Soundings

Where does the physical end and the metaphysical begin? This week's show is about scientists who use traditional methods to investigate untraditional questions. We start in Special Collections of the Stanford Libraries, with a brief history of para-psychology and spiritualism at Stanford, and continue with the story of three contemporary researchers who study psychic phenomena. Today's one-hour journey reveals some of the social aspects that come into play in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

Host: Bonnie Swift

Producer: Bonnie Swift

Featured: Margaret Kimball, Robert Jahn, Brenda Dunne, Helen Longino and Dean Radin

Music: Noah Burbank, Ambika, Jimi Hendrix, Thelonius Monk, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers

Featuring: Margaret Kimball

More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/157-episode-114.html

What's at stake when we try to tell another person's story? We explore this question in two parts. First, a class at Stanford works to tell a real woman's tragic life story in graphic novel form, discovering huge challenges collaborating as a group and getting the story right. Second, Emily Prince takes on the overwhelming and somber task of drawing a portrait of every American soldier who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Host: Micah Cratty

Producers: Dan Hirsch, Hannah Krakauer Featured: Emily Prince, Tom Kealey, Adam Johnson, Eric Pape, The Stanford Graphic Novel Project

Music: Dengue Fever, Cambodian Cassette Tapes vol.1, Brother

URLs: Emily Prince, Shake Girl

Producers: Dan Hirsch, Lee Konstantinou

Featuring: Tom Kealey, Adam Johnson, The Stanford Graphic Novel Class.

URL: Shake Girl

More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/147-episode-115.html

The theme of this week's show is self-preservation -- that is, the preserving of whatever it is that makes you you, be it letters, journal entries, or a digital measurement of your heart rate and blood sugar for every hour of the day. We bring you stories of cybernetic "lifeloggers," a crafty, image-tweaking Founding Father, and the most astoundingly comprehensive diary ever to find its way into Stanford's Special Collections. We also have poems from one of Stanford's poets in residence, Kirsten Andersen.

Host: Charlie MintzProducer: Charlie Mintz

Featured: Kirsten Anderson, Liz Bradfield, Hsiao-Yun Chu, and Judith Richardson

Music: Boomsnake, Howard Hello, George Pritzker

There are scrapbooks, and then there is the legendary Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Chronofile. Fuller was a designer, futurist, speaker, and prolific life-logger. Stanford has his diary, if that word even applies to the massive collection of documents, notes, letters, and much more. Host Charlie Mintz interviews the curator who made sense of the Chronofile, and learns about the wisdom of self-preservation.

Producer: Charlie Mintz

Featuring: Hsiao-Yun Chu

More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/97-episode-116.html

What is it about live performance that makes it so appealing, terrifying, and wonderful? What drives people to stand up in front of an audience, to perform without a safety net and put themselves on the line? In today's data-driven world, where everything can be recorded, stored, and recalled at any time, what role does live performance play? This episode begins with the harrowing experience of our host subjecting himself to the most extreme form of live performance of all: stand-up comedy. We continue with a story from playwright Amy Freed and Stanford professor of drama Kay Kostopoulos. And finally, we follow a production of the Stanford Spoken Word Collective, and get a peek at what goes on behind the curtain.

Host: Micah Cratty

Producers: Daniel MacDougall, Micah Cratty

Featured: Amy Freed, Kay Kostopilous

Music: Noah Burbank, Dave Chisholm, Greg Sell, Chris Babson, Zach Katagiri, and Kissing Johnny

Producer: Daniel MacDougall

Featuring: Amy Freed and Kay Kostopilous

More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/135-episode-117.html

This week, we have three stories about the life-changing, transformative power of sound. First, we look at brain activity during moments of silence in music. Then, a student investigates the healing powers of traditional Cambodian chants. Finally, a class of Stanford students led by John-Carlos Perea find a new community while learning the art of the powwow drum.

Host: Hannah Krakauer

Producers: Angela Castellanos, Bonnie Swift, Hannah Krakauer

Featured: Trent Walker, Vinod Menon, Daniel Levitin, Jonathan Berger, Chris Chafe, Gabe Turow, Pat Moffitt Cook, Sherwood Chen, John Carlos-Perea, Michaela Raikes, Ben Burdick, Luke Taylor, Jidenna Mobbison

Music: Chloe Krakauer

Producers: Bonnie Swift and Hannah Krakauer

Featuring: John-Carlos Perea, Michaela Raikes, Ben Burdick, Luke Taylor and Jidenna Mobbison

More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/125-episode-118.html

Hidden structures and forms constantly influence the way we think, from social norms to rules of grammar. This week we give you four stories that illuminate the forms that underpin our lives. First, you’ll learn about a successful cosmetic surgery industry in modern day Korea. Second, a software predicts hit songs before they're hits, based on a formula (note: this piece also aired on our "Prediction" show). Third, Iambic Pentameter makes itself known in the modern world. And finally, An artist incorporates naturally occurring patterns into her audio art.

Host: Bonnie Swift

Producers: Bonnie Swift, Hannah Krakauer and Noah Burbank

Featured: Olivia Puerta, Nellie Olsen, Olivia Prevost, Noah Burbank, Sarah Rizk, Sam Alemayehu, Jill McDonough and Jen Carlile

Music: Palaviccini, Talisman, The Yeltsin Collective

Producers: Lee Konstantiou

Featuring: Jill McDonough

A new software predicts the next big music sensation, and some local talent is put to through the software to see how they measure up. Does this mean the end of true artistic integrity and creativity? (note: this piece also aired in our episode titled "Prediction")

More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-1/299-episode-119.html

In Egypt, in Iran, and in Tunisia, we've heard a lot about the so-called Twitter and Facebook revolutions. But what about the radio revolution? Working from archives in New Delhi and London, Neel Thakkar resurrects the forgotten story of the Congress Radio -- the secret, underground radio station which, during the Quit India movement of 1942, helped keep the Indian nationalist movement alive during some of its darkest days.

This project was funded by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. More info on the Braden Grant here:

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

Producer: Neel Thakkar

Featuring: Usha Mehta, C.K. Narayanswami, K.A. Abbas, Anant Kanekar, and J.N. Sahini

Special thanks: Kevin Greenbank at the Cambridge Centre for South Asia, and Kamlesh and Naina Ramani

Image via wikimedia

Some 76 million years ago an asteroid smashed into our planet, killing the dinosaurs and three-quarters of the Earth’s plants and animals. Once again our planet is facing a wave of extinctions, this one of man's making, and more than ever we need to know what it takes for a species to survive a cataclysm. Laura Cussen traces the improbable story of an ancient, venomous mammal of the Caribbean, and of the local people who have unearthed its secret to survival.

This project was made possible by a Braden Grant from the Stanford Storytelling Project. More info about the Braden Grant:

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

Producer: Laura Cussen

Featuring: César Abril, Nicolás Corona, Pedro Martínez, and Alexis Mychajliw

Special thanks: The Last Survivors, Natacha Ruck, Will Rogers, Graham Roth, Weston Gaylord, Professor Elizabeth Hadly, to all the people who have made this project possible, and to the Hispaniolan solenodon.

Music: Sunsearcher, Chris Zabriskie, Nicolás Corona

Image via flickr

In 1999, France created the French equivalent of a civil union. The PACS--an acronym for "pacte civile de solidarité"-- was intended as an alternative to marriage for gay couples, but it was open to straight couples as well. And it was used by them--perhaps paradoxically, 94% of PACS couples are straight. With the legalization of gay marriage in May 2013, gay couples who want legal protection are no longer relegated to the PACS. What does the PACS mean to the people who get it, and how is it different from marriage? How can love and commitment be expressed, and how is this changing in modern French society?

Savannah Kopp interviews PACS couples in Paris about their love stories and their PACS stories. This piece explores how a culturally specific label for a relationship comes to have meaning and how, as the cliché goes, maybe the French can teach us about love.

This story was supported by a Braden Grant from the Stanford Storytelling Project. Click here to learn more about the Braden Grant:

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

Producer: Savannah Kopp

Featuring: Laura Berrey, Guido Panel, Kelsy Wilson, Suzanne Newman, Sylvia Calle, Valerie Lincy, Anne Bayley, Dana Conley, Channa Galhenege, Coralie Ossant, Diane Bonifaix, Roberto Conradi

Merci à: Estelle Halevi, Wilfried Rault, Natacha Ruck, the Stanford Storytelling Project, the PACS couples, and everyone who helped me realize this project.

Music: Podington Bear, Broke for Free, Kevin MacLeod, Everybody Was In the French Resistance

Image courtesy of Savannah Kopp

Birth is celebrated as one of the most profound and joyous moments in life. Yet in the nation of Uganda, delivering a child is an undertaking steeped in danger. The African country faces one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Why are so many Ugandan women dying in childbirth?

In this piece, Charlotte Sagan explores the issues surrounding maternal health in the Southeastern district of Iganga. Conversations with Ugandan mothers, fathers and health care practitioners reveal intimate narratives of health, perseverance and family. The delivery story of a young woman named Miriam, in particular, illustrates the perils and joys of childbirth.

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: Charlotte Sagan

Featuring: Nabalumba Miriam, Joshua Moangze, Dr. Charles Waiswa, Kaina Rita, Nampina Ruth

Special thanks: Christy Hartman, John Lee, Victoria Hurst Muirhead, Jacquie Cutts, Nakasango Evelyn, Mukalu Mohamed, Margreth Mpossi

Music: Kevin MacLeod, Jamal Wasswa, Mohr Productions, Jess, Eddy Kenzo

Image courtesy of Charlotte Sagan