The Apple Seed

This episode of "The Apple Seed" features stories about working in Antarctica, one of the most remote locations on the earth. These stories come from a series of interviews we conducted with Byron Adams, an environmental biologist, Jani Radebaugh, a planetary scientist, and Summer Rupper, a geologist, who have all spent time researching at McMurdo Station on the southern shore of Antarctica.

Stories included in this episode:

Michael Reno Harrell

Story 1: Me and Stover

Teller: Michael Reno Harrell

Site: www.michaelreno.com

Notes: In this recording Michael Reno Harrell shares some of his favorite memories of his childhood friend Stover, an 80-year-old man who's long life and many quirks demonstrated exactly what it means to live fully.

Bill Harley

Story 2: Grandma vs. The Headless Man

Teller: Bill Harley

Site: www.billharley.com

Notes: There are many things Bill Harley learned from his friend Glen's feisty grandmother, but the most important was how to fight the on-coming crime wave.

Diane Ferlatte

Story 3: Thank You Ma'am

Teller: Diane Ferlatte

Site: www.dianeferlatte.com

Notes: In this story, a young man attempts to steal a woman's pocket book, and the woman proceeds to teach the boy a lesson through kindness.

Leeny Del Seamonds

Story 4: Scratch Your Bohine

Teller: Leeny Del Seamonds

Site: www.leenydelseamonds.com

Notes: Leeny Del Seamond's father is always busy. When he finally finds a spare moment, he and his grandson learn a valuable lesson about taking time for yourself.

This episode features poetry by Welsh poet and storyteller Leslie Norris. Norris could, like no one else, evoke in his readers their relationship with and observations of nature. Although he passed away in 2006, Norris's poems live on as thoughtful tales and verses about this beautiful time of year. The stories and poems in this episode include Norris's short stories "Wax Wings" and "Shaving", along with his sequence of poems "The Hawk's Eye."

Our sixty-third episode showcases the storytelling of Joel ben Izzy, one of the foremost Jewish tellers in the world, in honor of the first day of Hanukkah.  In this episode we've included Joel's stories "The Story of Hanukkah", "My Favorite Menorah", and "Boy Israel and the Witch" from his CD Lights and Laughter: Joel ben Izzy Spins Hanukkah Tales, along with an interview between Joel and our host Sam Payne.

Pictured above: storyteller Joel ben Izzy.  For more information regarding Joel and his storytelling, visit his website http://www.storypage.com/. You can find Joel's book, The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness, here on Amazon.com and here through Audible.

Our sixty-second episode features stories about delicious food and the science behind it. First, we've got stories of growing up in a restaurant told by Ana Preto-Bay, and later we'll play you an interview with Scott Rankin, the head of the Department of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

This is our second episode featuring stories about food! To listen to our first food-themed episode, or any of our episodes, check out our archive by following this link.

Our sixty-first episode is all about pumpkins! In the first part of today's episode we'll play Highway 89 producer Jackie Tateishi's award winning radio piece "Growing Lola". This piece is all about Jackie and her husband's experience with growing a giant pumpkin to win a contest. Our second segment includes an interview with Kyle and Carrie Fox. Kyle is the president of the Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers Association, and together he and his wife Carrie grow GIGANTIC (we're talking over 1000 lbs) pumpkins in their backyard. Finally, closing out our show is Norman Walker's "Pie Made of Pumpkin", a sweet song about creating the perfect pumpkin pie.     

Pictured above: Apple Seed producer Andy Bay with Carrie and Kyle Fox. For more information regarding the Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers Association visit their website.

Our sixtieth episode features stories from ancient Egypt and an interview with Egyptologist Kerry Muhlestein.

Norah Dooley

Story 1: Isis and Osiris

Teller: Yvonne Healy

Site: http://www.yhealy.com/

Notes: Yvonne tells an ancient Egyptian story of gods, goddesses, betrayal and rebirth.

Laura Simms

Story 2: Rhodopis

Teller: Milbre Burch

Site: http://www.kindcrone.com/

Notes: Milbre tells the original Cinderella story. Milbre is an internationally known teller from Columbia, Missouri.

Kerry Muhlestein

Interview: Dr. Kerry Muhlestein

Site: http://religion.byu.edu/kerry_muhlestein

Notes: In this interview, Sam Payne and Dr. Muhlestein discuss the importance of ancient Egypt in popular culture, Egyptian iconography, and the interesting discoveries he's made on his excavations in Egypt.

Joel ben Izzy

Story 3: The Black Prince

Teller: Laura Simms

Site: http://www.laurasimms.com/

Notes: A moral story--never sacrifice who you are for what you want the most.

Our fifty-ninth episode features tales and interviews from Utah storytellers, beginning with our host Sam Payne interviewing judges from the Utah-based Weber State Storytelling Festival.

Norah Dooley

Story 1: Amanda

Teller: David Bishop

Site: http://www.danielbishopthestoryteller.com/

Notes About This Episode: Our fifty-ninth episode features tales and interviews from Utah storytellers, beginning with our host Sam Payne interviewing judges from the Utah-based Weber State Storytelling Festival. .

Laura Simms

Interview 1: Cathy Barker & Dave Bullock

Site: http://kpcw.org/

Notes About This Episode: In this interview Sam, Dave and Cathy discuss different storytelling events around Utah, impromptu storytelling, Dave and Cathy's radio show "The Story Mine", and the state of the storytelling community at large. You can listen to "The Story Mine" on 91.9 FM in Park City, Utah, or you can stream it live at KPCW.org.

Kerry Muhlestein

Story 2: Sam Payne

Site: http://www.sampayne.com/

Notes about this episode: A tale of love and romance.  This story comes from Sam Payne himself, where he tells the story of his grandfather Leland who fell in love for the first time.

Joel ben Izzy

Story 3: Sleeping Beauty

Teller: Aspen Winds w/ Rachel Hedman

Site: http://folktalesaboutfamilies.com/ (Rachel's site), http://aspenwinds.org/ (Aspen Winds)

Notes about this episode: This is the classic Grimm brother's fairytale told by Rachel Hedman and accompanied by the woodwind quintet Aspen Winds.

Our fifty-eighth episode features recordings from our second live event.  Earlier this month we invited a BYU American folklore class to tell us their embarrassing stories, and the personal tales that they delivered left our team in stitches.  Also in the episode, we've included an embarrassing story by Grammy nominated storyteller Bill Harley called "High Dive."

Pictured Above: BYU American Folklore students Kurt Gassman, Krystal Bailey, Natalie Christensen, Amanda Poppe, Celia Rivera, Hannah Roberts and Elizabeth Young, along with their professor Jill Rudy.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, our fifty-seventh episode showcases storyteller Syd Lieberman's album Abraham and Isaac: Sacrifice at Gettysburg. This production by Syd and his wife Adrienne is based on the diary entries of those who witnessed the Battle of Gettysburg and President Lincoln's address. 

Pictured above: storyteller Syd Lieberman.  For more information regarding Syd and his storytelling, visit his website http://www.sydlieberman.com/ .