Tale Time Podcast

Welcome back! It's been a long time coming, but your favorite tale-tellers have crawled from the depths to provide you with a solid 20 - 45 minutes of ear-bleeding pleasure.  This week, we trek the frozen north with our good friend Michael Gangnath, as he guides us through the trials and tribulations of living in Norway. There's drunken interns, promiscuous princesses, and if we're lucky, perhaps some Norse human sacrifice! So put on your mittens and booties and get ready for some tale-tastic adventure!

Stranded on a chairlift atop Montage Mountain in Pennsylvania, the Tale Time Crew recount their splendid (and drunken) vacation weekend at Camp Bisco 2019.  Despite the fact that the festival ended two weeks prior (leaving our helpless hosts isolated until the mountain reopens come winter) their spirits remain as high as their unfortunate chair-lifted quandary.  Luckily Andrew, Jake and Dan never leave home without their podcasting equipment, giving them ample time to record episode 10.  This week's tale is titled: "Stories They Won't Tell".  It's a riveting true tale of one family's haunting memories of the Lebanese Civil war.  The account is written by the talented poet/writer Ashley Bouchahine and appeared in Salon Magazine back in 2011.

 

Ashley is a 28-year-old first-generation Lebanese American figuring her shit out in California. She writes stories about her family's experiences as refugees and immigrants to the United States, and about her own experience of home as a moving target. When she's not writing, she enjoys knitting, rock climbing, pottery, and traveling. At the time of this reading, she is in La Serena, Chile for the solar eclipse. She has two cats, Fred and Milkshake, both of whom she's infinitely proud of.

It's a triple story super feature!!! On Episode Nine of Tale Time, you're ole' pals Andrew, Dan & Jake dive into the strange world of 21st century spies and teenage angst (don't ask us how they're related).  Our main Tale Time Tale is from the talented and beautiful Emily Hopkins of Los Angeles California with an excerpt from her short story "Life is but a screen" - a gripping tale of how one intelligence operative's obsessive voyeurism makes him witness to a horrifying murder.  The Tale Time Tale Tellers are also honored to tell Tess Adam's "Candy Smoke" and Sahaj Sabharwal's poem "Nothing Much For Minors."  Also be sure to take advantage of our free book giveaway by emailing a short story to [email protected] 

Emily Hopkins is a writer and interior designer living in Los Angeles. She has written a novel, several short stories, children’s books, and lyrics. Emily is a frequent collaborator with composer Andrew Payson, including on the song “Here Before” for the PBS documentary Portrait of Harry.

Tess Adams is a English and Theater double major with an Acting/Directing track at Quinnipiac University.  She is a member of Fourth Wall Student Theater Group, Greek Life, Montage Literary Publication and the University Honors Program.  She is from Westchester, New York and hopes to move to New York City following graduation in order to pursue a career as an actress and producer.

 

Sahaj Sabharwal loves writing poems and thoughts. He lives in Jammu city, Jammu and Kashmir, India. He is a 17 years old poet. He has been awarded many awards in poem writing at the State, National and international level.

On Episode Eight, we invite our best friend and one of America's finest: Police Officer Dave Riehl on to the show to discuss the history of this complex, arduous yet deeply rewarding profession.  As certain communities across the U.S. struggle to find solidarity among their police departments, Dave provides an important and overlooked perspective on not only the difficulties of modern law enforcement but also examining how far we've come as a nation and what we can do to make a brighter tomorrow.  Dave lives in Maryland with his wife and two beautiful children.

Grab you strollers and baby-formula cause Tale Time Podcast is taking a trip down wittwe babbi wane.  For the seventh episode, prospective children's author and proud mother of two, Ashley Riehl, reads her beautifully written story: "The Tiniest Superhero".

It all starts when Ashley gave birth to a 2lb 8oz beautiful baby boy at only 30 weeks pregnant.  In an unfortunate turn of events, Ashley's body started attacking her placenta, causing severe preeclampsia which put her and her child's life at risk from HELLP Syndrome. Ashley's story depicts this scary series of events that changed their lives forever.

Ashley would like to thank March Of Dimes for helping her and her son while they were both in the hospital. Copied below is a link to Healthy Moms and Healthy Babies.  An organization dedicated to one day eliminating dangerous premature births!

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marchforbabies.org%2FFundraising%2FTeam%3FteamId%3D1383637%26teamEventId%3D2858284%26fbclid%3DIwAR1DzGDpMNKEW1ynubqAl33gs1LUEu8W9IUpKvMAUt290xKg7E24cKLkubI&h=AT0VnEso_PnbxF9Vn-VpfslDpnHIxmNEW3QnBTEOpuw_z7MJblH8qcoRv7KFZmcPTVK16o2oiGSB6bVg_kT5RbsP6hnwmhKHiHeVQ0rw2A-ixcdMkQzFkxtifq-gIswuq8AGhXMHnwXrmt0

On Episode Six, we invite our good friend and graphic designer, Matthew Hajducky, on to the show to discuss his life and struggles with Multiple Sclerosis.  Along the way, we look back on our first episode (we'll never forget you Barry's Booty-Camp workout) and discuss some aneurysm-inducing Civil War facts.  This episode also marks the beginning of our BOOK GIVEAWAY!  Just send an email to [email protected] or drop into our DM's, describing yourself (your likes, interests, etc) and we'll give you a free book!  Also, for an extra bonus prize, send in a short story about yourself to be read on the air.  If you wish to remain anonymous in the story, please put that at the top of the email.  Keep it TaLe-TaStiC!

On Episode 5 of Tale Time Podcast, the Tale Time Crew has the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kayla Lance, the incredibly talented and bright occupational therapist. Tune in to hear Kayla give her perspective on the lesser known world of occupational therapy and what its like to grow up in the foster care system. Kayla is a Masters graduate in Occupational Therapy who works at Sharon Health Care in Sharon, CT. She enjoys reading and writing and dating her hunky beau and the Tale Time Host: Dan Palmer.

Stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean after a horrific plane crash, the Tale Time Crew decide it's as good a place as any to discuss community within America.  Thanks to writer Stephen Bisaccia (who delivered a story via seagull) Dan, Andrew and Jake were able to read"A Small Town in Northern Ohio" - a menagerie of different vignettes told through the eclectic and sometimes complicated lives of one American town in Northern Ohio.  Painted as a sweeping portrait, Bisaccia's words bring to life the subtle idiosyncrasies that define and complicate American life.  Stephen is from Derby, Connecticut and is currently working on a short film titled: "Acts of Contrition".

On Episode Three of Tale Time Podcast, the Tale Time Crew hosts their very first, bonified guest: Calin Sapatoru.  Filled with unconventional yet fascinating twists and turns, Cal tells the story of emigrating from Romania to Canada and finally settling in America.  Overcoming the often overlooked struggles of people from far away, Cal provides his own perspective on what it means to become an American and highlights the differences which unite us as a people.

Cal's Bio

Country of origin: RomaniaCountry of residence: USACitizenships: Romanian, Canadian, AmericanLanguages: Romanian, French, EnglishUndergrad: School of AgricultureOccupation: Database EngineerSide hustle: Property RentalsGraduate degree: Healthcare Administration

In Episode Two of Tale Time, Jake, Dan and Andrew examine the weight of unintended consequences in Renee C. Mulhare's "Not the Valentine's Night He'd Wanted".  This macabre and humorous tale takes a turn for the worst when an arrogant husband gets a taste of his own medicine (literally).  R.C. Mulhare was born in Lowell, Massachusetts and her work has previously appeared in Atlantean Publishing, Macabre Maine, FunDead Publications, Deadman's Tome, and Weirdbook Magazine.  She shares her home with her family, two small parrots, about fifteen hundred books and an unknown number of eldritch things that rattle in the walls when she's writing late in the night.