Soundings
Soundings is the sandbox for all student work from the Stanford Storytelling Project (SSP). SSP is an arts program at Stanford University that explores how we live in and through stories and how we can use them to change our lives. Our mission is to promote the transformative nature of traditional and modern oral storytelling, from Lakota tales to Radiolab, and empower students to create and perform their own stories. The project sponsors courses, workshops, live events, and grants, along with its radio show State of the Human.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 15, 2015
Tuesday Dec 15, 2015
It wasn’t until she grew up that Lisa realized the extent of her Uncle Howie’s eminence in odd circles. Was his influence in her life a blessing or a curse?
Producer: Mischa Shoni, assisted by Will Rogers
Featuring: Lisa Medoff
Music:
Candlegravity (Blowing Up Seaford)
Ending Satellites (Ellyn’s Melody)
Long Hair (Yeti)
Podington Bear (Happiness Is, Operatives, Jack, Spring Solstice, Whiplash String Swell)
Wednesday Jan 28, 2015
Wednesday Jan 28, 2015
This piece explores traditional healing in Native Hawaiian culture, examining the relevance of ancient values and traditions in today's society. Nicole details her journey throughout the Hawaiian Islands, presenting stories from Native healers who share their experiences in seeking truth, wisdom, and health. These stories delve into fundamental issues such as identity, balance, and nature, while showing how cultural complexity can be rooted in simple universal truths.
Producer: Nicole Marie Rodriguez
Featuring: Dane Silva, Puahi Chun, Kawika, Helen
Special thanks: Stanford School of Earth Sciences, Prof. Peter Vitousek, Dr. Noa Lincoln, University of Hawaii, Waianae Coast Community Health Center
Image courtesy of Nicole Marie Rodriguez
Tuesday Dec 09, 2014
Tuesday Dec 09, 2014
In the past few decades, orphans in Africa have become defined by snapshots: snapshots of jutting ribs, ragged clothes, hopeless eyes. Those images have become the face of international charity work and have helped drive the idea that we should send resources to help. But there are things that can’t be captured in snapshots. In this story, Christine Chen travels to the West African country of Ghana, to talk with the people directly involved with orphan care there—the social workers, orphanage directors, families, and kids. There, she encounters narratives that put an unexpected twist on our understanding of orphanages—and push us to reconsider our assumptions about the children living inside them.
This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Christine Chen
Featuring: Samuel Anaglate, Helena Obeng-Asamoah, Akosua Marfo, Emmanuel, Richmond, Hannah
Special thanks to: Christy Hartman
Sounds:
Music: A Smile for Timbuctu, Chris Zabriskie, Lee Rosevere
Image courtesy of Brandee Cooklin
Tuesday Dec 09, 2014
Tuesday Dec 09, 2014
What differentiates what is labeled as mental dysfunction—mania, psychosis, seizures—from what is magic, spirit, or simply … beyond the scientific method? Mischa Shoni embarks on a journey to understand her own brain. On the path, she meets dragons, gryphons, crystal-eyed snakes … and some extraordinary people who see the mind beyond the limited lens of psychiatry.
This project was supported by a Braden Grant from Stanford Storytelling Project. For more information about the Braden Grant for the Study of Oral Narrative, go here:
http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html
Producer: Mischa Shoni
Featuring: Anusuya Starbear, Michelle Boyle
Special thanks: Will Rogers
Music: Man of Suit (Echos of Space, Fog Divided by 2, Quiet Mountaintop, Lost in the Forest, Trees of Mystery, Howling Wind, The Dancing Chairs, Wind Chimera, Redwoods & Skyscrapers)
Image via Wikimedia