Soundings

Seen and Heard: Voices from Ghana’s Orphanages

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

Of Madness and Magic: Shifting the Lens to Understand the Mind

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

The Story of We Shall Overcome

This story traces the origins of “We Shall Overcome” from the eighteenth century to the March on Washington, and to today. It focuses on the development of the song at the Highlander Folk School, a social justice center in Tennessee.
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: Beatrix Lockwood
Featuring: Candie Carawan, Clayborne Carson, Pam McMichael
Sounds: Martin Luther King, Workers in Selma, AL, March on Washington
Music: Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, Charlie Haden & Hank Jones, The Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, Paul Robeson, Rev. Gary Davis, Azuza Oacific Gospel Choir, Zilphia Horton, Dave Van Ronk, Fats Waller, Elizabeth Cotten
Image via Wikimedia

Community

It's easy to look around and see signs of social fragmentation, so today's show takes a different approach and examines a few instances of people coming together: community. We explore an off-campus house that aimed to be an intentional community devoted to sustainability and find out where they failed and succeeded. We meet a community of Burning Man devotees who came together for a floating party on the Sacramento River Delta. Also we hear music made by a community of people who'd never met each other. Plus, the solution to the dirty dish dilemma.
Producers: Charlie Mintz, Rachel Hamburg, Matt Harnack
Host: Charlie Mintz
Featuring: Daniel Steinbock, Philip Narodick, Zuzanna Drozdz
Music: Noah Burbank
More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season3/201-community.html