All Y'all Podcast

We first met Daniel Ukpabi on an unseasonably cold October morning at Shreveport Farmers' Market, where he was ladling out steaming bowls of spicy Nigerian stew and telling anyone who'd stop to listen about his fledgling not-for-profit organization, The Pacemakers. At the time, we were just beginning to plan All Y'all Live: "Momma and Daddy," and we walked away thinking: "Wouldn't it be great if he had a story about his parents?"

It turns out, he did. Daniel took the stage on Saturday, March 12 at Bossier Arts Council's East Bank Theatre and charmed the crowd with memories of his youth in Nigeria, a bumpy road to America and a father who wouldn't give up.

Have you ever met an honest-to-goodness celebrity? All Y'all dedicated an entire night of live storytelling to the topic of celebrity encounters at our June 2015 event, "Brush With Fame." Tom Ayres's story from that night - a well-told tale of an airport encounter with an embattled sports icon - was one of the hits of the night. It made us think about all sorts of things: the drawbacks of a life spent in the public eye, the value of a shoulder to lean on, and the commonalities of the human experience.

Have you ever met an honest-to-goodness celebrity? All Y'all dedicated an entire night of live storytelling to the topic of celebrity encounters at our June 2015 event, "Brush With Fame." Tom Ayres's story from that night - a well-told tale of an airport encounter with an embattled sports icon - was one of the hits of the night. It made us think about all sorts of things: the drawbacks of a life spent in the public eye, the value of a shoulder to lean on, and the commonalities of the human experience.

Jealousy. Epic adventure. Really good burritos. Elizabeth Beauvais's story of a day in the life of an exasperated mom, told live on the All Y'all stage in March 2016, has it all. When Elizabeth's eight-year-old daughter runs away from home in an act of defiance, mother and daughter find themselves engaged in an emotionally charged standoff that unfolds on the lawns and sidewalks of South Highlands.

Jealousy. Epic adventure. Really good burritos. Elizabeth Beauvais's story of a day in the life of an exasperated mom, told live on the All Y'all stage in March 2016, has it all. When Elizabeth's eight-year-old daughter runs away from home in an act of defiance, mother and daughter find themselves engaged in an emotionally charged standoff that unfolds on the lawns and sidewalks of South Highlands.

If you live in the Red River Radio listening area, chances are good that you're familiar with the friendly voice of News Producer Kate Archer Kent. Kate recently presented an acclaimed sermon on the topic of balancing work, life and motherhood at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Shreveport. In this special episode of the All Y'all podcast, we present a recording of Kate reading her touching, funny and challenging sermon. If it doesn't make you think hard about how American society treats working parents, well, we don't know what would.

If you live in the Red River Radio listening area, chances are good that you're familiar with the friendly voice of News Producer Kate Archer Kent. Kate recently presented an acclaimed sermon on the topic of balancing work, life and motherhood at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Shreveport. In this special episode of the All Y'all podcast, we present a recording of Kate reading her touching, funny and challenging sermon. If it doesn't make you think hard about how American society treats working parents, well, we don't know what would.

As an 8-year-old boy, Brandon Oldenburg was a sponge soaking up all kinds of pop culture. Like just about everyone else on the Planet Earth in 1984, he and his brother were particularly fascinated by Michael Jackson - so much so that they produced their own "Beat It" video. Decades later, Oldenburg would cross paths with the King of Pop at a major turning point in both of their lives.

Brandon Oldenburg is no stranger to the spotlight. A founding partner at Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2012 for his work on the film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. In addition to his great story, this podcast also includes an interview with Oldenburg about growing up with a uniquely creative dad.

As an 8-year-old boy, Brandon Oldenburg was a sponge soaking up all kinds of pop culture. Like just about everyone else on the Planet Earth in 1984, he and his brother were particularly fascinated by Michael Jackson - so much so that they produced their own "Beat It" video. Decades later, Oldenburg would cross paths with the King of Pop at a major turning point in both of their lives.

Brandon Oldenburg is no stranger to the spotlight. A founding partner at Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2012 for his work on the film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. In addition to his great story, this podcast also includes an interview with Oldenburg about growing up with a uniquely creative dad.

***This story contains adult subject matter and listener discretion is advised.***

Sometimes the job that you're assigned to do just isn't the job that you end up doing.

When journalist Maya Lau was 24 years old, she enlisted in the Peace Corps, envisioning herself taking a hands-on role in improving the lives of others through - as the Peace Corps puts it - "imparting technical expertise abroad." But, once she arrived in Senegal, language barriers and other difficulties kept Maya from realizing her idealized notion of global citizenship. In "Technical Skills," a story from the March 2015 All Y'all live storytelling event "Ladies Night," Maya tells how she impacted the lives of local women in a way that she'd never expected.