The Apple Seed

Today's stories all feature animals. You'll hear Kirk Waller with "Wolf and Turtle," a story that answers a question from Kirk's son. You'll also hear folk tale about how the drum first came into the world. It's called, appropriately, "First Drum," and the teller is the marvelous Chrlotte Blake Alston. You'll hear a musical telling of the ancient Japanese tale "The Crane Wife" by Odds Bodkin, and, finally, a story from Panama called "Conejito," told by Margaret Read MacDonald. Animal Tales, today on The Apple Seed.

Though today’s episode also features Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “The Party” performed by Mitch Capel, a fishing story from Connie-Regan Blake called “Lantern,” and Donald Davis’ classic “Look it Up,” we can’t help but notice that the rest of today’s stories are about bugs. You’ll hear the zany musical stylings of Andy Offutt Irwin in “Crickets in the Kudzu,” “The Louse and the Flea” by Michael Martin, and “Work Then Play,” a take on Aesop’s fable of the Grasshopper and the Ants.

In this episode, Sam muses on the notion that while older generations often pass on their magical wisdom to younger generations, younger generations often return the favor, passing wisdom back up the family tree, just when someone might need it. You'll hear Sam's ideas reflected in a story about a recent family reunion talent show. That story serves as a springboard for a tale by Kevin Kling called "Lake," a couple of songs from the great songwriter and storyteller John McCutcheon about parents, children, and teachers, recorded live at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, and also a great story from Bill Harley about his own kids growing up.

Today’s episode begins with a tale of King Solomon told by the Bay Area teller Joel Ben Izzy. You know Solomon the biblical character – the king who succeeded his father, the great king King David. Solomon is known for his wisdom, and you know of stories like the story of determining the identity of the mother of an infant child by threatening to cut the child in half. Well, wise Solomon is also something of a folk character in Jewish folklore. There’s a huge body of wisdom stories with Solomon at their center. The story you’ll hear today is called “The Smell of the Bread.” You’ll also hear “Mrs. Lunchroom Lady,” by Bill Harley. Bill says that for him, that story is about names – about what you call people. What you call people, he says, is either a sign of respect or of insensitivity, and there are a lot of decent people doing jobs that keep the world turning, and, Bill says, they all deserve a good name. From Margaret Read MacDonald you’ll hear a rhythmic, musical folk tale called “The Little Old Woman who Hated Housework,” and from Syd Lieberman, a classic: “Truffles.”

On today's episode, assistant producer Daniel Mesta guides us on a tour of the Utah Opera production of The Little Prince, Rachel Portman's 2003 Opera treatment of the famous 1943 French novella about a crashed pilot and his unlikely encounter with a boy who turns out to be from another planet. The visit to the Opera sparkes memories for Sam about a trip to the Opera with his mom when he was a kid. He'll share those memories in today's Radio Family Journal entry. Later in the episode, an interview with tenor Joshua Lindsay (who plays a number of roles in The Little Prince), and stories, music, and conversation with award-winning storyteller and musician Susan Reed.

Today’s episode is a celebration of friendships. You’ll hear about a friendship tested when one of the friends becomes president of a Ricky Nelson fan club in excerpts from “Hello Ricky Nelson, Goodbye Heart” by Barbara McBride-Smith. You’ll hear about an 8-year-old kid and his 80-year-old pal in Michael Reno Harrell’s “Me and Stover.” You’ll hear Sam talk about sneaking into a church dance with his pal, Darren Dibb, and we’ll wrap up with “Yankee Come Home,” a little tune performed by Ed Stivender at the National Storytelling Festival.

We think that today’s stories will give you and your family glimpses of distant horizons – places both desolate and teeming with wonderful things. In a live recording gathered at the Florida Storytelling Festival, we’re going to visit the waters around Vancouver Island with “Luna” by Ingrid Nixon. Later, we’ll visit the McMurdo Station research center in Antarctica with scientist Byron Adams. But, if you can imagine it, we’ll going to start the hour even further out – on Mars, in fact. Over Mexican food. To the sound of train whistles.

We’ve got stories today from Illinois storyteller Beth Horner, from Los Angeles Storyteler Antonio Sacre, from Mary Gay Ducey(who we got to know when she was on the team that brought the Bay Area Storytelling Festival to life for so many years), and from Mitch Capel (who sometimes goes by the name Grandaddy Junebug when he’s on stage). The stories are about all sorts of things,but at the bottom of it, they’re about parents and children. And we’ll whet your appetitefor stories with a tune by Michael Reno Harrell, who grew up in Tennessee and lives now in the hills of North Carolina where he writes songs and prepares stories based on his own life experiences and the experiences of the people around him. Sometimes those stories and songs come from people he’s only just met –but Michael is well-enough attuned to listening for and honoring the stories in every life that even someone he’s just met has a story worth singing about. And so it is with the song you’ll hear today –a song, he says, based on a story told to him by the old guy behind the counter at a tiny grocery store where Michael stopped one time to fill up his motorcyclewith gas.

What happpens when you find yourself in charge of telling the story of Abraham Lincoln's home to the thousands of people each year who come to see it? That was the challenge faced by Justin Blandford and his Springfield, Illinois team, given charge over the Old Courthouse (where Lincoln served as a legislator), Lincoln's tomb, and other historic Springfield landmarks. On today's episode, we'll talk with Mr. Blandford about some of the storytelling choices they've made to effectively communicate Lincoln's legacy to Springfield's visitors, many of them young children. You'll also hear from Brian Fox Ellis, a storyteller from Peoria, Illinois, who for years had worked to bring Lincoln and his contemporaries to life for audiences all over the country.

Web Summary: On this episode, we’ll share “The Mighty Tudor Biscuit World Biscuit Oven Organ,” a favorite story from the terrific West Virginia Storyteller and music scholar Adam Booth. We’ll also hear about a sourdough start with roots in the Revolutionary War from Florida Storyteller Madeline Pots. But first, we’ll introduce you to the proprietors of Downtown Sweet, a delightful Main Street Sweet Shop in Historic Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee; their story of following their faith to a place where their family could live and work together will inspire you. We’ll also bring you a favorite Japanese Ghost story from Motoko. The story is called “The Candy Shop,” and it’s a throwback to one of the first stories we ever brought to the air. It all fits together, we promise.