State Of The Human

Max Du was so obsessed with SeaWorld that his childhood friends called him Orca Boy. But when a SeaWorld trainer named Dawn was killed by an orca, his love for whales turned to shame . . . until he met Dawn’s best friend, a whale trainer named Lyndsey, who led him back to SeaWorld on a journey of reclaiming the Orca Boy that he’d thought was gone.

When Anastasia Sotiropoulos joined the Stanford chapter of the Prison Renaissance Project, she got paired up with a man named Adamu Chan, who had been incarcerated at San Quentin prison for two decades. Their relationship began a few weeks before the pandemic, and the first time they talked San Quentin was the site of one of the largest COVID outbreaks in the nation. Over the next three years, Anastasia and Adamu exchanged dozens of letters, had weekly phone calls, and dreamed of creating a film together. Neither of them could have imagined where that friendship would lead them: not just to Adamu’s release from San Quentin, but his admission to Stanford as a CCSRE Mellon Arts Fellow. Today Adamu is an award-winning filmmaker and community organizer. Adamu and Anastasia have continued their friendship, and together created the 2024 podcast episode, Friends in Liminal Spaces, through the Stanford Storytelling Project’s Braden Storytelling Grant.

Carolyn Stein grew up with music like Avril Lavigne and The Marianas Trench – classic, trashy pop punk. But she never considered herself much of a punk rocker, until she took a little trip to the East Bay to a tiny venue called 924 Gilman Street. But soon after Carolyn discovers this venue, she learns that it may be at risk of closing. What will be lost if this venue closes? Welcome to Paradise was produced by Carolyn Stein, Ana De Almeida Amaral, and Max Du, with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project.

Whether you have a tattoo or not, we are all familiar with the stigmas that are commonly held against tattoos. Where does this aversion come from? What do these taboos say about history? What do they say about us? In this story, Keoni Rodriguez shares how his tattoos helped him reclaim his indigenous Hawaiian heritage, connect with his ancestors, and begin to heal a history of colonialism and erasure. Tattoos and Taboos was produced by Ana De Almeida Amaral, Natasha Charfauros, Mikayla An-Yee Chen, & Chloe Gabrielle Mendoza, with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project. A special thank you to Keoni Rodriguez for sharing his story with us

Alina Wilson and Alex Strong sit down with Kaitlyn Auth and Charlie Darracott for a craft conversation about the story behind creating Keep Stanford Wrestling.

In the spring of 2020, Stanford University made the decision to cut 11 of their varsity teams due to financial issues and lack of success. This episode follows the men’s wrestling team and their coaches in the months following the decision to cut their team as they navigate the challenges of fighting for their spot back.

As an added bonus to our Reclaiming series, we’re including conversations with the creators who made them to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the craft of audio storytelling. In this episode, Alex Strong talks with Aru Nair, the creator of Journey Through Generations, the second story in our Reclaiming series.

In this episode, the 2nd in our Reclaiming What's Been Lost series, Aru Nair goes on a journey to India to understand how oral tradition preserves cultures. But when a surprise trip to her father's home town shows her a side if him she's never seen, she emerges with a new understanding of how the stories we tell shape the people we become.

Little Tokyo is a small neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. Since 1905, it has been home to generations of Japanese Americans. Today, gentrification is threatening to destroy everything these families have built. This episode tells the story of one community's struggle for survival and the ways in which historical development has both fractured and solidified its people. For some, home is a bed one sleeps in. For us, home is Little Tokyo.

Come on a journey to understand our fascination with sea monsters and what they inspire in humans. In particular, hear about the Icelandic Lagarfljótsormur, the water monster that sparked a 13 person commission of the Icelandic government to investigate its existence.

Eating is one of life’s great pleasures, but what about the pleasures that come with sharing your food with others? In this episode, we’re looking at how the act of feeding can bring people together. We’ll hear the tale of an unlikely pet, a meditation on cannibalism, and a story about children on a rooftop garden in San Francisco.

Our second story takes us to one of San Francisco's toughest neighborhoods, to look at tender shoots growing on the rooftops of the Tenderloin. By tender shoots we mean fifth graders, who are learning to grow and prepare their own food. Featuring: Maya Donelson, Rebecca Alonzi Producer(s): Natacha Ruck and Charlie Mintz

What does it mean to preserve a living being? We follow the life of a sourdough starter, a live culture of bacteria and yeast, that was passed onto producer Parsa Nowruzi as a parting gift by a friend. After hitting a rocky road, Parsa inevitably faces the challenge of how to keep his starter buddy alive: what does it mean to preserve the life of someone else when you are struggling to take care of yourself? Music: , Artist, Album. Include links and permissions) Sound of Picture (Artist: Podington Bear) Across the River, Piano I: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Piano_I/Across_The_River Dark Matter, Thoughtful: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Thoughtful/DarkMatter Rain on Glass, Epilogue: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Epilogue_1331/Rain_On_Glass Triste, Duets: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Duets_1372/Triste Undergarden Sea, Fathomless/Ambient: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Fathomless_-_Ambient/Undersea_Gar

Feeding Intro Story: Mukbang by Stanford Storytelling Project

She Was There by Paloma Moreno by Stanford Storytelling Project

Missed Connections by Neeharika Bandlapalli by Stanford Storytelling Project

Radical Puppets Revisiting The 1999 Seattle WTO Protests by Emily Zhang by Stanford Storytelling Project

What do we gain from gathering? In this episode, we’re thinking about how coming together can change us. We’ll hear about a citizen-led clean-up movement in India, a Bay Area artist who forms an unlikely friendship with a church in Colorado, and a student who experiences the power of connection at a living museum on Stanford campus. Producers: Isabella Tilley, Tanvi Dutta Gupta, Regina Ta, Adesuwa Agbonile, Aparna Verma, Victoria Yuan, Patricia Wei, Hannah Scott, Jenny March Featuring stories produced by Tanvi Dutta Gupta, Regina Ta, and Adesuwa Agbonile. The stories feature the work of the Experience Sankofa Project (Venus Morris, Mizan Alkebulan-Abakah, Sizwe Andrews-Abakah), the artwork of Stanford professor Enrique Chagoya, and the grassroots-organized Ugly Indian Movement in Bangalore, India. Also featured in these stories are the voices of Frank Omowale Satterwhite, Jeanette Smith-Laws, Dereca Blackmon, and Persis Drell. “Le Songe d’Halcohii” - Sunhiilow - From There to Here “Awakenings” - Ketsa “C

This episode investigates the act of preserving, a decision made in the present, regarding the past, looking towards the future. What can we learn from what we choose to preserve? What does preserving reveal about our values? Producers: Cat Fergesen, Karen Ge, Regina Kong, Liv Jenks, Andy Lee, Lola McAllister, Carolyn Stein, Allie Wollner, and Grace Zhang Music: Traveler by Alexander Nakarada http://oroclick.com/Celtic-music/3_Traveler.php Teals Descending Upon the Level Sand, Lo Ka Ping: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lo_Ka_Ping/Lost_Sounds_of_the_Tao/lokapingtealsmp3 Mountain Breeze, Purple Planet https://www.purple-planet.com/mountain-breeze

We visit five places on campus where future doctors are learning how to practice medicine. We’re going to real classrooms: anatomy lab and wet lab, lecture halls, we visit a Stanford Free Clinic, bike across campus to the mausoleum, and head down the road to Webb Ranch. We’re asking: How are students learning to practice medicine, thoughtfully? Producers: Victoria Yuan, Aparna Verma, JJ Kapur, Sarah Griffin, Esha Dhawan, Linda Liu, Christy Hartman, and Gaby Li