Ochenta Stories

A young woman recounts what it's like to start your freshman year of college during a pandemic with no shortage of hope for the future. This episode has been produced in English and French.

CREDITS: This episode was produced by Studio Ochenta. This story was written by Bella Druckman. Bella is a freshman at Barnard College intending on majoring in English and Human Rights. When she is not finding her new favorite restaurant, Bella can be found in her kitchen or writing her next article for The Columbia Daily Spectator, Her Campus, or Untapped New York. You can follow her on Instagram at @bella.druckman and on Twitter at @bella_druckman. The Sound Design of the piece was done by Chiara Santella. The French version of the story was voiced by Melanie Hong. You can hear Melanie in the second season of Mija Podcast, our award-winning drama series about immigrant families. Melanie voices Mija, la Parisienne, a young woman of franco-Vietnamese-Chinese origin who shares her family’s journey to Paris. Listen to season 2 of Mija on ochentastudio.com/mijapodcast.

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A woman travels through sound and memory to Cairo, Egypt.

CREDITS: Thank you for listening to Ochenta Stories, this story was written by Rushda Rafeek. Rushda is currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and has been shortlisted for the Wasafiri New Writing Prize UK in 2017, nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice and has won the Nazim Hikmet Prizerr in 2018. The Arabic version of the story was voiced by Zeina Abouelmakarem, while the sound design of the piece was done by Chiara Santella.

If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates. You can find transcripts on our website: ochentastudio.com/ochentastories

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A journalist in California takes on a mentee during lockdown.

CREDITS: This episode was produced by Studio Ochenta and written by Clare Wiley. Clare Wiley is a journalist and audio producer from Northern Ireland, based in Los Angeles. She covers culture and social issues, with reporting in The Guardian, Vice, Al Jazeera and others. Her mentee, Sophia Moore, is an 18-year-old writer based in Southern California. She is an avid journalist and personal essayist, covering politics, music, and more for Lithium Magazine and Affinity Magazine at current. The Spanish version of the story was voiced by Ana Camila Montoya and Lisha Lopez, and the sound design of the piece was made by me, Chiara Santella.

If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates.

If you're enjoying our show, we recommend listening to How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything, a weekly podcast for adult children of immigrants, featuring real-life scenarios and practical, professional advice to help them with difficult, but necessary conversations. Popular topics include raising children, money, toxic relatives, coming out, religion, and systemic racism. No subject is off-limits. ● How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything comes at a time when immigrants and their adult children’s family dynamics are testing the American concepts of boundaries, independence, even adulthood. Find it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you get your podcasts. Head to TalkToMamiPapi.com to learn more.

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In this episode of Ochenta Stories, produced in English and Italian, a woman in Portand shares the joys of letter writing during the pandemic year.

Thank you for listening to Ochenta Stories, this story was written by Laura Wheatman Hill.
Laura lives in Portland, Oregon, with her two children and pandemic puppy. She writes about everything and teaches English and drama. You can find her at https://www.laurawheatmanhill.com/ If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates. You can find transcripts and learn more about the project over at ochentastudio.com/ochentastories

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One woman chronicles her return home from Hanoi during the pandemic year. You can hear this story in English and Vietnamese.

CREDITS: This episode was produced by Studio Ochenta. This story was written by Issra Marie Martín. Issra is finishing a degree in International Development Studies. Among many other things she is a writer, maker, and devoted question-asker based in Canada. Quỳnh Trần voiced the Vietnamese version of the story. Quỳnh is currently a teacher of English and Vietnamese in Hanoi, Vietnam. She has always been an avid explorer of her hometown city. The two met in Hanoi, clicked over languages, and have been connected ever since.

**If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates.

***At Studio Ochenta we’re all about raising voices across cultures and telling stories from diverse perspectives around the world. That’s why I’m excited to share our latest production: Mija Podcast season 3, an audio drama that tell the story of one Muslim Egyptian family’s audio journey from Alexandria to London and New York. You can listen to Mija Podcast in English, Spanish or Arabic over at ochentastudio.com/mija-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts every week from this Wednesday April 14th,2021

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A time traveler arrives in 2020 and asks for directions in this short fiction from Australia about closeness.

Thank you for listening to Ochenta Stories. Zacha Rosen is an arts journalist and radio producer. He has written for Concrete Playground, the Sydney Latin American Film Festival and the Carriageworks, and produces interviews, narratives and fiction at All the Best. Luis Salvador voiced the Time Traveller, while the sound design of the piece was done by Chiara Santella.

If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates. You can find transcripts and learn more about the project over at ochentastudio.com/ochentastories.

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In this short fiction, an Italian astronaut reflects on our predicament from his space station among the stars.

CREDITS: This episode was produced by Studio Ochenta, a multilingual podcast production studio. This story was written by Francesco Carrubba.

Francesco is a journalist and an author working in broadcast. He writes poems, texts and lyrics and he published a poem book called “Canzoni quasi d’amore”. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram @FrancescocarrubbaWeb and on Twitter as @f_carrubba. The English version of the piece was voiced by Sarah Golding and the Sound Design of the piece was done by Chiara Santella. If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates. You can find transcripts and learn more about the project over at ochentastudio.com/ochentastories.

If you're enjoying our show, we recommend listening to  How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything, a weekly podcast for adult children of immigrants, featuring real-life scenarios and practical, professional advice to help them with difficult, but necessary conversations. Popular topics include raising children, money, toxic relatives, coming out, religion, and systemic racism. No subject is off-limits. ● How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything comes at a time when immigrants and their adult children’s family dynamics are testing the American concepts of boundaries, independence, even adulthood. Find it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you get your podcasts. Head to TalkToMamiPapi.com to learn more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s episode gives us the opportunity to hear something we all miss very much and that we can't wait to hear again in person: a concert. Judlyne Gibson, producer of The 2nd Street Dreams Audio Network, imagines how that first live concert will feel like. The story, originally produced in English, and has been translated into French and you can hear that version later on in the episode.

CREDITS: Thank you for listening to Ochenta Stories. This story was produced by Studio Ochenta. Written by Judlyne Gibson. Judlyne has a long career in television and radio as a news anchor, reporter and program host. She worked at stations in Houston, Texas, Washington, DC and New York. She’s currently a contributor at the classical music radio station KMFA 89.5 in Austin, Texas with her feature Staccato. Ms. Gibson also independently produces the podcast Classical Music In Color, about all things classical by or about classical musicians of color. The choir songs you heard were performed by the Huston-Tillotson Concert Choir and the Sound Design was done by Chiara Santella.

If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates. You can find transcripts and learn more about the project over at ochentastudio.com/ochentastories.

P.S. If you're enjoying our show, we recommend listening to  How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything, a weekly podcast for adult children of immigrants, featuring real-life scenarios and practical, professional advice to help them with difficult, but necessary conversations. Popular topics include raising children, money, toxic relatives, coming out, religion, and systemic racism. No subject is off-limits. ● How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything comes at a time when immigrants and their adult children’s family dynamics are testing the American concepts of boundaries, independence, even adulthood. Find it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you get your podcasts. Head to TalkToMamiPapi.com to learn more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this short fiction piece, a doctor in Iran talks about plagues, old and new, with his grandmother.

Credits: Thank you for listening to Ochenta Stories, this story was written by Ali from @iranian_nomad. Ali is a digital creator, story-teller, traveller, and researcher. You can follow him on Instagram at @iranian_nomad. The grandmother’s part was voiced by Ali’s mom. The Sound Design of the piece was done by Chiara Santella. If you liked the show, leave us a review in whatever language you choose and follow us @ochentapodcasts.

If you're enjoying our show, we recommend listening to  How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything, a weekly podcast for adult children of immigrants, featuring real-life scenarios and practical, professional advice to help them with difficult, but necessary conversations. Popular topics include raising children, money, toxic relatives, coming out, religion, and systematic racism. No subject is off-limits. ● How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything comes at a time when immigrants and their adult children’s family dynamics are testing the American concepts of boundaries, independence, even adulthood. Find it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you get your podcasts. Head to TalkToMamiPapi.com to learn more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s episode is about the power of the relationship between two generations. Susanne makes us reflect on kindness and respect towards our elders, inviting us to always celebrate and nourish those relationships. This story was originally produced in English and has been translated into Spanish and you can hear that version later on in the episode.

CREDITS: Thank you for listening to Ochenta Stories, this story was written by Susanne Fowler. Susanne is an American journalist currently based in London after stints in Rome, Istanbul and Paris. She has been a senior staff editor for The International New York Times and a frequent contributor to the Times' Travel section. This audio story was inspired by Susanne’s essay “If you see me, Please Say Hello” which you can find at www.areweeurope.com. The Spanish version of the story was voiced by Martha Martinez. The sound design was done by Chiara Santella. If you like what you heard, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts in whatever language you choose. Follow us over @ochentapodcasts on Twitter and Instagram for updates. You can find transcripts and learn more about the project over at ochentastudio.com/ochentastories.

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