Stuttering is Cool

Episode #285: We go into the stutterverse by talking to @The_Stutterverse, also known as Stephen Greene. Hailing from Dublin, Stephen runs The Stutterverse Instagram account spreading much needed stuttering awareness.

He recently posted about bringing stuttering awareness to the next level by borrowing a tip from other neurodivergent communities which focus on the lived experience and challenging assumptions stereotypes, systems, and language.

A post shared by Stephen Greene (@the_stutterverse)

Join me as I chat with Stephen and please accept my apologies for my Internet connection dropping out near the last quarter of this episode.

Links mentioned on this episode:

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Episode #284: Ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop! That song is still playing in my head since Gina Waggot was previously on my show in January 2024 talking about writing the biography of her friend, Scatman John.

Gina returns to tell us about the making, release, and reception of her book, Scatman John: The Remarkable Story of the World’s Unlikeliest Popstar, published by Bloomsbury Publishing.

She also announces her next exciting project.

Ski-bi dibby dib yo da dub dub…

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Episode #283: Camp Dream. Speak. Live. All around the world! I am joined by Joeri van Ormondt and Femke de Smit, organizers of Camp Dream. Speak. Live. in The Netherlands where the camp is also known as Stotterkamp.

Coincidentally, a bunch of Camp Dream. Speak. Live. camps happened to be taking place in a handful of countries around the world while the Dutch camp was going on so Joeri and Femke thought it would be a cool and beneficial thing to try to connect all the camps together over a livestream.

They share the results of their experiment.

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Episode #282: Why do we find that letting ourselves stutter more often leads to stuttering less, while trying to speak fluently seems to result in more stuttering?

Join me as I explore this phenomenon with Dr. J Scott Yaruss, speech-language pathologist, researcher, and educator for more than 30 years. We also talk about the various research studies Scott has and is working on and how you may be able to participate!

Links mentioned on this episode:

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Episode #281: This episode is recorded live from where my stuttering comes from!

My grandfather and his sisters stuttered so I like to refer to my father’s hometown in Molise, Italy as “where my stutter comes from” or “my stutter’s origin story”.

In this episode, I travel to my parent’s hometowns (only 2km apart) in Italy and share with you:

I also mention a livestream I did on Instagram showing you my father’s home town; part one where I climb up a mountain and part two where I climb down and show you the town.

Please note: I originally recorded this episode while walking around the countryside in my father’s home town in Molise and later while walking in Rome. However, to my disappointment, upon my return home to Canada, I discovered a lot of wind noise showed up in my recording and drowned out my voice. I tried various ways to reduce it, even resorting to using over-promising and under-delivering AI tools, but nothing worked. So I re-recorded it only to still find wind noise making its way into this episode! At least it’s minimal.

This episode is brought to you the Franky Banky shop. Fun resources for people who stutter and speech therapists. Details at frankybanky.com.

All episodes of the Stuttering is Cool podcast are released under creative commons license Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0 for more information.

I am not affiliated with any of the links shared except for FrankyBanky.com.

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Episode #280: “I grew frustrated with others defining the experience for me.”

I speak with, Irmo Stijnberg, the filmmaker behind Unspoken Truth, a powerful short film that shines a light on the lived experience of stuttering in a world obsessed with fluency and speed.

Unspoken Truth follows Timothy, a talented graphic designer who stutters and whose passion and skill are overshadowed by misunderstandings and a devastating false accusation. As Timothy struggles to defend himself in an HR meeting, we see the deeper reality of stuttering and the mental energy it takes to speak, the frustration of not being heard, and the heartbreak of being misjudged.

The film also gives us rare access into Timothy’s thoughts as he stutters. This film isn’t just about stuttering. It’s also about injustice and resilience.

And speaking of injustice, the film was also immediately disqualified from the European Film Festival Integration You and Me claiming stuttering isn’t a disability despite the fact that the festival is a European event that receives funding by the EU which recognizes stuttering as a disability and prohibits discrimination under its laws.

We also dive into Irmo’s own experiences with stuttering and talk about what inspired the film and our thoughts about the abrupt disqualification.

Read more about Unspoken Truth at censtudios.com.

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Episode #279: Your stutter as a sidekick. In this episode, I share the story behind my new book, Draw Your Stutter, which grew out of a mind-blowing experience in 2024. It all started when I tested a new idea for a cartooning workshop. After refining it through a few virtual sessions, I finally led it in person at STAMMAFest in front of a packed room—where the impact was life-changing for both me and the participants.

Draw Your Stutter is a guide to creating a cartoon character based on your stutter, inspired by these workshops. You’ll also hear from a few participants who share their powerful, real-life transformations.

Since launching, I’ve already sold 20 copies within the first two days — five of them even before the official release!

Now, you can experience it for yourself. Order your copy of Draw Your Stutter today! And once you’ve drawn your stutter cartoon character, consider sharing it online with the hashtag #DrawYourStutter or #DrawYourStammer. I can’t wait to see your creation!

Links mentioned on this episode:

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Episode #277: Two stutterers walk into a podcast… I chat with stand-up comedian Aidan Greene about his upcoming film, Stutterbug, the first film since 1937 to feature a stuttering actor playing a stuttering character.

Stutterbug follows a man with a stutter, played by Aidan, who goes to extreme lengths to hide his speech, leading to a series of hilarious misadventures…at his expense. All Aidan wants is a cup of coffee, but his efforts to conceal his stutter cause him to accidentally curse out a charity worker, sabotage his chances with his college crush, Jess, by insulting her stuttering brother Sean, and—perhaps worst of all—end up with a mocha instead of an americano.

The film is currently crowdfunding, and you can help bring it to life!

Aidan and I also dive into his stuttering journey, how he got into comedy, and his experiences performing at major Irish comedy festivals. A regular headliner in clubs across Ireland, Aidan’s shows has played to sold-out crowds and he supported some of Ireland’s top comedians.

Aidan’s jokes are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Be sure to check out his comedy on his website and socials!

Please note that this episode has some curse words including the f-bomb.

Links mentioned on this episode:

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Episode 276: Stuttering is more complicated than just choosing fluency or acceptance.

The current way the acceptance movement is being presented is “it’s ok to stutter… as long as you’re only embracing it”, however, this is not saying it’s ok to stutter in general – which is what the acceptance movement was initially about. Because it is ok to stutter and not want to be prideful about it.

Meanwhile, the fluency camp continues to present fluency as either the only option or as a cure (misinformation much?) and not as a choice or a way to cope, but as a way out. Unfortunately, this preys on vulnerable people trying to seek freedom from their stutter (scam cures much?).

Presenting fluency or embracing your stuttering as the only way just isn’t helping anyone who asks you for help or advice. Whether you’re a speech-language pathologist, or fellow stutterer on social media.

Join me as I chat about this topic with Nicole Kulmaczewski, CCC-SLP, at the recent Canadian Stuttering Conference, a bilingual joint conference organized by the Canadian Stuttering Association and Association bégaiement communication in Montréal, Québec, Canada from November 8 to 10, 2024.

I also participated in the talent show which took place during the Saturday night banquet. I read and described one of my Franky Banky comics in both English and French!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Correction notice: Nicole meant to say “prominent stutter” instead of “profound stutter” at around the 16:30 mark.

Static sound effect from Pixabay.

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Episode #275: My first time attending STAMAMFest and going to the UK! Join me as I chat with new and old friends at my very first STAMMFest which took place in Nottingham from August 15 to 18.

It was also the first time I gave a new version of my cartooning workshop where attendees draw cartoon characters of their stutter, I mean, stammer, as they say in the U.K. (hey that rhymed). To my surprise, the room was packed! And even better, everyone seemed to have enjoyed the activity.

On this episode, a few of those who attended share their experiences from drawing cartoon characters of their own stuttering. And for the most part, I’m blown away by what they all drew!

I then take you along with me for a bit of a soundseeing tour in London as I try to make my way from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square — and lose my way a few times — as I reflect on STAMMAFest while stumbling upon various statues and landmarks.

Links mentioned on today’s episode:

P.S. You know those iconic red phone booths all over the U.K.? Well, there was one near the STAMMAFest event that was converted into a book exchange. So I left two copies of my books in it!

A post shared by Franky Banky, a stuttering fox (@heyfrankybanky)

Transcription available upon request.

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