Today on our show we bring you a story by Morgan Sutton that embodies everything a story should embody. The story uses no extra words; the narrator looks inside herself; and the story matters to the broader world.

The story is so important because it explains a very dangerous and ugly assumption that is often made about women who’ve been raped. Morgan does it by examining her own situation and her own assumptions. There’s no preaching. And there’s nothing dogmatic. This is what writing and storytelling is all about. Getting to the truth. 

Morgan workshopped this story at Writing Class Radio’s annual writing boot camp in Key Largo. She did the work to make the story great. Morgan Sutton is a hospice nurse who lives in Austin, Texas with her husband.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jasmine Anenberg, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story is about losing a friend but gaining something he taught her, which is seeing the beauty in small things. She takes this lesson into her fieldwork as she studies mosses in dirt.

Her story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories. Jasmine was totally present while telling her story on stage and her delivery was spot on. 

Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

A Transcription of this episode can be found here.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Byrne, who conjures the courage to leave her husband after she's faced with removing a bird that flew into her house. Her story is an excellent example of using a book-end structure.

Jennifer has been published in the New York Times (Tiny Love Stories), The Cut, Psychology Today, Good Housekeeping, Atlas Obscura, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The New Yorker Daily Shouts and The Guardian. She lives in New Jersey. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

A transcription of this episode can be found here.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Nick Link, a PhD student in the Mack Lab and part of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. His story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.

We worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

Nick’s story takes a personal experience that has been burned into his memory. As an undergraduate student, he and his housemates almost burned down the neighborhood when they got rid of their Christmas trees. This experience led him to his work today, building natural fire breaks in the forest of Alaska. 

A Transcription of this episode can be found here.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Happy Valentine’s Day. Today on our show, we bring you a story that was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.

We worked with our narrator of today’s story Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, a conservation ecologist and professor at NAU, who happens to be married to Bruce. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a live show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

Bruce Hungate’s story is a love story. It’s about his love for his wife, Jane, as well as his love for science and nature. His story is a great lesson on how to sneak science into a story.

Bruce Hungate is a professor and director of ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. Bruce conducts research on ecosystems and how they respond to and shape environmental change. He trains future scientists and communicates the relevance of science to people around the world.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Christopher Blackwell. Chris is 42 and serving a 45-year prison sentence in Washington. Chris’s story came to us through writer and Chris’s mentor, Jamie Beth Cohen.

This episode is about taking a small moment and bringing big meaning. Through details and emotion, Chris tells us so much about himself and his surroundings. When birds nest on the windowsill of the prison, all the men gather round. Their usual differences melt away. When the birds fly away, our narrator understands their lust for freedom.

Christopher Blackwell co-founded Look 2 Justice, an organization that provides civic education to system-impacted communities and actively works to pass sentence and policy reform legislation. He is currently writing a book about solitary confinement. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and many other outlets. He is a contributing writer at Jewish Currents, a contributing editor at The Appeal, and works closely with the prison writing program Empowerment Avenue. You can follow him on X @chriswblackwell.

Chris’s story was originally published in The Appeal, which is a nonprofit news organization that envisions a world in which systems of support and care, not punishment, create public safety. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sumitra Mattai. Sumitra is a writer and textile designer based in New York City. She holds a BFA in Textile Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her essays on family, food and culture have been published widely. For more information, www.sumitramattai.com, Instagram @sumitramattai, or subscribe to her newsletter, "Clothbound," highlighting textiles in art, design and everyday life.

Her story is a really interesting example of how to change-up structure. It’s literally a list with soooooo many details that reveal so much about her. Through the list, we discover what the story is about, which is that despite insecurity, this narrator pushes on one day at a time.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison Langer on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

A Transcription of this episode is available here.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Maxine Poupko, a semi-retired nurse, long-time student of Writing Class Radio, and hilarious person. Maxine is a master at writing humor and writing the truth. Of course someone can learn the craft of writing, but there might be some debate about whether you can learn to write the truth. Maxine shows us it's possible. She's been writing with Writing Class Radio for the last five years and we have seen her writing transform. At first her writing stayed on the surface. Today, she brings out the vulnerable, hard truth in her very first draft. You will hear her story, Whipped Cream, which will have you laughing all the way through.

For more Maxine, listen to Episode 158: Our Dead Mom Brings My Sister and Me Together.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison Langer on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Today on our show we’re talking about the writing process and how getting rejected is just part of the fun. After our own Andrea Askowitz takes a class on rejection taught by Elissa Bassist, she develops a new way of thinking about failure. If you are not getting rejected, you’re not in the game. You will hear the story Andrea wrote after her 643rd rejection. Andrea’s story is called, “I’ve Been Rejected 643 Times. Here’s Why I Resolve to Fail More."

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

A transcription of this episode can be found here.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison Langer on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Today on our show, we’re talking about structure and planting seeds. You’ll hear a story by Claire Tak called The Unopened Letter. Claire is a freelance writer and editor living in Denver. She has a column in PrisonJournalismProject.org called Outside/In, where she writes about her brother’s incarceration. Claire is currently writing a memoir. As a child of Korean-American parents, her book deals with the “immigrant guilt” she faced growing up. 

For more Claire, subscribe to her Substacks: Stories About My Brother, and Memoir Junkie Wannabe Author. 

A Transcription of the show is available here.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?