The Apple Seed

We’re in Fruita, Colorado at the Dinosaur Journey museum. This museum is part of a greater organization that includes a number of active paleontological digs, as well as another museum called the Museum of the West where exhibits tell the story of more than a thousand years of history about the area, an interpretive site called Cross Orchards where costumed guides help you step back in time more than a hundred years, the Lloyd Files Research Library, featuring, among thousands of other things, the Mesa County Oral History project. All of these facilities together are part of a museum complex called Museums of Western Colorado, which you can discover more about at museumofwesternco.com.

The truth is, we live in a time in which there seems to be a harder, brighter line than usual between the people who embrace the things that scientists are discovering about our world and the people who don’t. We’re seeing things like marches for science, and we’re hearing labels like “science deniers,” and at the Apple Seed, where we’re interested in all of the many ways that people use story to communicate important stuff, we recognize that there’s the valuable work of scientists, and then there’s the place at which that work interfaces with an interested public. And a place like the Dinosaur Journey Museum seems to exist right in that intersection. Today, we talk to Dr. Julia McHugh, someone on the front lines of figuring out how to use competent storytelling to help non-scientists catch the vision of what scientists are learning and discovering. We’ll also hear a mean Dinosaur blues, and a story by Diane Edgecomb about a girl who loves dinos so much, she becomes one.

There are some story windows through which you can look and see the whole story of America, spread out before you. For example, you can look at the story of baseball and find in it the whole story of America. The story of the National Parks might be another one of those windows. Or the history of American churches.

We’ve looked through some of those windows on other episodes of the Apple Seed and so in this episode we’re peeking through the window of jazz. Sam fired up some recording equipment somewhere between sound check and downbeat of a recent gig with some friends of his – Ryan Tilby, Ian Camp, and Keith Sorensen. We coupled their feelings, observations, and experiences playing jazz over the years along with some songs and stories.

Kevin Kling is an accomplished playwright, actor, and storyteller. He came to town as the guest of the Timpanogos Storytelling Institute, and while he was in the area we sat down with him to feature some of his work and to share some great conversation. The live recordings featured in this episode were made during performances that occurred during Kevin’s visit to Utah. You can find other recorded versions of all of those stories, along with more information on Kevin Kling and his other projects by visiting: www.kevinkling.com.

On today’s episode, you’ll hear a story from Kevin Kling about a demolition derby to remember (Sam, to get psyched up for this story, attends a demolition derby himself: the annual “Day of Wreckoning” derby in Salt Lake City). You’ll also hear Sam gear up for the Corinne Stavish story “King of the Road” by remembering his college car, and old Subaru fixed up and painted by his brother, Joe. Finally, you’ll hear a story by the great storyteller and mime Antonio Rocha called “Chicken and Crocodile.”

This hour of stories, music, and conversation begins with a Radio Family Journal entry about Mrs. Searle, the third grade teacher who read “Where the Red Fern Grows” each year to the third graders of Alpine Elementary School. We’ll also bring you a World War two story, about how books found their way into every theater of war, and filled the world with more copies of books than were ever burned by the Nazis. We’re going to hear from Suzanne Christensen, a frequent contributor to the show, who will tell us about how she became a reader. And we’re going to visit a party that’s all about sharing books between friends. As for today’s music, you’ll hear tunes old and new from the terrific ukulele trio The Naked Waiters (who perform, of course, fully clothed).

We’re going to get around a bit today, spending some time with an Ananzi story from Bobby Norfolk, and a story from Poland about a beautiful girl who marries a Melamed – a teacher, a tutor really, of children – named Moshe. With those stories, we’re going to take you on a trip that will show you worlds that are, perhaps, far away from your own, in the way that folk tales can. But we’re going to begin with a story that may bring back some memories: a personal tale by storyteller Kim Weitkamp, talking about her parents. You’ll meet “the good living room,” (if you’re of a certain generation, you may have had one of those), and you’ll meet the family stereo console, with its built-in record player. If you’re of a certain generation, you may know just the console. If not, don’t worry. She’ll explain everything.

At the top of the hour, on the Radio Family Journal, you’ll hear about a trip with a bunch of high school students to Zion National Park. You’ll hear a story told by storyteller and acrophobe Donald Davis story about a trip to the Grand Canyon. We’re going to get him safely back to the canyon rim, but first, not everyone shies away from the dizzying heights and spectacular cliffs that characterize these parks. Working on a stage show commissioned by Dixie State University to celebrate Zion National Park, we ran into Ron Olevsky, a lifelong climber who has pioneered more than fifty routes up the walls of Zion National Park, over more than forty years. You’ll hear our conversation with Ron, in addition to a chat with artist Roland Lee, who has been painting in Zion National Park for 40 years.

On today’s episode of The Apple Seed, relive every death-defying stunt you tried, and all the reasons you tried them, with Antonio Sacre’s terrific tale “Uncle Tom and the Roller Coaster of Death.” You’ll also hear a familiar of fable in Laurie Allen’s performance of “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and a piece from Odds Bodkin called “The Generous Man.” We’ll finish out the hour with Sam’s “Denis Zwang’s Saxophone Prayer,” and a poem called “Fossil” from the celebrated Welsh poet Leslie Norris.

This hour features stories, music, and conversation with storyteller Kim Weitkamp. The episode was recorded live before an audience at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the largest storytelling festival in the West.

This hour of stories, music, and conversation takes you to an Opera setting ofHerman Melville's Moby Dick. We'll talk with singers, directors,composers and more. IN addition, we'll have a conversation with Steve Tuttle, a professor of English at Brigham Young University and a long-time Moby Dick fan. And you'll hear stories and songs from Jay O'Callahan, to boot!