Soundings

Carolyn and Corina survived abuse, illness, addiction, crime, and prison. What ways have they found to successfully reintegrate into the world? This is a story of how we heal ourselves against the specters of our pasts.

Featuring: Corina Shortall, Carolyn Crowley

Producer: Chuong Phan, with help from Will Rogers

Image: Meltwater Via flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/meltwater/578304919/

What is Rondon? What does it mean to be Creole in Nicaragua? In a world that increasingly seems to strive for uniformity, afro-descendant Creole people on the eastern coast of Nicaragua seek to hold on to their unique culture through their food. Join us as we travel between the farm, the lagoon and the city to explore how Creole food is changing due to outside pressures.

"Why we appreciate Rondon, it is the strongest food in our gastronomy. And it comes from Africa. I have met many Africans and they cook rondon just like us. It’s a cultural thing. That makes me proud to be black. I'm proud of my Rondon." - Ms. Gay Sterling

Featuring: Connie Tinoko, Kenneth Fox, Edward (Daha) Fox, Gay Sterling

Producer: Maria Doerr

Music: Take Dis Five, Run-Down Orchestra Bluefield Sound System 2009

Zion-O, Run-Down Orchestra, Bluefield Sound System 2009

Braden Grant Recipient Reade Levinson travels to Mongolia in hopes of witnessing a practice known as sky burial, in which the bodies of the dead are prepared for the afterlife. But as Reade learns on her journey, in Mongolia the forces of urbanization, modernization and environmental change may be threatening this sacred ritual. “The scene would be not very nice, when you look at a dog running around with someone’s hand in his mouth.”

Featuring: Ganbat Namjilsangarav, Christine Murphy, Tsogbadrakh and Tuya Banzragch, and Dr. Keith Bildstein.

Producer: Reade Levinson

Special Thanks: Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, and Generation Anthropocene

Music: All ambient recorded by Reade Levinson, sound effects downloaded from FreeSound.

Image via thinkstockphotos: http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/image/stock-photo-mongolian-vultures-in-the-wild/469839700

Molly Antopol's debut story collection, The UnAmericans, won the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award and a "5 Under 35" Award from the National Book Foundation. It was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, the Barnes & Noble Discover Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and others. She's a Jones Lecturer in Stanford's Creative Writing Program.

http://storytelling.stanford.edu/index.php/off-the-page.html

A young man’s intuition guides him toward something in the woods.

Producers: Jackson Roach, Margaret Wenzlau, Rachel Hamburg

image via wikimedia: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Cougar_track.jpg

It wasn’t until she grew up that Lisa realized the extent of her Uncle Howie’s eminence in odd circles. Was his influence in her life a blessing or a curse?

Producer: Mischa Shoni, assisted by Will Rogers

Featuring: Lisa Medoff

Music:

Candlegravity (Blowing Up Seaford)

Ending Satellites (Ellyn’s Melody)

Long Hair (Yeti)

Podington Bear (Happiness Is, Operatives, Jack, Spring Solstice, Whiplash String Swell)

This piece explores traditional healing in Native Hawaiian culture, examining the relevance of ancient values and traditions in today's society. Nicole details her journey throughout the Hawaiian Islands, presenting stories from Native healers who share their experiences in seeking truth, wisdom, and health. These stories delve into fundamental issues such as identity, balance, and nature, while showing how cultural complexity can be rooted in simple universal truths.

Producer: Nicole Marie Rodriguez

Featuring: Dane Silva, Puahi Chun, Kawika, Helen

Special thanks: Stanford School of Earth Sciences, Prof. Peter Vitousek, Dr. Noa Lincoln, University of Hawaii, Waianae Coast Community Health Center

Image courtesy of Nicole Marie Rodriguez

In the past few decades, orphans in Africa have become defined by snapshots: snapshots of jutting ribs, ragged clothes, hopeless eyes. Those images have become the face of international charity work and have helped drive the idea that we should send resources to help. But there are things that can’t be captured in snapshots. In this story, Christine Chen travels to the West African country of Ghana, to talk with the people directly involved with orphan care there—the social workers, orphanage directors, families, and kids. There, she encounters narratives that put an unexpected twist on our understanding of orphanages—and push us to reconsider our assumptions about the children living inside them.

This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html

Producer: Christine Chen

Featuring: Samuel Anaglate, Helena Obeng-Asamoah, Akosua Marfo, Emmanuel, Richmond, Hannah

Special thanks to: Christy Hartman

Sounds:

Music: A Smile for Timbuctu, Chris Zabriskie, Lee Rosevere

Image courtesy of Brandee Cooklin

What differentiates what is labeled as mental dysfunction—mania, psychosis, seizures—from what is magic, spirit, or simply … beyond the scientific method? Mischa Shoni embarks on a journey to understand her own brain. On the path, she meets dragons, gryphons, crystal-eyed snakes … and some extraordinary people who see the mind beyond the limited lens of psychiatry.

This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here:

http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html

Producer: Mischa Shoni

Featuring: Anusuya Starbear, Michelle Boyle

Special thanks: Will Rogers

Music: Man of Suit (Echos of Space, Fog Divided by 2, Quiet Mountaintop, Lost in the Forest, Trees of Mystery, Howling Wind, The Dancing Chairs, Wind Chimera, Redwoods & Skyscrapers)

Image via Wikimedia

This story traces the origins of “We Shall Overcome” from the eighteenth century to the March on Washington, and to today. It focuses on the development of the song at the Highlander Folk School, a social justice center in Tennessee.

This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html

Producer: Beatrix Lockwood

Featuring: Candie Carawan, Clayborne Carson, Pam McMichael

Sounds: Martin Luther King, Workers in Selma, AL, March on Washington

Music: Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, Charlie Haden & Hank Jones, The Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, Paul Robeson, Rev. Gary Davis, Azuza Oacific Gospel Choir, Zilphia Horton, Dave Van Ronk, Fats Waller, Elizabeth Cotten

Image via Wikimedia