Nelufar grew up with a Muslim upbringing, and she’s about to dig into a ritual that’s at the center of her religion: the daily call to prayer. It’s a practice uniting 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. But, for a lot of reasons, Nelufar never felt completely comfortable responding to that call. So Nelufar, she tries a slightly different approach.

This episode comes to us from our friends at Ritually. It’s Nelufar Hedayat’s new podcast, from Brazen Media. And In each episode, she tries out a new spiritual or wellness ritual to find out if practicing it can actually make you feel better. Want to hear more? Listen to Ritually wherever you get your podcasts!

BIG thanks to the entire Ritually team over there for their work on this beautiful piece: Sarah Kendal, Susie Armitage, Clair Urbahn, Troy Holmes, Bradley Hope, Tom Wright, Mariangel Gonzales, Lucy Woods, Charlotte Cooper, Francesca Gilardi Quadrio Curzio, Nour Abdel Latif, Megan Dean, Ryan Ho, and Julien Pradier.

Ritually’s theme music is by Amaroun. Original music is by Jay Brown. Artwork by Ryan Ho and Julien Pradier

Season 14 - Episode 33

Two comic story tellers, Dino Archie and James Judd, bring you love, bromance and a summer camp exorcism with sock puppets. This episode contains explicit language.

STORIES

The Legend of Sweet Foot

Comedian Dino Archie got into a bar fight that blossomed into a bromance. The bond with his soulmate ripens over crab trapping, bankruptcy, and the Ghost of Christmas Future.

Camp Exorcist

Comedian James Judd dreams of being kidnapped, falling in love with a human hair blanket, and a church camp exorcism…you know, the kind with googly-eyed sock puppets.

Original Music by Bells Atlas 

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Snap Classic - Season 14 - Episode 32

Strapped in a harness, on the edge of a mountain, the snow bridge lets out a hollow crack as it gives way. The story of two climbers whose fates are intertwined by a length of rope.

Big thanks to Jim Davidson for sharing his story!

Jim wrote a book with Kevin Vaughan about surviving the fall on Mt. Rainier, called The Ledge. He also wrote a book about his experiences during and after the Nepal earthquake called The Next Everest. Check them out!

Original score by Renzo Gorrio, produced by Justin Kramon, artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 - Episode 31

Weed brownies, firefighting, and friendship. Amazing stories by friends, about the friend you did not expect.

STORIES

Weed Brownies

At school, Alia Volz was a weird kid without a lot of friends. She had a secret... after school, she’d go home and help her mom make and sell weed brownies all over San Francisco. But one day, Alia discovered something about her mom’s business that turned her secret into a burden that was far more painful than she could have imagined.

Thank you, Alia, for sharing your story with Snap!

Produced by Shaina Shealy, original score by Doug Stuart

Up in Smoke

Firefighting runs through Nyge’s bloodline. But he had no idea what it would cost to pursue this family dream.

This story was produced by YR Media's Adult ISH podcast. Adult ISH is a culture, advice, and storytelling show about #adulting, that is produced entirely by folks who are "almost adults". It’s distributed by PRX’s Radiotopia. Listen to more episodes of Adult ISH and subscribe!

Produced by Nyge Turner and Davey Kim, sound design by Clay Xavier, Marcel Angelo, and Davey Kim

Letters from Lockdown

Thank you to all of our storytellers from around the world for sharing your stories with us!

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 - Episode 30

Yohance Lacour is writing plays and selling weed on the south side of Chicago in the 90's. When a young black boy nearby is attacked in "the wrong part of town" Yohance knows he must respond not just with words, but action.

Sensitive listeners should know that this story references a racist hate crime and contains racist language.

You Didn’t See Nothin’ is a production of the Invisible Institute and USG Audio.

The podcast is written and reported by Yohance Lacour with Bill Healy, Dana Brozostkelleher, Erisa Apantaku and Sarah Geis.

Sound design, mixing, and music supervision by Steven Jackson and Phil Dmochowski at the Audio Non-Visual Company. Original music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.

Executive produced by Alison Flowers and Jamie Kalven for the Invisible Institute, and Josh Bloch for USG Audio. Production support by Jennifer Sears. Fact-checking by Angely Mercado.

Archival audio used in this episode is from C-Span, CBS Evening News, NPR, MSNBC, NBC News, WBEZ, Dateline, CNN, WTTW, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Youtube, CBS Chicago, The Today Show, WMag, and Conus.

Listen to the rest of You Didn't See Nothin’ wherever you get your podcasts or at usgaudio.com

Season 14 - Episode 29

A man walks off the side of a California highway, deep into the patchy grassland, to build a life away from the rest of the world. And a storyteller travels through a Chicago neighborhood with his grandmother… into a time machine.

STORIES

The Hitchhiker's Guide To America

A man walks off the side of a California highway, deep into the patchy grassland, to build a life away from the rest of the world.

Sensitive listeners should know that this story contains a description of a car accident.

Thank you, Gregory, for sharing your story with us!

Produced by Tessa Paoli, original score by Derek Barber

Time Traveler

A few weeks ago, writer and performer Jacoby Cochran walked through a Chicago neighborhood and into a time machine. That’s where the story begins…

This story contains explicit language and references racial violence. Please take care while listening.

Thank you, Jacoby, for sharing your story with us! For more of Jacoby’s work, please head on over to jacobycochran.com.

Produced by Regina Bediako & Anna Sussman, original score by Clay Xavier

Artwork by Teo Ducot

A man sages houses in his Southern Cheyenne community to rid them of unwanted powers and spirts. But when he encounters a stubborn entity he must step into his own power. And a work retreat in the jungle brings a doctor face-to-face with its protector.

This week on Snap, we’re bringing you supernatural stories from our evil twin podcast, Spooked. For more stories from the other side of the veil — listen to Spooked for free on any podcast platform!

STORIES

Always Be Polite

John Henson regularly smokes off houses for his friends and family. He’s learned to do it through years of observing family members.  Now he is trusted by his Native Southern Cheyenne community to do it for others.He comes in, prays for the home, and goes on his way. But when he encounters a very stubborn entity outside his friend’s home, he has to step into his own power and get it to go, all while being polite.

BIG thanks to, John Henson, for sharing your story with us!

Original score by Leon Morimoto, produced by Chris Hambrick & Anne Ford

Pee Afraid

Dr. Aammton Alias has a work retreat in the jungle. And when he gets there … he’s gotta go.

Thank you, Dr. Aammton, for sharing your story!

Original score by Dirk Schwarzhoff, produced by Anne Ford

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 14 - Episode 27

Some of the best storytellers around have gathered to tell stories. Not for a huge audience -- but for each other. Snap presents, “Backstage III.” An episode made of love and laughter featuring Glynn Washington, Shannon Cason, Dino Archie, Joyce Lee, Don Reed, and Dr. Ray Christian!

This episode contains explicit language and discusses firearms. Sensitive listeners please be advised.

Thank you to all the amazing storytellers! Dino Archie is tearing up the comedy world with a brand new special on YouTube, Toxic But Safe. Joyce Lee's got a book coming out. Don Reed is touring his one man performance, The Never Too Late Show. Dr. Ray Christian is combining forces with The Moth for the return his podcast, What's Ray Saying. You can hear more of Shannon Cason’s brutally honest storytelling on his podcast, Homemade Stories.

Produced by Mark Ristich. The original Backstage episodes were produced by Nikka Singh.

Season 14 - Episode 26

As kids many of us dreamt of building and playing in a tree house. For Donald Vaughn, also known as “fish”, that became his everyday reality… but it was far from a dream. Cold, hungry and all alone, Vaughn was kicked out of his house at 11 years old, and built a makeshift treehouse in order to survive. Anthony Ivy, an Uncuffed producer at Solano State prison, asked Vaughn to share his nightmare of being unloved, unkept and isolated.

Thank you, Donald Vaughn, for sharing your story! This piece comes from our friends at Uncuffed.

You can listen to KALW’s Uncuffed, for more stories produced inside California state prisons, wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow @WeAreUncuffed on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. To learn more, sign up for Uncuffed news, and support the program at www.weareuncuffed.org

Produced by Anthony Ivy

Sound design by Eric "Maserati-E" Abercrombie

Edited by Andrew Stelzer and Sonia Paul

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Uncuffed’s work in prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and donations from listeners. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. Content is approved by an information officer.

Season 14 - Episode 25

When the music is within you, how far would you go to dance again? A young ballerina is diagnosed with scoliosis just as her passion for ballet begins. And Glynn's summer love turns serious when his church elders have a word with his father about the separation of the races.

Bodies in Motion

When the music is within you, how far would you go to dance again? A young ballerina is diagnosed with scoliosis just as her passion for ballet begins.

A huge thank you to, Sophie Kohn, for sharing her story with Snap!

Sophie is a writer and producer with CBC comedy. Follow her on Twitter. This piece was based on her essay “Body in Motion” which was originally published at Hazlitt.net

Special thanks to David Exumé for his help with this story.

Produced by Bo Walsh, original score by Dirk Schwarzhoff, artwork by Teo Ducot

Niagara Falls

At sixteen, Glynn's summer love turns serious when his church elders come to have a word with his father about the separation of the races.

Produced by Stephanie Foo, told by Glynn Washington at Snap LIVE

Season 14 - Episode 24