The Apple Seed

Today’s stories are about those times when characters in stories (often the storytellers themselves) might have judged someone or something hastily, and were pleasantly surprised once they discover what was really there. You’ll hear “The Lord of Benbow” and “The King with Four Daughters” by Liz Weir, “That Swing in the Park” by Andy Offutt Irwin, “What was I Thinking” by the late Syd Lieberman, and “Japanese Folk Stories” by Brenda Wong Aoki.

It’s the time of year when thoughts turn to love, and we thought we’d invite some friends into the studio, as we occasionally do, for some reader’s theater and live music to celebrate. The story pieces you’ll hear today are Beauty and the Beast, this version written in 1756 by Jean Marie Le Prince du Beaumont, and Edmond Rostand’s love story Cyrano de Bergerac. They’ll be presented before a live audience, by a little group of actors that includes Noah and Leah Kershisnik. Suzanne Christensen, and Sam. And there’s more. We thought that in addition to the stories, you might like to hear some beautiful, melancholy love songs from a great songwriter, so we invited one along; joining us in the studio is Emily Brown.

On today’s hour of the Apple Seed, you’ll hear stories from all over the world, including “The Day that Changed Everything” by Geraldine Buckley. This episode also includes a retelling of one of Kipling’s “Just So” stories by Kirk Waller, a Jack tale from Mary Hamilton, and a lovely story about connections between generations from Sheila Arnold.

Today, we’re going to go in a couple of directions: we’re going to talk about the kind of richness that comes into a person’s life when they get down into some of the world’s great poetry and literature and try to preserve it in their own mind and spirit, and when they learn to share it with others. We’re going to talk in a bit with Duane Hiatt, who, together with two of his pals, put together a folk group in the 60s called “The Three D’s.” As part of our chat, we’ll play some music these guys wrote to famous poetry texts, and released in 1964, the same year the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show.

 We’re also going to talk about the value of preserving plain old memories of your daily life: a record of the world you live in as seen through the eyes of not only your unusual and spectacular experiences, but also your regular, unremarkable experiences. And you’ll hear a bit from songwriter Clive Romney, someone who, like Duane Hiatt of the 3D’s, has traveled a bit in this world, and knows a thing or two.

On today’s episode, a conversation with the director and the cast of Romeo y Julieta, a bilingual adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The production is designed for performance before audiences of parents and their children, and features Daniel Mesta as a member of the cast (listeners will recongize Daniel as a member of the Appl e Seed team). We’ll also bring you a story from BYU professor Kerry Soper, about a high school production of Romeo and Juliet in which he played Romeo, to comedic and disastrous effect. There’s a lot to enjoy on today’s hour of stories and conversation, made for you and your family and brought to you by The Apple Seed.

On today’s episode, you’ll hear an eclectic mix of tales and tunes from tellers of all kinds. We’ll start out with “The Road Back Home,” a tale from the Bay Area storyteller Joel Ben Izzy. You’ll also hear a tune called “Old People in Love” by the great songwriter John McCutcheon, and a story called “Generational Revenge,” by Georgia’s Andy Offutt Irwin. We’ll finish the episode with a Creole tale from Danielle Bellone called “Merisier, Stronger than the Elephants,” and a little piece from Carl Sandburg called “How the Potato Face Blind Man Enjoyed Himself One Fine Spring Morning.”

On today’s episode of The Apple Seed, you’ll hear folk tales and personal tales, legends and cowboy poems. First, it’s a story recorded live at Vermont’s  Abenaki Cultural Heritage Celebration: Wolfsong (born Douglas Provencher) with “How the Skunk Got His Stripes. You’ll also hear from Jay O’Callahan with one of his “Pill Hill” stories (Pill Hill was the nickname of his childhood neighborhood – a neighborhood full of doctors), about a prank involving a campaign rally for Adlai Stevenson in the 1950s. You’ll hear a little Cowboy poem from Waddie Mitchell called “The Owl Critic,” and a medley of Chelm stories (Chelm is the Jewish Folkloric “town of fools”) told by Bay Area storyteller Joel Ben Izzy. That’s today, on The Apple Seed!

On today’s episode, enjoy a conversation in Boulder, Colorado with storytellers Rachel Ann Harding and Cooper Braun-Enos. Those two artists make up a duo called  “Stories With Spirit” and we talked with them for the first half of the show. The conversation took place in the beautiful Dushanbe Teahouse, a gift to Boulder from its sister city, Dushanbe, the capital city of Tajikistan. The teahouse features decorative elements crafted by over 40 artisans, using ancient methods, over more than a dozen years. This episode also features stories from Liz Weir and Antonio Rocha, tellers that Rachel Ann and Cooper both cite as inspirations.

On today’s episode, you’ll hear from the great North Carolina songwriter and storyteller Michael Reno Harrell. He’ll share a story and song recorded live before an intimate audience in one of the house concerts for which he’s become well-known. You’ll also hear a story called “Azeban and the Rock” by the Abenaki storyteller Wolfsong, and a little poem called “Typical,” performed live by Waddie Mitchell.

Erik Weihenmayer is an innovator, author, motivational speaker and all around adventurer. He was the first blind man to summit Mount Everest and has inspired thousands of people through various organizations, including his No Barriers initiative. On this episode of The Apple Seed we get to chat with Erik about his own adventures, and also the work he does with others. You can learn more about it all at www.touchthetop.com