The Austin Meyer Podcast

Kat Zdan studied theater at UCSB and got her MFA in ensemble based physical theater from Dell’Arte International school of physical theater. Kat has been performing, teaching, and directing professionally in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond since 2009. Not only does Kat work in scripted theater, she is also a member of Improv Playhouse, one of the top improv troupes in the Bay Area.

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Off the stage, Kat is a conversation designer at Xandra, a company which brings artists and developers together to create interactive voice experiences for technology like Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

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In this episode, Kat and I discuss the story techniques she has learned working in play development, what elements create memorable and compelling characters, and how she is leveraging both creativity and logic to tell stories with emerging technology.

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To get access to the post-show, head on over to www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms!

Aaron Huey is a National Geographic photographer who has contributed dozens of cover and feature stories to the magazine. His photography stories are on a wide range of topics from Sherpas on Everest, to life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and most recently, Aaron detailed the fight to preserve America’s national monuments like Bears Ears.

Aaron is also the founder of Amplifier, a design lab that builds art to amplify the voices of grassroots movements.. He was the design director for their art project “We The People” that flooded the streets of Donald Trump’s Inauguration and the women’s march of 2017, and has become one of the world's most iconic artistic movements.

In this conversation, Aaron and I discuss how his background as an artist influences his photography, how he is breaking out of the conventional forms of photojournalism to tell more nuanced and powerful stories, and how he stepped across the journalism and activism divide, and helped create one of the most viral artistic movements in history.

Aaron Huey is a National Geographic photographer who has contributed dozens of cover and feature stories to the magazine. His photography stories are on a wide range of topics from Sherpas on Everest, to life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and most recently, Aaron detailed the fight to preserve America’s national monuments like Bears Ears.

Aaron is also the founder of Amplifier, a design lab that builds art to amplify the voices of grassroots movements.. He was the design director for their art project “We The People” that flooded the streets of Donald Trump’s Inauguration and the women’s march of 2017, and has become one of the world's most iconic artistic movements.

In this conversation, Aaron and I discuss how his background as an artist influences his photography, how he is breaking out of the conventional forms of photojournalism to tell more nuanced and powerful stories, and how he stepped across the journalism and activism divide, and helped create one of the most viral artistic movements in history.

John Branch is a sports reporter for The New York Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2013 for “Snow Fall,” a story about a deadly avalanche in Washington State, and was a finalist for the prize in 2012 for his series of stories about Derek Boogaard, a professional hockey player who overdosed on painkillers.

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John’s work has been featured in The Best American Sports Writing; and his first book, BOY ON ICE, won the ESPN Prize for Literary Sports Writing.

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In this conversation John and I discuss his journey from working at Costco to writing for The New York Times, how the evolving interconnectedness of sports, culture, and politics is changing the job for journalists, and how he uses sports as a backdrop to tell powerful human stories that often have tragedy as a central theme.

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The CTE story we reference in the episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/sports/cte-football-hairston-super-bowl.html

John’s Pulitzer winning feature: http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/index.html#/?part=tunnel-creek

John’s latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Cowboys-Pioneer-Family-West/dp/0393292347

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To support the show, visit www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms

John Branch is a sports reporter for The New York Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2013 for “Snow Fall,” a story about a deadly avalanche in Washington State, and was a finalist for the prize in 2012 for his series of stories about Derek Boogaard, a professional hockey player who overdosed on painkillers.

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John’s work has been featured in The Best American Sports Writing; and his first book, BOY ON ICE, won the ESPN Prize for Literary Sports Writing.

.

In this conversation John and I discuss his journey from working at Costco to writing for The New York Times, how the evolving interconnectedness of sports, culture, and politics is changing the job for journalists, and how he uses sports as a backdrop to tell powerful human stories that often have tragedy as a central theme.

.

The CTE story we reference in the episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/sports/cte-football-hairston-super-bowl.html

John’s Pulitzer winning feature: http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/index.html#/?part=tunnel-creek

John’s latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Cowboys-Pioneer-Family-West/dp/0393292347

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To support the show, visit www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms

Latif Nasser is the director of research at Radiolab, where he reports, produces and creates stories on a range of topics. In 2018 he created stories on everything from life at the southern border, to the blue blood of horseshoe crabs, to voting laws, to National Hockey League All-Star games.

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In this episode Latif and I discuss how he went from a theater kid with playwriting aspirations to creating stories for Radiolab, how he chooses which stories to pursue, and then we go deep into the dynamic, collaborative, and unique process that they use at Radiolab to go from initial pitch to the stories that make us laugh and cry on the radio.

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I hope you enjoy my conversation with Latif Nasser!

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LINKS:

Hockey story referenced in episode: https://t.co/qB6ELkdEV8

Latif’s transom article: https://transom.org/2018/latif-nasser/

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To support the show, check out www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms

Latif Nasser is the director of research at Radiolab, where he reports, produces and creates stories on a range of topics. In 2018 he created stories on everything from life at the southern border, to the blue blood of horseshoe crabs, to voting laws, to National Hockey League All-Star games.

.

In this episode Latif and I discuss how he went from a theater kid with playwriting aspirations to creating stories for Radiolab, how he chooses which stories to pursue, and then we go deep into the dynamic, collaborative, and unique process that they use at Radiolab to go from initial pitch to the stories that make us laugh and cry on the radio.

.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Latif Nasser!

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LINKS:

Hockey story referenced in episode: https://t.co/qB6ELkdEV8

Latif’s transom article: https://transom.org/2018/latif-nasser/

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To support the show, check out www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms

Jennifer Kingsley is a National Geographic Explorer and a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

She is a winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Paddlenorth, the story of her 54-day canoeing expedition across the Canadian Arctic, and her writing has appeared in various outlets including National Geographic, the BBC, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Her radio documentaries have been broadcast internationally and recognized by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

In this conversation, Jennifer and I talk about how she developed a love for both writing and exploration, her fascinating 3-year project called Meet The North in which she attempted to make authentic personal connections with those living in the Arctic, and how we can use storytelling to break down stereotypes and prejudices.

Follow Jennifer Kingsley at www.instagram.com/meetthenorth , and to go behind the scenes on the making of this show, follow @austinmeyerfilms across social. To help support the show, check out my new Patreon page, www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms!

Go out and tell some stories!

Jennifer Kingsley is a National Geographic Explorer and a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

She is a winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Paddlenorth, the story of her 54-day canoeing expedition across the Canadian Arctic, and her writing has appeared in various outlets including National Geographic, the BBC, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Her radio documentaries have been broadcast internationally and recognized by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

In this conversation, Jennifer and I talk about how she developed a love for both writing and exploration, her fascinating 3-year project called Meet The North in which she attempted to make authentic personal connections with those living in the Arctic, and how we can use storytelling to break down stereotypes and prejudices.

Follow Jennifer Kingsley at www.instagram.com/meetthenorth , and to go behind the scenes on the making of this show, follow @austinmeyerfilms across social. To help support the show, check out my new Patreon page, www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms!

Go out and tell some stories!

Jane Ferguson is a Beirut-based Special Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. She reports from across the Middle East, Africa and beyond, often working in conflict zones.

Some of her reporting highlights include front-line dispatches from the war against ISIS in Iraq, an up-close look at Houthi-controlled Yemen, and reports on the war and famine in South Sudan.

On top of her work at the PBS NewsHour, Jane also writes for various outlets including the New Yorker. And before PBS, she reported extensively for Al Jazeera English and CNN International.

In this conversation, Jane and I discuss her journey from correcting spelling errors at a newspaper in Dubai to working for The NewsHour, her 2018 reporting trips to cover the ongoing war in Yemen, and the impact she hopes to have in the world when she puts her life on the line to bring us these untold stories.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a friend, as well as rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts! And if you want to have your questions asked on the show to future guests, head on over to www.patreon.com/austinmeyerfilms to support the show!

Go out and tell some stories <3