3sRmOp3 Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Welcome to our first panel featuring Narrative Practitioners from Australia, Canada, and America. We discuss a variety of topics, including our use of language with those we work with, the discourses within 'Tick, Tick, BOOM', and the importance of being de-centered, yet influential in our work.  Kate's belief that everyone has a story to tell drives every creative program and workshop that she develops and is the driving force behind the foundation of the Book Incubator. Known for her empathy and compassion mixed with a rather wicked sense of humour, Kate has the ability to quickly  create bonds and build safe places for people to share their stories. She has created a series of award winning Narrative Therapy initiatives that support her belief in the importance of written, visual and oral  storytelling.  Kate is a sought after speaker in the corporate sector, in communities and at creative forums. Tobias Rader lives with his partner, his two children and dog in Port Alberni, BC Canada. He is a Social Worker and Narrative Therapist, working for the Province of BC and in private practice. He has a deep interest in the use of silence in Narrative practice and is most curious in finding rich narratives that are unspoken. Kristin Pedemonti, Master's Narrative Therapy & Community Work is a Narrative Practitioner specializing in piecing together preferred stories with survivors of abuse, addictions, and assault. She has worked with persons with lived experiences of: childhood trauma, domestic violence, trafficking and war. Recipient of National Storytelling Network's International StoryBridge Award she has presented and performed on 5 continents in 20 countries, her favorite Iran. She is also a Storytelling Consultant at the World Bank. Kristin is the author of three books, most recently A Bridge of Stories which chronicles her journey creating and facilitating a decolonized seven year volunteer literacy project in Belize. All Things Narrative offers group workshops and 1-on-1 coaching that can empower you to live a meaningful story. Learn more and get your FREE consultation at: allthingsnarrative.com Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Read my Film Diary (including reviews and rankings) on Letterboxd

Dovie Thomason at the Arts Express Summer Conference 2022 Today, we have a treat for you—-a sneak peek of what you'll get at Arts Express Summer Conference from one of our fabulous presenters, Dovie Thomason, a Native American storyteller and author. After we tell you a bit more about Dovie and her experiences, we will share a recording of one of the stories she performed and recorded for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums in 2020, titled “Frog's Teeth.” The Story Behind the Story “Frog's Teeth”This story comes from a series titled “Stories Grandma Told Me.” This is not a story Dovie heard from her grandma. It was a story given to her when she was the mother of a child beginning to lose their teeth. The person who gave Dovie this story received it from her father's traditions as part of the Oneida First Nation in Ontario, Canada. We thank Jean Tokuda Irwin and our partners at the Utah Division of Arts and Museums for granting permission to use this recording and for introducing us to Dovie and sponsoring her at Arts Express this summer as a keynote speaker and presenter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGD_KkI4IbgDovie Thomason Biography Coming from the rich oral tradition of her Lakota and Plains Apache family, Dovie Thomason has had a lifetime of listening and telling the traditional Native stories that are the cultural “heartsong” of community values and memory. Both wise and mischievous, Dovie unfolds the layers of her indigenous worldview and teachings with respect, sly humor and rich vocal transformations. When she adds personal stories and untold histories, the result is a contemporary narrative of Indigenous North America told with elegance, wit, and passion. Her programs are a heartfelt sharing of Native stories she has had the privilege of hearing from Elders of many nations and are woven with why we need stories, how stories are a cultural guide in shaping values and making responsible choices, how stories build communities and celebrates our relationship with the Earth and all living beings. The oral tradition she gifts to listeners inspires delight in spoken language arts, encourages reading, supports literacy, can be used in classrooms to motivate better writing as students experience storytelling techniques, literary devices and effective communication. All of this takes place while they are exploring their own narratives and family values. Dovie has represented the U.S. as the featured storyteller throughout the world. In 2015, she was honored as the storyteller-writer in residence at the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture at the University of Manitoba in Canada. Dovie has used her storytelling to advise the UCLA Film School on narrative in modern film, NASA on indigenous views of technology, the Smithsonian Associates' Scholars Program and the premier TEDx Leadership Conference. Her role as a traditional cultural artist and educator has been honored by the National Storytelling Network's ORACLE: Circle of Excellence Award and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers' Traditional Storyteller Award.Links Mentioned: Register for Arts ExpressDovie Thomason's WebsiteMore stories by Dovie on the Utah Division of Arts and Museums YouTube Channel“Turtle Learns to Fly”“Dog's Tails”“Bear Child”Follow Us: BYU ARTS Partnership NewsletterAdvancingArtsLeadership.comSubscribe on Apple PodcastsSubscribe on SpotifyInstagramFacebookDon't forget to peruse the bank of lesson plans produced by the BYU ARTS Partnership Arts in dance, drama, music, visual arts, media arts. Search by grade-level, art form or subject area at www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons.

On this week's episode, I interview Award-Winning Storyteller and fellow Narrative Practitioner Kristin Pedemonti, and how her willingness to say "yes" to life led her to working on 5 different continents. We discuss Kristin's passion for Narrative Practices and storytelling, what it was like auditioning for TED, her de-colonizing work in other countries, infiltrating the world bank, the Japanese art of Kintsugi, and how she broke up a fight on the New York subway.  Introduction (0:00) Becoming a TED Speaker (6:23) Developing a Passion for Stories Through Childhood Challenges (15:10) De-Colonizing Literacy Initiatives & the World Bank (30:36) Saying "Yes" to Life (54:41) Narrative Practices & Kintsugi (1:05:17) Sign up for Derrick's next LIVE A MEANINGFUL STORY workshop here We invite you to take 30 seconds to 1 minute and record your responses on your phone (via the Voice Memo app). We'll feature your responses on a special edition episode of All Things Narrative on May 31st. Please email all submissions to: derrickh@allthingsnarrative.com Kristin's Narrative journey is layered and includes decades of projects on 5 continents through Listening, Storytelling, Creative Writing, Interviewing locals about their own initiatives to address challenges in their communities and sharing those stories on various platforms. She's been called: a ‘rebel with a cause.' She recently completed a master's degree in Narrative Therapy and Community work. As a Narrative Practitioner, Kristin especially enjoys piecing together preferred stories often through her innovation project melding the metaphors and physical practice of the Japanese art of Kintsugi with Narrative Practices to deconstruct ideas around forever broken or damaged beyond repair. For twenty years, Kristin has also been a Professional Storyteller and is a Recipient of the National Storytelling Network's International StoryBridge Award for her work connecting across cultures. She has presented and performed on 5 continents in 20 countries, her favorite Iran. In 2015, after a 7 year intention, Kristin infiltrated the World Bank where she is a Storytelling Consultant. She assists staff to tell the human stories within their data and more deeply honor the people they serve. Kristin is also the published author of three books including A Bridge of Stories which chronicles her decolonizing volunteer literacy project in Belize. Kristin is hoping to embark on another cross country tour taking her Kintsugi Narrative program across the US And Canada: piecing together preferred stories.  You can learn more about her work at www.steeryourstory.com or www.KristinPedemonti.com  She also admits, she really needs to update her sites and will finally do so later this month. She pre-emptively thanks you for your patience! All Things Narrative offers group workshops and one-on-one life coaching that can empower you to live a meaningful story. For more information, check out: allthingsnarrative.com Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Read my Film Diary (including reviews and rankings) on Letterboxd

Storytelling is as old as human culture and has many uses and impacts, including teaching morality, providing entertainment, and building empathy. National Storytelling Network member Gary Kuntz will discuss the […] The post The Power and Impact of Storytelling appeared first on KKFI.

Storytelling is as old as human culture and has many uses and impacts, including teaching morality, providing entertainment, and building empathy. National Storytelling Network member Gary Kuntz will discuss the various ways storytelling is used, as well as storytelling activities and groups that you can get involved in. (Recorded 4/03/2022) The post The Power and Impact of Storytelling appeared first on KKFI.

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 218, an episode with a sought-after keynote speaker and a National Champion storyteller, Kindra Hall. Get Kindra's book here: https://amzn.to/3sRmOp3 In this episode, Kindra spoke about the importance of understanding the power of stories that an individual tells and believes and how it impacts our daily lives. She discussed how self-stories influence everything you do, everything you say, and everything you are. Kindra Hall is President and Chief Storytelling Officer at Steller Collective, a consulting firm focused on the strategic application of storytelling to today's communication challenges. Kindra is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers trusted by global brands to deliver presentations and training that inspire teams and individuals to better communicate the value of their company, their products and their individuality through strategic storytelling. What began as a chance encounter at age 13 with a storytelling cassette tape grew into a passion for not only telling stories, but a mastery for teaching others the methods and science of storytelling so they can better tell their own. Kindra was a National Champion storyteller, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network and has her master's degree in communications where she conducted original research studying the role of storytelling in defining and revealing organizational culture. She is a former Director of Marketing and VP of Sales. Today, Kindra's work can be seen at Inc.com, Entrepreneur.com and as a contributing editor for SUCCESS Magazine. Kindra's message spans all industries and her clients include Facebook, Hilton Hotels, Tyson Foods, Target, Berkshire Hathaway and the Harvard Medical School. Her much anticipated book will be released by Harper Leadership in the fall of 2019. Regardless of the industry, Kindra has become a conference favorite for her clients. The blend of inspiration and education in her keynotes mean that audiences leave feeling excited and equipped to finally put their stories to work in a tangible way. Choose Your Story, Change Your Life: Silence Your Inner Critic and Rewrite Your Life from the Inside Out. Kindra Hall: https://amzn.to/3sRmOp3 Enjoying our podcast? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

David Novak is Artistic Director of A Telling Experience, telling stories to enrich discourse, entertain imagination, engage emotion, and discover our common ground. He has been described as a “master of literary collage” for his unique narrative style. David is an internationally touring storyteller and veteran of the National Storytelling Festival as well as a recipient of the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network. He keynotes for numerous library and educational conferences, including the Sydney International Storytelling Conference, Czech Children's Theatre Festival, and American Alliance for Theatre in Education. David lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Kendra Clark tells us about her book Motherpuppin' Adorable: What to do when your pet is better than everyone else's and her website ThePopularPets.com with products and resources for dogs, cats, and people. Buy the book on Amazon Smile and help the charity of your choice, like Rosie Fund.Kendra Clark's The Popular Pets online:ThePopularPets.comFacebookPinterestInstagramTwitterResources for writers:Book Launchers helps authors in the United States and Canada write, self-publish, and sell their books.The National Storytelling Network's mission is to advance all forms of storytelling within the community through promotion, advocacy, and education.Celebrate 5 years of Rosie Fund by supporting our campaign to sponsor 50 dogs. You can donate at RosieFund.org or through our Facebook page. You can contribute by making a purchase from the store on our website or buying a t-shirt at Bonfire.com. Also check out our page on BarkYours, the online mall with gifts for people who love their dogs.Music for this episode is provided by alternative string duo, The Wires. Visit them at TheWires.info. Learn fiddle and cello-fiddle online — even if you've never played before — from Laurel Morgan Parks and Sascha Groshang at FiddleLife.com. Join The Wires as they explore new music on their show Sound Currents.Listen to and download The Wires' holiday album “Winter” here.The transcript for this episode is available on the Dog Words Buzzsprout page: Buzzsprout.com/840565.

This week, we conclude our final Stories of COVID-19 series with two stories about the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Both of these stories ask: Where do we go from here?Part 1: Months after Howard Lieberman contracts COVID-19 on a business trip in March 2020, he continues to suffer from symptoms of the virus.Part 2: When Monica drops off her fiancé, who has been suffering from shortness of breath, at the hospital, she doesn't know it's the last time she'll see him alive.Nationally known storyteller Howard Lieberman moved from Brooklyn to bucolic but shockingly Republican Stillwater MN in 1990. His jaded yet surprisingly tender performance style has made him a favorite on the national and, thanks to Zoom, global storytelling scene. Howard is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network.Monica is a trainer, higher education educator, an instructional designer, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitator with more than 20 years experience. She works for the University of Michigan as an instructional designer and DEI educator. She is a proud graduate of both Wayne State University as well as Central Michigan University where she obtained both a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a Master's Degree in Education. Monica loved to dance, listen to music, travel the Caribbean, and watch television until, that is, her fiancé died of Covid-19 in April...here is her story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we conclude our final Stories of COVID-19 series with two stories about the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Both of these stories ask: Where do we go from here? Part 1: Months after Howard Lieberman contracts COVID-19 on a business trip in March 2020, he continues to suffer from symptoms of the virus. Part 2: When Monica Hickson drops off her fiancé, who has been suffering from shortness of breath, at the hospital, she doesn't know it's the last time she'll see him alive. Nationally known storyteller Howard Lieberman moved from Brooklyn to bucolic but shockingly Republican Stillwater MN in 1990. His jaded yet surprisingly tender performance style has made him a favorite on the national and, thanks to Zoom, global storytelling scene. Howard is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network. Monica Hickson is a trainer, higher education educator, an instructional designer, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitator with more than 20 years experience. She works for the University of Michigan as an instructional designer and DEI educator. She is a proud graduate of both Wayne State University as well as Central Michigan University where she obtained both a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a Master's Degree in Education. Monica loved to dance, listen to music, travel the Caribbean, and watch television until, that is, her fiancé died of Covid-19 in April...here is her story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do stories help people become aware of and care about environmental issues? How does storytelling support people in daring to take action? In this episode, I speak to Fran Stallings in Oklahoma. I met Fran through the Earth Up! Festival that she co-organised through the National Storytelling Network in April of 2021. Earth Up! brought together storytellers from around the world who are passionate about using their craft to help reconnect people to the rest of the natural world and to bring about change in relation to sustainability. Fran has had twin interests in stories and biology since she was quite a young person. She trained in biology and taught it at university, before leaving academia to become a full-time storyteller and trainer of storytelling. She has had a long, illustrious and international career in storytelling. Currently, she brings together her scientific background and her storytelling experience in writing the Earth Teller Tales column, which is available on her blog and through Oklahoma City University's Environmentor. And she hosts the Artists Standing Strong Together online Climate Conversations. Join me in finding out more about Fran's work; her aware, care, dare approach to telling; stealth eco-telling and EarthUp! 2022. Fran Stalling's website is: https://www.franstallings.com/ EarthTeller Tales can be found here: https://www.franstallings.com/web/Environmentor The Oklahoma City University Enviromentor page is here: https://www.okcu.edu/artsci/enrichment/environmentor Watch this space at the National Storytelling Society for more information on EarthUp! 2022: https://storynet.org/earth-up/ Artists Standing Strong Together Climate Conversations can be found on their Events page here: https://www.artistsstandingstrongtogether.net/upcoming-events With their resources page here: https://www.artistsstandingstrongtogether.net/climate-resources photo credit: James McColloch

In this week’s episode (recorded in late July), we jump right in with our delightful guest, Andy Offut Irwin. One of the most sought after performing storytellers in the United States, Andy has been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival more than ten times. He has appeared fourteen times as Teller in Residence at International Storytelling Center. Among other gigs, Andy has been a Guest Artist at La Guardia High School of Art, Music, and Performing Arts in New York (The “FAME!” School); he has been a Keynote Speaker/Performer at the Library of Congress-Virburnum Foundation Conference on Family Literacy; a Guest Writer Performer with the Georgia Tech Glee Club; and a guest composer with the Amherst College Men’s Double Quartet.Andy has held a few almost-real-jobs that include: Artist-In-Residence in Theatre at Emory University’s Oxford College from 1991 to 2007. (He continues serving at Oxford from time-to-time as Artist-in-Just-Passing-Through). A very long time ago Andy spent five years as a performer, writer, and director for SAK Theatre at Walt Disney World.Andy is the recipient of many awards, but he is tickled as can be to have received the Oracle 2013 Circle of Excellence from the National Storytelling Network.It all that weren’t enough, he is also a world class whistler! Andy Offut Irwin This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

HTIL is a space of healing, recovery, and storytelling. These words appear together on purpose, becoming nearly synonymous. As our trauma-informed care models continue to develop, studies demonstrate that self-expression in art is powerful in recovery.⁠ ⁠ Learn more about the indigenous origins of storytelling and how to become an active agent in your own healing in today's episode!⁠   Bibliography (show notes): Brown, Jennifer. “Perspective Switch: Healing Trauma through Healthy Storytelling.” Medium, Medium, 20 Feb. 2019, medium.com/@jenniferbrown_97699/perspective-switch-healing-trauma-through-healthy-storytelling-dbd3c670343d. Dionne, Renda, et al. Storytelling As A Healing Modality, www.cibhs.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/wed_130_mr3_madrigal_madigal_bogany_ruhs_cimh_storytelling_send.pdf?1539965816. Fontaine, Zita. “How Storytelling Helps You Heal.” Medium, The Startup, 15 Oct. 2019, medium.com/swlh/how-storytelling-helps-you-heal-9ed3290c95a9. Jackson, Sha. “The Healing Power of Storytelling.” Coming To The Table, comingtothetable.org/the-healing-power-of-storytelling/. Nsn. “NSN.” National Storytelling Network, storynet.org/what-is-storytelling/.  Raab, Diana. “Writing and Storytelling for Healing.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 8 Oct. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empowerment-diary/201810/writing-and-storytelling-healing. The Science Behind the Healing Power of Storytelling, Native Hope, blog.nativehope.org/the-science-behind-the-healing-power-of-storytelling. Understanding The Healing Power of Storytelling, Native Hope.  Der, Kolk Bessel van. The Body Keeps the Score. Penguin, 2015. Kaplan, Ellen W. "Going the Distance: Trauma, Social Rupture, and the Work of Repair." Theatre Topics, vol. 15 no. 2, 2005, p. 171-183. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/tt.2005.0024.

Kevin Cordi was the first full-time high school storytelling teacher in the country and is committed to engendering a love of storytelling in the next generation. He is considered one of the nation's “primary advocates for youth storytelling” and has also taught storytelling at both the university and secondary level.  Over the last 25 years, he has told stories in over forty states as well as England, Scotland, Singapore, Canada, Japan and in Qatar.  Kevin's award-winning story work has been commissioned by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, American Library Association, National Storytelling Network, Newsweek, and the Qatar Foundation International. He holds a doctorate from Ohio State University in Education, Storytelling, and Story Making and lives in Lancaster, Ohio. 

Throughout life one experiences a lot of things, but one thing that not everyone has experienced is the riding or caring of horses. Horses are the central theme of today's episode of The Apple Seed. They have been a key player in history, in western migration, in poetry and in storytelling. Songs, short stories, novels and poems have centered around the ‘Cowboy' and therefore the horse for a long time. Many folktales and songs have been connected to life through the vision of a horse. There is always something new to be learned- whether it's through hearing about one's connection to their horse, some of the tales behind the hope that horses carry on their backs, or just a funny tale involving the majestic beasts, all are welcome. So let us all sit down together and learn something new, feel the wind on our face, and imagine the freedom that horses and the love of land and animals can bring.  On today's episode, enjoy the following:“The Squire's Bride” by Ed Stivender from Classics Revisited (5:53)Famously called “the Robin Williams of storytelling” Ed Stivender has worked as a storyteller since 1977 after he quit his teaching day job in Connecticut. He has since worked with festivals, orchestras and many other artists to connect his stories to his audience. In this story about an arranged marriage, he includes voices and singing to narrate beyond the written word.  “The Iron Horse” by The Three D's from Heritage (2:19) Figuring out what to name a band can be tricky. This particular band went through names like ‘The Salt City Three' before resting on a classic play on names- The Three D's; Denis, Duane and Rick transformed to Dick to make it work. And the name stuck! Their career was heroic and inspired children and families everywhere. In this upbeat song, "The Iron Horse", The Three D's describe a train and the magnificent image of the exploration of the new world.  “The Blind Harper” by Paddy Tutty from The Roving Jewel (5:30)Paddy Tutty is best known as a singer of traditional songs. Her repertoire encompasses ancient ballads, songs from a woman's perspective, magical and seasonal pageants, songs with a twist, and songs about the world around us. Singing songs that weave traditional tales from all over Britain, Canada and Ireland, she enchants parents and children alike. In this story/song, Paddy sings the tale of a horse and stealing of horses. She teaches us to be thankful for what we have and what we sometimes must do to keep things we love close. “Dream Mine” by Paul Bliss from Pure Bliss (2:24)Paul Bliss is an English singer/songwriter that has traveled the globe backing famous bands and writing for himself. He has written many songs for other artists and continues to be adored by families all around the globe. In this wonderful poem Paul describes preparing for a storm and the treasures of it; how mining can be scary and sacrifice-inducing. There's even a lesson about how to push ourselves forward even through our own fear. “Anthem” by Jerry Brooks from Shoulder to Shoulder (6:27)Jerry Brooks is a storyteller that focuses on southern folklore. In this beautiful poem she relates the visions of the wind and land as they stretch before her. Of beautiful pastures and refreshing air, of the jingle of their jeans and the life that they miss. Jerry helps us all reminisce on these wonderful stories and experiences that we all must come to appreciate.  “Bill Greenfield and the Mosquitoes” by Joseph Bruchac from Adirondack Tall Tales, Volume One: The Bill Greenfield Stories (8:22)Joseph Bruchac is a writer of books relating to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He weaves poetry, stories and novels together to entrance families wherever he goes. In this entertaining story, Joseph describes massive mosquitos and the fight against them. This story can teach us how to fight for what's right and how to appreciate what you have.  “Going to Granny's” by Liz Weir from Boom Chicka Boom (4:40)Liz Weir is a storyteller and writer from Northern Ireland. She was the first winner of the International Story Bridge Award from the National Storytelling Network, USA, which cited her “exemplary work promoting the art of storytelling”. She enchants audiences all around the globe. This story is a cute rendition of learning what one needs and how to enjoy oneself in a new place.  “Hooves, Hide and Mane” by Sam Payne and Ryan Shupe from The Saga of the Sanpitch (3:06)You already know Sam Payne, the host here on The Apple Seed. Ryan Shupe is the lead singer of Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband. This fun song is about the feeling of running as a horse and the thrill of it all.  “Grandpa Al and Max” by Glenda Bonin from Family Gazette (16:49)Connecting with a story is highly important for Glenda Bonin and each story she tells is always connected and filled with love and care. She treats each story like it's own being and any audience member can feel it. In this fun story, Glenda describes her grandpa and how she always remembers him wearing a cowboy hat and the story of Max. Max was a rugged horse that he connected with.  “Hooves of the Horses” by Wylie Gustafson from A Western Jubilee: Songs and Stories of the American West (3:18)In this delightful song, Wylie Gustafson describes how horses can trample any sadness one might have, and it may be true. So let us all keep moving forwards and run like the wind.  

Since tie immemorial, people have been telling stories. Storytelling has served as a way of building coherent, cohesive community. It is also a way to pass down wisdom from earlier generations for the benefit of future generations. The wisdom of storytelling could be applied to today's ecological challenges, such as climate change. But this has not occurred often enough. Ever since the invention of the printing press, the written word has rapidly eclipsed the voice of oral tradition— similarly, truth-telling, once the function of stories, has been largely usurped by modern science. Of course, oral storytelling has never gone away, and it continues to thrive even as it has shape-shifted into other forms, such as film, theatre, dance, hip hop, and spoken-word poetry. When it comes to climate change, there has been a rush to rely on modern science. Science is the accepted means for predicting and controlling the weather. But the discipline of climate science has a very short history. We have been only recording daily temperatures for less than a century-and-a-half. The oral tradition, on the other hand, has been recording changes to the climate for millennia. Virtually all cultures have flood stories that date back to the ending of the last Ice Age. Some stories date back to the Stone Age. Moreover, stories have long provided a means for living in harmony with all our relations. They teach not only by telling us what to do, but what not to do. We can learn from everyone and every creature—even if the only thing we learn is how to identify a bad example. During times of crises, the perennial wisdom of storytelling is needed more than ever. How can storytelling augment the work of climate science in understanding what is unfolding today? How can traditional stories provide the larger wisdom we need to reset our imbalance with the natural world? Join us as we explore the continuing relevance of storytelling today, with our guest storytellers Regina Ress and Valentina Ortiz. “We are hard-wired for story. We listen to story and parts of our brain light up…” ~ Regina Ress ________________________________ “The wisdom is in the old stories. But as storytellers, we make the old new… Oral tradition is alive.” ~ Valentina Ortiz _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Glenn Aparicio Parry, PhD, of Basque, Aragon Spanish, and Jewish descent, is the author of Original Politics: Making America Sacred Again (SelectBooks, 2020) and the Nautilus award-winning Original Thinking: A Radical Revisioning of Time, Humanity, and Nature (North Atlantic Books, 2015). Parry is an educator, ecopsychologist, and political philosopher whose passion is to reform thinking and society into a coherent, cohesive, whole. The founder and past president of the SEED Institute, Parry is currently the director of a grass-roots think tank, the Circle for Original Thinking and is debuting this podcast series of the same name in conjunction with Ecology Prime. He has lived in northern New Mexico since 1994. www.originalpolitics.us Regina Ress is a long-time resident of the fabled Greenwich Village neighborhood in New York City. Regina is an award-winning storyteller, actor, educator and author who has told stories in English and Spanish in the US, Latin America, and Europe; from schools, prisons, and parks to homeless shelters, Lincoln Center, and the White House. As an educator, she has taught at kindergartens, universities, daycare centers, nursing homes, prisons, and international storytelling conferences.  She is the recipient of National Storytelling Network's 2003 Oracle Award for Leadership and the 2015 Oracle award for Excellence.   As an actor, Regina has performed in national tours, regional theatre, off-Broadway, and in the all-star revival of The Women on Broadway. Regina has also been Nominated for two Carbonel Awards for acting (South Florida Theatre Critics award). Her most recent acting role was as Lettice Duffet in Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage—a role written for Maggie Smith. She is a regular contributor to the NPR affiliate WFUV-NY with her stories about New York City.  Her CD release, New York and Me: We're in a Long Term Relationship, features stories about NY with accompaniment by musician Michael Moss; it won a 2014 Honor award from Storytelling World.  These days she keeps busy teaching Storytelling in the Classroom and Beyond for New York University and produces the long running series, Storytelling at the Provincetown Playhouse in NYC. Regina is also on the Board of Directors of Healing Voices – Personal Stories, where she makes films to raise awareness of domestic violence. And she also finds time to be the Vice-President of the Storytellers of New Mexico. Valentina Ortiz Pandolfi is an award-winning storyteller, musician, and writer. She received the Cenzontle de Oro prize for her storytelling and has taught storytelling workshops in many different institutions, from universities to rural elementary schools, specializing in the creation of personal stories as the reconstruction of individual and community history. She began her career as a theater actress in the 70s, and from 1993 on, she has been a percussionist in several bands and orchestras, playing tropical, swing music, and also performing in Afro-cuban and Mexican traditional ensembles. Valentina has written and performed the play Bigu La Tortuga with the troupe “La Fábrica, danza-teatro y otras ocurrencias” And she regularly produces her own shows that combine stories, music, and movement in Mexico and also in international festivals around the world. She has produced three records with her original stories and music: Earth Stories, Words of the Living River, and 100% Xochiquetzal. She has also published several story books, including Taming History, a story written about the Mazahua indigenous women of Santa Martha del Sur. She is the general director of the non-profit association Zazanilli Cuentos A.C. organizing art workshops and creative collaborative projects with marginal groups of Mexico. Valentina recently finished the video recording of the community project Voices of the River, developed in the small Mexican community called La Huacana, in the state of Michoacan. This project is a community reflection about water management. _______________________________________________________________ Traditional native flute music by Orlando Secatero from Pathways CD.Liberty song by Ron Crowder, Jim Casey and Danny Casey _______________________________________________________________ Featured illustration by Sir John Tenniel from his classic illustrations for Alice in Wonderland. Public Domain Photo of Regina Ress by Arieh Ress The post Oral Tradition and Climate Change appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Large things tend to be powerful. If you think of the strongest animal what comes to mind? A horse? A bull? Buffalo? An elephant? Generally big is strong. But sometimes small can be strong too. Did you know an ant can withstand up to 5,000 times their own weight? And just because something is big doesn't mean that there isn't anything bigger. Even elephants are small compared to a blue whale. In fact, an elephant weighs only as much as a blue whale's tongue! Today we're bringing you stories all about big things and even bigger things from tellers like Bob Reiser, Liz Weir, Joseph Bruchac, and more. On today's episode, enjoy the following:“Ouj the Magnificent” by Bob Reiser from The Story Tree (11:10)Bob Reiser is an accomplished storyteller who in addition to publishing children's books has been featured at various storytelling festivals. His story “Ouj the Magnificent” tells of a giant who is so big, he leaves lakes in his footprints. He believes himself to be the greatest, most magnificent being there is. That is until he finds someone bigger. “Man Bear” by Joseph Bruchac from When the Chenoo Howls (9:30)Being the strongest, or the fastest, or the greatest at something can make someone feel pretty good about themselves. But humility is certainly not to be underestimated. Joseph Bruchac is a citizen of the Nulhegan Abenaki, a Native American Nation local to Vermont. He's a proficient storyteller and has published over 120 books. In this story he tells of a young man who is incredibly fast. Faster than any animal. But one day an evil comes to his village to challenge him. A man bear whose goal is to win, and then kill, the young man. “The Mountain” by Sean Buvala from Rapunzel: Unvarnished Tales from the Brothers Grimm (8:40)Sean Buvala began storytelling in an attempt to calm down a class of wild eighth graders. The attempt was apparently successful, as he has become a successful travelling storyteller. In this tale, he describes two brothers. One rich, and the other poor. The rich one is both greedy and unhappy. And while the other isn't nearly as rich, he seems to be much happier. It is the poor one, however, that finds a magnificent treasure in a great mountain. “The Rabbit's Tale” by Liz Weir from Boom Chicka Boom (5:34)We just heard a story about a greedy brother. Just like greed, too much pride can be a bad thing. Once upon a time, rabbits didn't have big ears and a small, fluffy tail. It was, in fact, reversed. Their ears weren't nearly so big, and their tails were large and fluffy. But rabbit was prideful. Too prideful, in fact. Liz Weir tells the story of how rabbit lost his great tail and gained his long ears. A storyteller from Ireland, she was the first recipient of the International Storybridge Award from the National Storytelling Network in the U.S. “The Wishing Ring” by Dolores Hydock from Made from Scratch (8:15)Pride can be a bad thing, but sometimes, a little confidence can actually be very helpful. As long as it is paired with honesty and hard work. This story is told by Dolores Hydock, a storyteller, and actress. In it, a handsome young man knows he is handsome. He knows he is clever. He isn't the most clever though, as an older man tricks him into trading his nice boots for a worthless ring under the belief that it will give him one magical wish. Instead of using his wish for just anything, however, the young man believes he can save it for later by working hard and getting his wish the usual way. 

If you know anything about animals, you know that you shouldn't ever get between a mother and her children. Whether it be a bird, a moose, or a bear, they will protect their young with a ferocity that would scare anyone. They're ferocious because they know there can be real threats out in the world. The trouble is, some threats aren't just out for the animals, they can be for us too. Luckily, we also have our protectors. It can be our parents, siblings, our friends, and maybe even others. Whoever it is, they help us face the world with confidence so we can succeed. Here on The Apple Seed we are bringing you stories about people who protect others or protect themselves through many means. We have stories from Sheila Startks, Antonio Sacre, and a Song by Ryan Shupe.   On today's episode, enjoy the following:“Gerald the Giant” by Sondra Singer from Stories of Rhythm and Fantasy (15:12)Our first story comes from Sondra Singer, a member of the Rocky Mountain Storytellers, and The National Storytelling Network. It's about a giant named Gerald. He's a kind giant who lives with a community of dwarves as their protector. As much as Gerald loves his dwarf neighbors, he gets kind of lonely without the company of someone else like him. When another giant comes through their neck of the woods, however, Gerald has to decide whether the giant is a threat or if she really just needs a friend. “Sole Provider” by Ryan Shupe from the Saga of Sanpitch (3:56)Who better to protect us than our parents? Not only do they protect us from danger, they also protect us from hunger, cold, sadness, and many other types of pain. They support us when we are in need, and help us reach our full potential. Unfortunately, not everyone's parents are this way, but we hope that everyone with children strives to be. Coming up is a song about parenthood, called “Sole Provider”. Now, this talks mostly about a father, but we know that both mothers and fathers can be providers. “Dog Outsmarts the Leopard” by Sheila Starks Phillips from Family, Friends, and Other Fun Folks (3:19)Sometimes, when there is no one else, you have to protect yourself. We've all seen Disney's Tarzan fight a jaguar and win, but what if you didn't have to fight What if there was another way out? Well, maybe there is. In this story, our friend dog has the answers on how to defeat a leopard using nothing but wit and quick thinking. “Uncle Tom and the Rollercoaster of Death” by Antonio Sacre from Uncle Tom and the Rollercoaster of Death (20:54)Antonio Sacre is a storyteller who grew up in a Cuban, Irish, American family. With that blend of culture came a lot of good stories. But Antonio wasn't always good at stories. When he was young, he had to practice a lot to get the hang of it and still does. In this story, he tells how he began storytelling and some of his favorite stories about his uncle, Tom.   

We always hope that the stories we share with you on The Apple Seed spark memories for you to share with the people that you love. Sometimes those memories are sparked by listening to personal stories, and other times by listening to tall tales and fairy tales. So sit back, relax, and get ready to have the memories wash over you as you listen to stories about dragons, sparrows, and magical horses.  On today's episode, enjoy the following:"Sky Dragons!" by Sophie Snell from Dragon Tales (9:22) Sophie Snell earned a Masters degree in Medieval History and worked for a number of years as an accountant before finally pursuing her passion - storytelling. This story will appeal to you, particularly if you're the type of person who likes to lay on the ground looking up at the clouds in sky.  "Curious Sparrow" by Susi Wolf from Peeling Life Makes Your Eyes Water (5:03)Susi Wolf has a zoological background which makes it easy for her to combine storytelling with animal biofacts. And it's one of her animal tales that we'd like to share with you today. It's called "Curious Sparrow".  "Caballito" by The Storycrafters from More Classics with a Twist (30:32) Barry Marshall, and Jeri Burns, PhD have been working together as The Storycrafters since 1991. They are the 2018 recipients of the National Storytelling Network's "Circle of Excellence" Award and they've produced twelve award-winning albums. In this story a magical horse befriends the youngest son of a farmer.

Rachel Hedman competed in storytelling as a sophomore high schooler in 1994. Everything went wrong with her first telling, and she considered quitting. By senior year, she received 5th in State (Wisconsin) for Storytelling. Rachel launched the BYU Storytelling Club as a freshman; it earned the Service Award. She became the first recipient of the J.J. Reneaux Mentorship grant from the National Storytelling Network, training with Don Doyle. For 15 years, Rachel mentored California high school tellers and received the Arne Nixon Storytelling Award from them. She has been Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance Co-Chair, National Youth Storytelling Showcase Board Member, and Utah Storytelling Guild President. Rachel received the national ORACLE Award for service and leadership in the Western Region and the Karen J. Ashton Award for storytelling service specifically in Utah. For eight years, she served the WSU Storytelling Festival, became Storyteller Chair, and started the Annual Youth Teller Reunion. Meanwhile, she completed her Storytelling Masters from East Tennessee State University. The adoption folktales thesis was defended two days before adopting two boys with her husband, Casey. They have since adopted a girl. She kickstarted Story Crossroads, a Salt Lake county storytelling festival in 2016 and continues to expand it with the dream of an Olympic-level six-day event called World Story Crossroads no later than 2030. Currently, Story Crossroads holds year-round events--from live to virtual--in the form of performances, workshops, camps, and trainings for youth to adults. www.storycrossroads.org

Artem Mushin-Makedonskiy, a Russian businessman and board member of the Storytelling In Organizations interest group of the National Storytelling Network, and the founder of the first Russian story-consulting agency, Academy “Historia” talks about how stories bring diverse people together. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event. 

Karen is an award-winning storyteller, teaching artist, workshop leader, and author. Since 2002 she has taught the art of storytelling to over 600 students. Karen is a contributing author to numerous publications around the world and her book, Story by Story: Creating a School Storytelling Troupe, received a 2016 Storytelling World Honor Award and a 2015 Anne Izard Storytelling Award. She produces and hosts the Story Café, a local television series, and is the recipient of the LANES Brother Blue-Ruth Hill Storytelling Award in 2009 and the 2011 National Storytelling Network’s Oracle Service and Leadership Award.   Listen in on the conversation as The Artist Index’s host, Ron Fortier, speaks with Karen Langford Chace and focuses in on how she started on her story-telling journey and continues to evolve. Music courtesy of www.bensound.com

This week we present two stories from people who used technology to understand their relationships.Part 1: Digital consultant Phong Tran navigates his relationship through various digital platforms.Part 2: Fed up with feeling lonely, Sufian Zhemukhov embarks on a data driven analysis of his own unlikability.Phong Tran is a Creative Technologist at a digital consultancy. He works on websites and applications in both roles as a designer and a developer. As someone with a preference to dabble and a short attention span, he works on art projects in various mediums. The projects tend to ask questions about our relationship to our digital selves, and overall how that changes how we see each other. Also, at other times it's just about food Phong ate. A collection of his design can be found at phonghtran.com, and a collection of other things will be at his Instagram account, @phonghtran.Sufian Zhemukhov is an award-winning author and performer. He received the 2020 J. J. Reneaux Emerging Artist Award, from the National Storytelling Network, "to a storyteller of major and unique performing talent." He is The 2019 Moth Champion and winner at the 2018 Story Slam at the National Storytelling Festival. Sufian's recent solo show, Flirting Like an American, received critical acclaim in Washington, DC and Rochester, NY. Sufian's stories are based on his personal experience as a first-generation immigrant and professor of international affairs at George Washington University that might be much funnier than you would expect. His recent book, Mass Religious Ritual and Intergroup Tolerance, won the 2019 Best Book Award at the International Studies Association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we present two stories from people who used technology to understand their relationships. Part 1: Digital consultant Phong Tran navigates his relationship through various digital platforms. Part 2: Fed up with feeling lonely, Sufian Zhemukhov embarks on a data driven analysis of his own unlikability. Phong Tran is a Creative Technologist at a digital consultancy. He works on websites and applications in both roles as a designer and a developer. As someone with a preference to dabble and a short attention span, he works on art projects in various mediums. The projects tend to ask questions about our relationship to our digital selves, and overall how that changes how we see each other. Also, at other times it's just about food Phong ate. A collection of his design can be found at phonghtran.com, and a collection of other things will be at his Instagram account, @phonghtran. Sufian Zhemukhov is an award-winning author and performer. He received the 2020 J. J. Reneaux Emerging Artist Award, from the National Storytelling Network, "to a storyteller of major and unique performing talent." He is The 2019 Moth Champion and winner at the 2018 Story Slam at the National Storytelling Festival. Sufian’s recent solo show, Flirting Like an American, received critical acclaim in Washington, DC and Rochester, NY. Sufian's stories are based on his personal experience as a first-generation immigrant and professor of international affairs at George Washington University that might be much funnier than you would expect. His recent book, Mass Religious Ritual and Intergroup Tolerance, won the 2019 Best Book Award at the International Studies Association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we poured some Red Eye Rye which we really liked! Coffee infused bourbon that’s almost like a dessert.  Check them out here: https://www.standardproofwhiskey.com   A special characteristic to life in the South is great storytelling. This interactive art of words deserves it’s own topic so today we are diving in! National Storytelling Network: https://storynet.org   2011 Blog: Sights, Sounds, and Tastes of the American South: https://bit.ly/2wklpOK   “Storytellers: Folktales and Legends from the South” by John A. Burrison: https://amzn.to/34bDdbj   Is storytelling inherently Southern? https://bit.ly/2wjx5kM   The Moth: https://themoth.org   National Storytelling Festival Oct 2020: Jonesborough, TN https://www.storytellingcenter.net/festival/   Follow Us: @steelmagnoliaspodcast   Two podcasts mentioned: The Moth and Arc Stories

Sue O’Halloran has appeared on such media programs as PBS and ABC News “Nightline” and has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune. She has received the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence and Leadership and Service awards and is a frequent featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival and the International Storytelling Center’s “Storytelling Live!” Teller-in-Residence program. The Chicago Reader says O’Halloran “has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and heart-wrenching at the same time.” O'Halloran is co-producer of multicultural performances and internationally recognized films including “Black, White and Brown: Tribes & Bridges” at the Steppenwolf Theatre and “More Alike Than Not: Stories of Three Americans - Christian, Jewish and Muslim.” Sue is author of seven books and producer/director of the video stories on www.RacebridgesStudio.com which deals with issues of race and belonging and receives over half a million visitors each year. Sue teaches Diversity & Inclusion seminars and webinars around the country for corporations and nonprofits. JONES.SHOW is a weekly podcast featuring host Randall Kenneth Jones (author, speaker & creative communications consultant) and Susan C. Bennett (the original voice of Siri). Susan O’Halloran Online: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiesconnectusall YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSuperOH LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/superoh/ Web: SusanOHalloran.com Web: RacebridgesStudio.com Jones.Show Online: Join us in the Jones.Show Lounge on Facebook Twitter (Randy): https://twitter.com/randallkjones Instagram (Randy): https://www.instagram.com/randallkennethjones/ Facebook (Randy): https://www.facebook.com/mindzoo/ LinkedIn (Randy): https://www.linkedin.com/in/randallkennethjones/ Web: RandallKennethJones.com Twitter (Susan): https://twitter.com/SiriouslySusan Instagram (Susan): https://www.instagram.com/siriouslysusan/ Facebook (Susan): https://www.facebook.com/siriouslysusan/ LinkedIn (Susan): https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-bennett-8607312/ Web: SusanCBennett.com www.Jones.Show

What began as a storytelling assignment in 5th grade, grew into a passion for not only telling stories, but a mastery for teaching others the methods and science of storytelling so they can better tell their own. Kindra Hall is President and Chief Storytelling Officer at Steller Collective, a consulting firm focused on the strategic application of storytelling to today’s communication challenges. Kindra is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers trusted by global brands to deliver presentations and trainings that inspire teams and individuals to better communicate the value of their company, their products, and their individuality through strategic storytelling. She was a National Champion storyteller (yes, they have those), a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network and has her master’s degree in communications where she conducted original research studying the role of storytelling in defining and revealing organizational culture.

Today I speak to David Novak, one of the world's most talented storytellers. Described as ‘the brothers Grimm meet Carl Jung and Monty Python’, and as ‘the most eclectic storyteller on the scene today’, David Novak is acknowledged as a master of the art of storytelling. A veteran of the US National Storytelling Festival, he has been a keynote speaker for the Sydney International Storytelling Conference and received the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network. David's website:http://www.david-novak.com/homeBlog:https://atellingexperience.blogspot.com/2015/02/spherical-storytelling.htmlhttps://atellingexperience.blogspot.com/2015/08/cinderellas-coach.htmlhttps://atellingexperience.blogspot.com/2019/01/telling-possibility.htmlVideo:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00ACBD5C1EBD6797https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD94C2CB43D6378FESupport House of Legends on Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/houseoflegendsGet my book, The Bone Flute, at Amazon UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bone-Flute-Tears-Stars/dp/1709378727/ref=sr_1_1?crid=LHV0C9LXX449&keywords=daniel+allison&qid=1576565192&sprefix=Daniel+all%2Caps%2C374&sr=8-1And Amazon US:https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Flute-Sorcery-Prehistoric-Scotland-ebook/dp/B081P2TRR6/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3H9JF1VI7OSTY&keywords=daniel+allison&qid=1576565229&sprefix=Daniel+Allison%2Caps%2C395&sr=8-2Join the House of Legends Club at:https://www.houseoflegends.me/landing-pageMusic by Kate Young https://www.kateyoungmusic.com

Standing on a bridge, ready to end it all...Today's guest is an individual who does not hold anything back.  Tune in as David W. Bartley shares how he went from the cusp of ending his own life to becoming a voice of hope and love.    About David:  Like most people, David Woods Bartley has seen his fair share of successes and setbacks; from directing a nationally recognized nonprofit to battling a life-threatening mental illness. But over the last eight years, David has successfully navigated from the isolation of mental “hellness” to the inclusive space of mental wellness. Currently, David is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the International Association for Youth Mental Health, the National Storytelling Network’s Healing Story Alliance, and Active Minds. David has been invited to speak before a wide range of domestic and international audiences, giving keynote speeches and leading workshops on a variety of topics related to mental health, including suicide awareness and prevention, the importance of whole person care, the transforming power of connection, and the use of language as a way to elevate both understanding and inclusion. In addition to giving a TEDx talk in the fall of 2018, and speaking at INBOUND2019, David has been invited to present to organizations such as the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, Lyft, Sutter Health, Vision Service Plan, the University of Connecticut, Boston College, the California Northstate School of Medicine, Boston University, Sacramento State, and various faith denominations, law  enforcement agencies and community organizations at the local, state and national level.   You can contact David directly here: davidwoodsbartley.com Watch His TEDx Talk Join His FB Group - The Sanctuary: A Community Of Hope Direct Phone: 916-247-6389 If you haven’t already, request access to join our FREE Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/POLICEFIREMILITARYFAMILIES/ Like what you hear? We are honored. Hit that subscribe button and share your thoughts in a review. If you or someone you know may be a fit to be a guest on our show, please reach out to us! Balance. Optimize. Tactics.  Hit that subscribe button so that you don’t miss a day of the added value that I am dedicated to sharing with you weekly.  Let’s Connect!  Facebook  Instagram  Email: ashliewalton555@gmail.com  LinkedIn  Website: www.leowarriors.com Free Training: www.leowarrior.com

Charlie McCoin is a comedian, speaker, storyteller, and writer. He brings his unique style of humor to the stage using clever wit and southern charm. Charlie has performed in churches, comedy clubs, theaters, and some living rooms around the country.   Charlie was raised and still lives in Tennessee. He credits his southern upbringing as a source of his stories. His humor is infused with memories of home and family. Through his presentations, you will see and experience many of the characters that influenced him in addition to his off beat view of the world. Charlie's humor resonates with the whole family. He firmly believes that laughter is life's universal language.   Charlie McCoin is a member of the Country Music Association and the National Storytelling Network. He holds a B.S. in Communication Studies from Trevecca University in Nashville, TN, an M.A. in communication from Spring Arbor University, and he’s pursuing his doctorate at East Tennessee State University.   http://www.charliemccoin.com/   StoryHinge http://storyhinge.com Where we dig deeper into story and story creation.  We amplify personal stories to consider more possibility and realize more potential and happiness in life.

This week I had the opportunity to sit down with my friend Kindra Hall. I first had the pleasure of hearing Kindra speak in person back in 2017. She's a charismatic speaker with contagious energy and shares with us what it means to craft a purposeful story that engages your audience. Kindra Hall is President and Chief Storytelling Officer at Steller Collective, a consulting firm focused on the strategic application of storytelling to today's communication challenges.What began as a storytelling assignment in 5th grade, grew into a passion for not only telling stories, but a mastery for teaching others the methods and science of storytelling so they can better tell their own.She was a National Champion storyteller (yes, they have those), member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network and has her master's degree in communications where she conducted original research studying the role of storytelling in defining and revealing organizational culture.Her much anticipated book, Stories That Stick, will be released by Harper Leadership in the fall of 2019. She gives us an insider secret that it will be out September 24.Kindra lives in Manhattan with her husband, young son and daughter. When she is not traveling around the world speaking, Kindra can usually be found at spin class or in Central Park with her family.You can follow her over on IG: @kindrahall And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kindrahallfan/Preorder Kindra's book here: www.storiesthatstick.com Sign up for Kindra's newsletter @ www.kindrahall.com

This month Michael and Laura spoke with Loren Niemi. Loren is a storyteller with 40 years of creating, performing and teaching stories that matter. His work has been called “post-modern,” pushing the boundaries of narrative form “with a dark beauty of language that is not ashamed of poetry.” Loren is also an author. His books include the award winning The New Book of Plots, an examination of oral and written narratives, and the critically acclaimed Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories, which he co-authored with Elizabeth Ellis. In 2016 he received the National Storytelling Network’s Lifetime Achievement Award. His collection of original and collected ghost stories What Haunts Us came out in February 2019. www.lorenniemistories.com  Loren’s stories: Remodeling the Kitchen – 10:59 Barbecue Bus – 26:53 The Hungry Carpet– 47:23  Michael’s beer pairings: Oh Fudge!, Prairie Artisan Ales – 9:02 Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen, Brauerei Heller-Trum – 24:14 Kriek Boon, Brouwerij Boon – 44:45  Interview highlights: The impact of growing up moving on storytellers – 15:54 Becoming a storyteller – 17:33 ..on the Great Wall of China – 21:05 Why we tell stories – 22:55 Why we’re drawn to ghost stories and other dark tales – 36:53 Telling stories vs. writing stories – 51:00  Our theme music is from www.bensound.com. Don't forget to subscribe!

I first met Donna Washington at the National Storytelling Network many years ago. Donna was friendly and generous with her time, had a wealth of knowledge and a grin the size of the Cheshire Cat. When I began thinking about this podcast, I knew I had to chat with Donna. A self-proclaimed arm brat, a storyteller who throws her whole being in her telling, a writer and deep thinker, Donna and I talked about many things. From family to world views, and how traveling gives one a very different view on the world. Enjoy this Conversation With Donna Washington! Running time approx: 1 hr 23 minutes Donna's website: https://dlwstoryteller.com/ Donna's blog: http://donnawashingtonstoryteller.blogspot.com/  

In my expanded definition, "medicine" is anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit. As a physician, this includes the Western medications that I prescribe, but it goes beyond to include so much more. In every conversation, it is important to define the context and agree upon the definitions that we are using. Here my context is the expanded definition of medicine: anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit. Where will you find your medicine? For me, storytelling is a potent medicine that can heal on many different levels. I am so inspired by its power to heal that I now teach "Storytelling as Healing" at FGCU. In researching for this class, I spoke to many storytellers, and that's how I got in touch with Caren Neile. Caren Neile teaches "storytelling studies" at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. She is a storytelling performer, an author of books, and a public radio host. She helped to start the Healing Story Alliance, a special interest group of the National Storytelling Network. Join our conversation as we discuss "Storytelling as Medicine." In this interview … What is storytelling? The science behind storytelling as medicine History of the Healing Story Alliance ... and more ... Find Caren Neile online at www.thepublicstoryteller.org. Recorded: Thu Jan 3, 2019; Released: Sat Jan 19, 2019 Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

Liz Weir a business woman, festival director and children’s author, but perhaps best known for her role as a professional storyteller sharing stories of Ireland’s past not only locally in libraries, pubs, prisons and at festivals but on the international stage as well.. In 2002 she won the inaugural International Story Bridge Award of the National Storytelling Network. Many more awards were to follow helping her travel the world with her craft sharing her stories in countries as far away as Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Australia. She is the author of some 27 children’s books, currently the Story Teller in Residence for Libraries NI and former presenter at Radio Ulster of “Gift of the Gab”. She’s owner of the 200 year old Ballyeamon Barn near Cushendall which hosts a story telling evening on Saturday nights as well as tourists from all over the world in the adjoining hostel. Liz was recently engaged by InvestNI to show them how best to use the power of story telling when delivering presentations. Dropping down soon into the Hall of Fame will be interviews with Seamus O’Prey from Ortus and Paul Roberts of the Ashton Community Trust.

A look at Jay O'Callahan's long form story of Bethlehem Steel and the workshop he gave at the National Storytelling Network's Summit. In addition to that we feature a story from Susan Reed entitled "Stars".

[spp-playlist] Donna Marie Todd is a writer, storyteller and the editor of "Widow" magazine. She is the founder of A Widows Tale project, which began with a grant from the National Storytelling Network, to provide retreats and online recovery programs for widowed women. WATCH Donna Marie's TEDx Talk HERE Learn about Donna Marie's Organization HERE. BeTheTalk is a 7 day a week podcast where Nathan Eckel chats with talkers from TEDx and other branded events. Learn the tips tools and techniques that can help you give the talk to change the world at www.BeTheTalk.com !

[spp-playlist] Donna Marie Todd is a writer, storyteller and the editor of "Widow" magazine. She is the founder of A Widows Tale project, which began with a grant from the National Storytelling Network, to provide retreats and online recovery programs for widowed women. WATCH Donna Marie's TEDx Talk HERE Learn about Donna Marie's Organization HERE. BeTheTalk is a 7 day a week podcast where Nathan Eckel chats with talkers from TEDx and other branded events. Learn the tips tools and techniques that can help you give the talk to change the world at www.BeTheTalk.com !

Kindra Hall is one of the most sought after motivational speakers trusted by global brands to design and deliver business amplifying, revealing, interactive keynotes that inspire teams to better communicate the value of their company, their products and their individuality to accelerate personal and professional growth. What began as a chance encounter at age 13 with a storytelling cassette tape grew into a complete understanding of the craft, methods and science of storytelling, in its most pure form…free of promotion or agenda. She has been a National Champion storyteller (yeah, they have those), member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network and has her master’s degree in communications where she conducted original research in the role that storytelling plays in defining and revealing culture. Today, Kindra’s work can be seen in a weekly column at Inc.com, and featured in SUCCESS Magazine, Entrepreneur.com and behind the scenes in New York Times best selling books. Kindra is a former Director of Marketing and VP of Sales. She is a published author, an award-winning columnist and guest faculty at Harvard Medical School. Kindra frequently works with innovative brands like ConAgra, Stryker, Target and Hilton Hotels to use the irresistible power of storytelling to capture attention and connect in a distracted marketplace. Kindra has become a conference favorite for her clients who invite her back for consecutive annual events. Her presentations include revealing research, eye-opening case studies and, of course, stories attendees will remember and retell long after the event ends. Audiences leave inspired and motivated to apply Kindra’s actionable content. Kindra lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, young son and daughter. When she is not traveling around the world speaking, Kindra can usually be found at spin class or at home with the family. And while she’ll never win a bake sale—she’s a welcomed guest-reader in her kids’ kindergarten and preschool classes.

Today we welcome Alton Chung to our leadership show. Alton is an amazing storyteller of cultural tales and personal stories of growing up in Hawaii. He tells stories of WWII Japanese Americans, Asian folktales, and ancient Hawaiian legends.    I first heard Alton at the Timpanogos Storytelling festival in 2016 and he made an immediate impression upon me. He has a unique ability to subtly portray important leadership principles in simple beautiful stories about people. Alton’s stories are steeped in wisdom, integrity, trust, and many other important leadership qualities. About Alton Japanese and Korean storyteller Alton Takiyama-Chung, grew up with the stories, superstitions, and the magic of the Hawaiian Islands. This gives him a unique perspective when telling cultural tales and personal stories of growing up in Hawaii, stories of WWII Japanese-Americans, Asian folktales, and ancient Hawaiian legends. He was awarded the National Storytelling Network’s (NSN’s) first J.J. Reneaux Emerging Artist Award in 2005.  Performances include: the Timpanogas Storytelling Festival in Utah, the Cayman Islands Gimme Story Storytelling Festival, Singapore’s Congress of Asian Storytellers, the International Storytelling Festival of Thailand, and the International Storytelling Festival in Hue, Vietnam.  He has also been the Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center and a New Voice Teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN.  His DVD, LIFE IS THE TREASURE: Okinawan Memories of WWII and CD, TALES FROM THE LANAI have both won Storytelling World Honors.  He is also the former Chairman of the Board of Directors for NSN.  We welcome Alton to Leaders247.

This month, we are pleased to have with us Dr. Charles Temple. Charlie Temple is Kinghorn Professor of Global Education at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where he teaches courses in literacy education, children's literature, storytelling, comparative education, and writing for children. He is a co-founder of the Open Society Institute's Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking project, that promotes pedagogy for active learning and critical thinking in primary and secondary schools and universities in forty countries on five continents.  With the Canadian international literacy organization CODE, Temple works on teams that produce children's books in Tanzania, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and trains teachers to use the books to encourage thoughtful discussions.  In the US, Temple is active in the International Literacy Association, the Comparative and International Education Society, and the National Storytelling Network. He has authored textbooks in literacy education and children's literature, and also books for children.  Temple has a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in literacy education from the University of Virginia.  Join us for what will be an enlightening conversation on Wednesday, March 29 at 2pm EDT.

Tellabration (tm) is an international day of storytelling put on by the National Storytelling Network. Across the country and across the world, storytelling events large and small are put on, but to our knowledge No Extra Words' storytelling event is the only all-digital Tellabration (tm) event. We have invited podcasters large and small to tell their stories in their own special way to celebrate the audio storytelling done on podcasts every day. Podcasters telling their stories on this episode are: Hilda Wapf, Wise Traditions Natalie and Lala, Radio Tatas Levi Noe, Rocky Mountain Revival Amy Oestreicher on The Unmistakable Creative Civila Morgan, 21st Century Hannah Barbara Stevens, Breakup Recovery Hadas Ben-Tsur, Common Room Cody Gough, Game/Life Balance U.S. Nathan Pierce, MicroBrewr Autumn Beam, Write Your Own Story Links will take you to the podcast website or search for your favorite in your favorite podcast app. Help and inspiration for my commentary came from Anne Lamott's fabulous book Stitches: a handbook on meaning, hope, and repair. Our thanks for help on this episode to our fabulous podcast hosting service Libsyn and to the community at She Podcasts. The campfire sounds on this episode come to us from the Free Sound Project, user matucha, with our thanks. As always, theme music for this episode is “Aria Variata” by Bach, played by Brandon Kinsella. It is in the public domain and comes to us courtesy of the Free Music Archive. Every attempt was made to locate the copyright owners of the camp songs used, but no author was located. http://noextrawords.wordpress.com

Reading to kids is tremendously important in building literacy skills. But actually telling stories to our children brings us closer in so many important ways as it helps us shape their values and talk about things that matter. In this podcast Annie talks with Sean Buvala, author of "DaddyTeller: How to be a Hero to Your Kids and Teach Them What's Really Important By Telling Them One Simple Story at a Time". About K. Sean Buvala K. Sean Buvala is a professional storyteller, corporate trainer, parent educator and author. His newspaper work spans 23 years. In 2007, Buvala was presented the Oracle Award by the National Storytelling Network for his work in the promotion of storytelling, including the development of Storyteller.net, an online goldmine of resources for storytellers and their audiences. More info at: http://daddyteller.com Subscribe to Family Confidential on iTunes: http://bit.ly/famconf Copyright © 2009-2018 Annie Fox and Electric Eggplant. All Rights Reserved.

A very lively discussion on storytelling in the 20th century - How to use podcasting, blogging, website assistance, mp3 sales and email to support your storytelling practice.

Kevin Cordi is the co-author, with Judy Sima, of Raising Voices: Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes and according to the National Storytelling Network, “the first full time high school storytelling teacher in the country.” and is the founder of both Voices across America Youth Storytelling Project and the Special Interest Group now called Y.E.S. (Youth, Educators, and Storytellers.)