Short Stories by Greg Marshall

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Ingrid was the first black child to attend a white school in Milwaukee, WI. I told her story in detail in episode 11 of this podcast. In this new episode, I have a phone conversation with Ingrid about that school experience and other personal stories from her childhood. 

As a child she knew and spoke to relatives of hers who were alive during slavery. Those stories are extraordinary. 

She also talked about her own childhood stories, including the time she drank from a white water fountain, and her father's response to that. 

There were moments in this conversation when I had tears in my eyes and other moments when we were laughing. 

This is worth your time. 

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One day in 1958, six year old Ingrid Carter was sitting with her father in the front room of their home. 

I imagine her sitting there, looking up at her dad, wondering why his face was so focused, and why his words were extra gentle yet so firm.  He said, “I promise I will not let anything happen to you.” 

He was asking her if she would be willing to change schools, to become one of the first black children to attend a white school in Milwaukee.

This podcast episode tells Ingrid's story.

In 2016 I was asked to produce a short film about Ingrid's experience and her work with a school called Milwaukee College Prep. Meeting her and hearing her story inspired me. Telling her story here is an honor for me.

You can see that short film here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWdNxXRq9Hk

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Within a couple days of George Floyd's death, I received a text message from a close friend, saying, "I would really like to have you over to the house. With this situation in Minnesota and the conversations I am having with my kids and family. I really need them to see us interact. The actual love we have for each other. I don’t want them to be jaded towards white people..." 

This episode is a conversation with that friend (Joel Peterson) and his oldest son (Josiah Peterson, 19). We talked about what it felt like to find out about George Floyd, and how the recent racial tensions are impacting their relationship, as well as my relationship with them. 

The picture attached to this episode is of our children watching a movie together about 12 years ago. Josiah is on the right. 

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One day I was driving out of our alley and I saw a guy standing there, staring at the traffic. I said hi. When I asked him how he was doing, he told me, with tears in his eyes, he was trying to decide which car to throw himself in front of. 

I found myself in a fragile moment with a decision to make. This is episode 9 of The PegLeg Podcast, a deep reflection on suicide, hope, and how important it is to feel seen. 

The timing of this story is interesting to me, because I believe there are a lot of people in our nation who ache to be seen and heard right now. 

Thank you for listening. 

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This is by far one of my most favorite memories. Imagine being a freshman in high school and discovering secret tunnels under your school. That happened to my friends and me, and the discovery opened up a world of adventure we'll never forget. We felt like we were living a true-life version of The Goonies movie. Looking back I feel like those adventures we had are like a metaphor for what life should be like. We don't need to settle for what's on the surface. It's possible to go deeper. 

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This is a conversation with Dave Olson, a musical genius. We talked about his first record deal, being born with diastrophic dwarfism, navigating a paradoxical rave scene in Minneapolis, and many adventures since. Dave has created the music for every video I've ever produced or directed, including two Emmy winning videos and several Emmy nominations. This guy is a treasure. 

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This story is about me meeting a new friend who changed the trajectory of my life. It started with a bizarre phone call, and led to opening for Three 6 Mafia. Not to mention that time we opened for Ne-Yo and performed for thousands of girls who really only wanted to see Ne-Yo, haha. This is an important story. You'll enjoy the narrative as much as the music. 

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What can we learn from kids who see the world from a totally unique perspective? 

You and I are in a global pandemic together. Right now is not easy for a lot of reasons. With that in mind, I want to share three short encouraging stories about three very unique individuals. Each one helped me to discover pieces of wisdom that I/we need right now. At the heart of this episode is this learned reality: wisdom is like a treasure that we find when we’re willing to search for it in places that other people overlook. 
Plus, there's a special song at the end... 

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This is a true story about discovering my love for storytelling and the power of listening to other people's stories. In it I nearly die, I lose my shoes, and I give my first speech to a large group of strangers in the light of a campfire. How I got to that campfire and what I learned there is the story.  At the heart of this episode is one of the most important insights I've ever learned. It has to do with our ability to search for treasures in the stories of other people. 

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I heard someone on a Moth Podcast say "How people date has changed but how they fall in love has not." Do you agree? Laura and I went directly from being friends to sort-of-engaged. This is the story of how that happened, and how we fell in love. It's also a quick look at the question: What does that even mean?