Jess makes a deal with Judy, an unhoused senior. Judy will let Jess document her, and Jess will help Judy resolve some of her ongoing life problems. As Jess gets sucked into Judy's crises, the rest of the series starts to slip and Jess’ relationships with her other subjects get messy. Jess starts to doubt the premise of this entire undertaking.

Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative is written, hosted and produced by Jess Shane. Sara Nics is the story editor. Sound design, mix/mastering by Michelle Macklem. Production support from Mona Hassan. Cover art is by Justin Broadbent. Jess’s bibliography is available here.

This reporting was supported in part by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Howard G.Buffett Fund for Women Journalists.

Special thanks to Eleanor McDowall and Chioke I’Anson.

For Radiotopia Presents, Yooree Losordo is the managing producer. Audrey Mardavich is the Executive Producer. It’s a production of PRX’s Radiotopia and part of Radiotopia Presents, a podcast feed that debuts limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices.

Learn more about Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm.

Jess begins by documenting Ernesto, a 20-year-old, newly sober fashion model. The plan is to pay Ernesto and let him be in charge of the story he wants to tell in the documentary. Things go sideways when Jess and Ernesto grapple with what will need to be cut out of Ernesto's life to turn it into a viable media product.

More about Pooja Rangan’s book Immediations HERE.

Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative is written, hosted and produced by Jess Shane. Sara Nics is the story editor. Sound design, mix/mastering by Michelle Macklem. Production support from Mona Hassan. Cover art is by Justin Broadbent. Jess’s bibliography is available here.

Support for this project was provided in part by the International Women’s Media Foundation. Special thanks to Eleanor McDowall and Chioke I’Anson.

For Radiotopia Presents, Yooree Losordo is the managing producer. Audrey Mardavich is the Executive Producer. It’s a production of PRX’s Radiotopia and part of Radiotopia Presents, a podcast feed that debuts limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices.

Learn more about Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm.

Jess used to think making documentaries was good for her subjects and good for the world. But she’s not so sure anymore. With this series, she's throwing out the old rules of documentary production and trying out some new ones.

Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative is written, hosted and produced by Jess Shane. Sara Nics is the story editor. Sound design, mix/mastering by Michelle Macklem. Production support from Mona Hassan. Cover art is by Justin Broadbent. Jess’s bibliography is available here.

Support for this project was provided in part by the International Women’s Media Foundation. Special thanks to Eleanor McDowall and Chioke I’Anson.

For Radiotopia Presents, Yooree Losordo is the managing producer. Audrey Mardavich is the Executive Producer. It’s a production of PRX’s Radiotopia and part of Radiotopia Presents, a podcast feed that debuts limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices.

Learn more about Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm.

Artist and documentarian Jess Shane posts a Craigslist ad: “Does your story need to be told? Tell it in a documentary! Seeking shocking, heartbreaking, and transformative stories for a new series about the documentary industry. Compensation provided.” 

After days of auditions, Shane casts four participants, each with varied relationships to why they want to share their stories, from Ernesto, a recovering addict and fashion model who dreams of making it big, to Judy, an unhoused senior who wants to get off the street and give voice to the homeless. Through the making of documentaries about the participants, the series asks provocative questions about the story creation process, whether “sharing your story” is really as liberating as our culture imagines it can be, and how “being produced” for a show can shift someone’s relationship to their own experience. The series also explores the business side of the equation, such as how the forces underpinning today’s booming documentary marketplace impact whose stories are told or deemed valuable.

Shane also turns her mic to subjects to weigh in on standard documentary protocol, from the concept of “access” and the taboo of paying subjects to the logistics of editorial control. Ultimately, “Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative” asks listeners to consider their own relationship to this popular genre of content.

Learn more about “Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative” at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm.

Today, longtime Presents producer Ian Coss shares a new project with a simple premise. If you want to talk about music today, you need to talk about migration – the movement of people around this earth. “Movement with Meklit Hadero” is a podcast that lives at that intersection: stories of music and migration, remixed.

Today, we’re introducing our Radiotopia Presents listeners to a brand new show out now from PRX. It’s called What’s Ray Saying?. 

In this first episode from the newest season, Ray Christian looks at the history of Black medicine and to better understand the treatment of the ills, injuries and minds of Black Americans, he reflects on his first experience of going to the doctor.

What’s Ray Saying? is created, hosted, and written by Ray Christian and recorded in the great state of North Carolina. Mark Pagán is the senior producer. Jonathan Cabral is the associate producer. Story editing by Mark Pagán with development support from The Moth. Sound design by Rebecca Seidel. Original music comes from RJ Christian and Blue Dot Sessions.

To find out more about What Ray’s Saying? visit us on Facebook, Twitter, or at whatraysaying.com.

This series is supported by PRX, The Moth, and listeners like you.

Today, we are sharing an episode of Monumental, by our old friend Gisele Regatão, the producer/director of a hit dog will holler.

For generations, Christopher Columbus has been glorified in monument after monument across the United States. And while Columbus statues have recently started coming down, including in cities like Columbus, Ohio, the largest one in the world is standing tall - very, very tall… in a U.S. territory – the beach town of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

In this episode, Gisele travels to Puerto Rico and beyond to uncover the roots of Columbus’ glorification in U.S. history and why he came to be represented in so many public statues – even though he never actually set foot on the U.S. mainland. And she visits a community artist in Woodside, Queens who confronts the myth of Columbus by creating new monuments that celebrate immigrant stories.

A new podcast from PRX, Monumental interrogates the state of monuments across the greater U.S. and what their future says about where we are now and where we’re going. Join host Ashley C. Ford and a team of independent producers in this 10-episode series where we confront the reality of what we have publicly celebrated and memorialized thus far, exploring big questions about the past, present, and future of our monuments. Monumental is produced by PRX Productions, PRX’s award-winning creative studio specializing in audio storytelling. The series is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation.

Borrowed & Banned is a podcast from Brooklyn Public Library about tells the story of America’s ideological war with its bookshelves. Over seven episodes, hosts Virginia Marshall and Adwoa Adusei talk to students on the frontlines, librarians and teachers whose livelihoods are endangered when they speak up, and writers whose books have become political battleground. With every episode, they’ll share steps you can take to combat censorship, no matter how old you are. 

Subscribe on BPL’s website (https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts) or your podcast app of choice (https://pod.link/1453877748).

From tenderfoot.tv comes a new compelling podcast about 24-year-old Alana Chen who disappeared from Boulder, Colorado in 2019. She left behind two dozen journals chronicling a deep faith, her love of the outdoors, and her dream of becoming a nun. Alana also kept a secret, one that put her dream at risk. 

In this first episode, Simon travels to Boulder to meet Alana’s mother, Joyce, and becomes determined to help her understand what happened to Alana. To hear more Dear Alana visit apple.co/dearalana. For ad-free listening and exclusive content subscribe to Tenderfoot+ at tenderfoot.tv/plus

Tenderfoot's social handles: 

IG: @tenderfoot.tv

Twitter: @TenderfootTV

FB: Tenderfoot TV

Dear Alana social handles: 

IG: @dearalanapod 

Twitter: @dearalanapod 

FB: @DearAlana

In this episode, we’re introducing our Radiotopia Presents listeners to a brand new show out now from Radiotopia. It’s called Weight For It.

Weight For It unpacks the nuanced thoughts of fat folks, and of all folks who think about their weight all the time. Through narrative storytelling, and some memoir, host Ronald Young Jr. hopes to have the conversations that we tend to avoid when it comes to our bodies.

We hope you’ll give Weight For It a try. If you like what you hear, subscribe to Weight For It in your podcast app of choice or find the show here.
 
The team: 
Creator, Host, and Executive Producer: Ronald Young Jr. 
 
Editor: Sarah Dealy

Sound Design and Mixing: The Reverend John DeLore