The Apple Seed

Sam Payne discusses the finer points of what humor is and how to utilize it best in our storytelling and communication. Stories and segments featured in this episode:

Humor In-Practice

Sam is not only our charming host, he has also been a professional performer and musician for many, many years. Along the way, he's learned a lot about the art of storytelling through his experiences and from the people he's encountered and worked with. In this segment, he the shares some insight about what it takes to "put the funny on stage" and how to use humor skillfully to help create connections between performer and audience. Throughout discussion, we'll hear advice on performing and humor from Suzanne Christensen, Andy Offut Irwin, Bil Lepp, and our assistant producers, Whitney Snow and Deidrene Crisanto.

Government Surplus and Colt 45

Willy Claflin is a funny man who commands the stage with his perfect comedic timing, his mastery of all things goofy, and his intimate understanding of human connection. Willy Claflin installs humor into his pieces so that both he and his audiences are having equal amounts of fun. Learn more about Willy Claflin visit www.willyclaflin.com

Heck No! We Didn't Bury My Mother

From an album of the same name, Lona Bartlett shares this story that helps navigate emotion during a time of tension. Pay attention to the ways that Lona exhibits some of the lessons we've talked about to make sure her humorous moments pack a potent punch. Learn more about Lona and her stories by visiting lonabartlett.com

The Weber Storytelling Festival is a treasured three-day event sponsored by the Weber State University College of Education in Ogden, Utah. This year the festival featured performances from Antonio Sacre, Kim Weitkamp, Bil Lepp, and even Sam Payne himself! This episode highlights stories and songs that help set the atmosphere for what a storytelling festival featuring those tellers might sound like. Other tellers include Lori & Omar Hansen, Clive Romeny, Karl Behling and Steffani Raff. You can find more information about the annual festival by visiting this link www.weber.edu/storytelling.

Stories and songs included in this episode:

Grease and Old Spice

A song from Kim Weitkamp honoring her father. Learn more about Kim's work by visiting www.kimweitkamp.com

Buck Ain't No Ordinary Dog

A characteristic tale from Bil Lepp about an extraordinary pup. Find more of Bil Lepp's work at www.leppstorytelling.com

The Forbidden Souped-Up Sled Ride

A tale about a snowy day, perfect for any time of the year. Learn more about Kim's work by visiting www.kimweitkamp.com

Plough a Straight Furrow

A song honoring his pioneer heritage and Utah history by Clive Romney. Learn more about Clive's work by visiting www.cliveromney.com

The Leprecano

A story about what it was like for Antonio Sacre to grow up in a multicultural family. Learn more about Antonio by visiting www.antoniosacre.com

Death can be devastating and should surely be approached with tenderness, but one of the many reasons that storytelling exists is to alleviate what fears we might have about dying. In the heroic cycle, the protagonist often descends into the underworld and returns, transformed, having a new knowledge and appreciation for mortality and its finitude. Encountering death as another chapter of life itself can help us appreciate the limited time we have, have a little more gratitude toward those around us and even keep us in good humors. Stories included on today's episode:

Ol' Dry Frye

An Appalachian folktale about a fried-chicken-loving preacher whose untimely demise sets into motion an tumultuous chain of events, performed by Tim Lowry. Learn more about Tim Lowry by visiting www.storytellertimlowry.com

Auld Sailor

Mary Gavan shares a story of a young nurse learns about death rites, compassion, and human connection. Our encounters with death can be disconcerting, but they can teach us great lessons in compassion and empathy. Learn more about Mary Gavan by visiting www.marycelticstory.ca

How It Feels to Die, By One Who Has Tried It

A short story by writer Grant Allen in 1852. Allen, was a Canadian science writer and novelist was a famed proponent of evolution and naturalism. Performed by BYUradio's very own Solomon Reynolds.

The Watch

This story from Martha Reed Johnson is about family and the preciousness of time and memory. Learn more about Martha Reed Johnson by visiting www.marthareedjohnson.com

A round-up of stories, songs, and interviews pulled from episodes that aired during the week of 20 February - 24 February. Weekly highlights featured in today's round-up: 

Our very first Jambalaya episode. Jambalaya episodes featured an eclectic mix of stories, songs, and other snippets that were good on their own or combined together for an hour of fun. 

The 44th National Storytelling Festival Episode. On this episode, we visited the 44th National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee where we met new and old friends to celebrate the renaissance of storytelling. Learn more about the festival by visiting www.storytellingcenter.net/festival

February Stories (2017). In this episode, members of the Acting Company join Sam Payne to perform stories of letters and other epistolary narratives in front of a live studio audience. Also featured in this performance was musician Debra Fotheringham. We've included some material that didn't make it into the broadcast including a song called "White Bird" performed by Debra, and a letter by Thomas Otway performed by Noah Kershisnik. 

Squeaky on the Roof. "Squeaky on the Roof" is the name of an Andy Offut Irwin album featuring an Aunt Margeurite story that includes, among other things, ghost sightings, convicted felons, a dog named Margeurite, a bride, and a groom. The album also includes a track featuring Bil Lepp.

Members of The Acting Company, director Suzanne Christensen, and siblings & proprietors of online gallery, Cocoon, Noah & Leah Kershisnik, join Sam Payne for an evening of readings that highlight the thrill and excitement of writing and receiving letters.

In this episode, you'll hear letters and epistolary narratives from William Shakespeare, Bram Stoker, Jane Austen, Daisy Ashford. The Apple Seed is also joined by a live studio audience and musician Debra Fotheringham known for her membership in groups such as The Lower Lights and The Blue Heart Revue. 

To find more of Debra Fotheringham's work, visit www.debrafotheringham.com

To learn more about The Acting Company, visit www.tacactingcompany.org

To learn more about Cocoon: Works on Paper, visit www.cocoonworksonpaper.com

Some conversation with Andy Offut Irwin about his storytelling process, the creation of Aunt Marguerite stories, and a catchy story from Bil Lepp and Andy about the consequences of stopping and going.

Squeaky on the Roof

Follow Andy's eighty-five-year-old Aunt Marguerite as she deals with the lady who insists she sign a petition to place the Ten Commandments on the Court House... as she attends a wedding in which the Flower Girl is the daughter of the bride and groom... as she encounters two undeniable ghosts in the cemetery. This story comes from the album of the same name, "Squeaky on the Roof." Find it, and other stories, at this link andyirwin.com

Arlo Barlow, featuring Bil Lepp

Have you ever been in an car with a driver that won't stop for anything? Arlo Barlow does not stop, he only goes. This story was co-written by Bil Lepp and songified by Andy. Find Bil Lepp's website at www.leppstorytelling.com

Over 40 years ago, a high school journalism teacher and a carload of students heard Grand Ole Opry regular Jerry Clower spin a tale over the radio about coon hunting in Mississippi. And the teacher, Jimmy Neil Smith, had a sudden inspiration: Why not have a storytelling festival right here in northeast Tennessee? On a warm October weekend in 1973 in historic Jonesborough, the first National Storytelling Festival was held. Hay bales and wagons were the stages, and audience and tellers together didn’t number more than 60. It was tiny, but something happened that weekend that forever changed our culture, this traditional art form, and the little Tennessee town. The Festival, now in its 44th year and acclaimed as one of the Top 100 Events in North America, sparked a renaissance of storytelling across the country.

In this episode, visit the 44th National Storytelling Festival with Sam Payne as he greets old friends, makes new ones, during his recent visit at the Exchange Stage at the 44th National Storytelling Festival down in Jonesborough, Tennessee. In this episode enjoy hearing stories, snippets, and songs from folks like Jerron Blind Boy Paxton, Clare Murphy, Minton Sparks, Bil Lepp, Elizabeth Ellis, Joe Herrington, Kevin Kling, and Antonio Sacre.

On today's episode, look to the stars with interviews and stories about space. Included in this episode:

Interview with Dr. Jerry Linenger

Retired astronaut Jerry Linenger, M.D., M.S.S.M., M.P.H., Ph.D., is a retired Captain in the United States Navy Medical Corps, who is most famous for his time aboard the Space Station Mir. Dr. Linenger would spend a total of 132 days, 4 hours, and 1 minute in space-- the longest duration flight of an American male at that time. During his stay aboard, he and his Russian crewmembers faced numerous difficulties including the most severe fire ever aboard an orbiting spacecraft. While in space, Dr. Linenger wrote a series of letters to his son covering topics from the earth to the stars. Learn more about Dr. Linenger by visiting. You can read the letters to his son at this link:

Excerpt from Jay O' Callahan's "Forged in the Stars"

In 2008, NASA commissioned storyteller Jay O’Callahan to write a story to celebrate the national space agency’s 50th anniversary. It was a particularly fitting modality, as NASA scientists use storytelling to share the results of their research and projects with their colleagues. O’Callahan’s resulting work, entitled Forged in the Stars, features the stories of three prominent NASA personalities: J.C. High Eagle, a NASA engineer of Cherokee Indian heritage whose childhood dream was to help men land on the moon; astronaut Neil Armstrong in the 1969 Apollo moon landing; and the poignant story of New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Further, the story explores the wondrous journey of the twin Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977 with the goal of exploring Jupiter and Saturn, and continuing on to this day to places no other spacecraft has ever explored. Learn more by visiting www.ocallahan.com/forged-in-the-stars

Interview Excerpt with Todd Barber

Todd Barber is a propulsion engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) who has worked on projects such as the Cassini mission to Saturn in 1997, the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission, and the Galileo project which reached Jupiter's orbit in 1995. Todd received NASA's Exceptional Achievement Award in 1996 fo his work on Galileo. Mr. Barber is a native of Wichita, Kansas and holds degrees in aerospace engineering, with a humanities concentration in music. His hobbies include basketball, singing, playing the piano, and of course, astronomy. Learn more about Jet Propulsion Laboratory by visiting www.jpl.nasa.gov

Spaceman (song)

Inspired by Dr. Linenger's experiences in space, and his letters to his family, Sam Payne wrote this song recorded in 2002.

Here in the United States, our experience with royalty is far different than our European counterparts. In the contemporary United States, we often refer to our iconic celebrities as royalty—The Kennedys, Beyonce, Elvis— but there was a time when the designated rulers of a kingdom held the imaginations of the common people in magical, mythical ways. Today, we’re going to explore the ways the infamous Brothers Grimm examined the ruling classes through three fairy tales. Stories included in this episode:

The Queen Bee

Did you know that a queen bee may lay anwhere between 600 to 1,500 eggs each during her three- or four-year lifetime? This Grimm's fairy tale is Aarne-Thompson type 554, regarding grateful animals. The Storycrafters give this tale a jazz-like feel. Find more of The Storycrafters at www.storycrafters.com

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Brothers Grimm learned this tale from their friends, the Haxthausens, who heard the tale in Munster. Megan Hicks shares this version of the classic tale. Visit her website at www.meganhicks.com

The Frog Prince

Other titles for The Frog Prince: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, The Frog King, or The Iron Heinreich. This tale falls under the category Aarne-Thompson type 440, “about slimy suitors.” Tim Ereneta is a storyteller based in Berkeley, California and you can visit his website here: www.timereneta.com

Today we’ve got stories from Fran Yardley, Michael Reno Harrell, and even some our very own Apple Seed team members that really emphasize how home is where the heart is. Today, we’ll travel to the far reaches of distant lands to the backyards of Texas towns and a few places in between. Stories included in this episode:

Finding the Magic by Fran Yardley

Fran and her daughters learn a little bravery in a foreign country. Traveling transforms you.

Roller Rink by Michael Reno Harrell

A story about some clever entrepreneurs who make the most of what they have and where they are.

Apple Seed Roundtable

The Apple Seed Team gathers in the studio to talk about their experiences with traveling and meeting travelers.