Today we bring you a story told live at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in September 2024. We’re talking about making a connection from your personal life to what we study. We’re also talking about being vulnerable. Because everyone will love you more. We promise. This is our second year collaborating with the Center for Ecosystem Science and Soc…

Today on our show, we are re-running a story by Emily Henderson titled After Our Son Died, My Husband Gave Me The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift Of My Life. Emily workshopped this essay in our Final Draft class and then the Huffington Post published it on December 25, 2021. This story is an excellent example of using an object to convey emotion, de…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Dana Shavin, who submitted her essay to the podcast. When it came in, we were blown away. The writing is so smart and well-crafted. In this episode, we talk about the difference between situation and story and we also discuss why callbacks are effective. Dana Shavin is an award-winning humor columnist for …

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Rachel Kramer Bussel. Her story was so relatable, that we realized sometimes we choose stories so we can just talk about ourselves. And that’s just what we do in this episode. We also talk about the narrator’s brilliance in drawing us in with just the right details. Rachel’s story is titled, The Craving Th…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sarena Neyman. Sarena is in Allison’s 2nd Draft class, which contains writers who come together to share a draft of their essay and receive feedback from the group. Sarena was previously published on Writing Class Radio. Episode 187: The Bigger Table: How I Lost My Husband But Gained a Bigger Family. In th…

This is the final story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on Se…

This is the sixth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on Se…

This is the fifth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on Se…

This is the fourth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on S…

This is the third story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on Se…

This is the second story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on S…

Today, we are starting a new series in support of reproductive rights–specifically Yes on 4 here in Florida to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up…

On September 18, 2024, we are launching a new series in support of a family’s reproductive rights--specifically Yes on 4 here in Florida to get rid of a near abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. Each storyteller stood i…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Sizeland, who lives in Manchester, England. Her story, I found connection through a tattoo of a bee is a great example of situation and story. It’s important to know the difference and we will discuss why. Jennifer Sizeland is a freelance writer and assistant producer with 14 years of experience i…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Farida Taha. Farida writes about losing her daughter to cancer and how she’s moving forward. We talk a lot about loss on our podcast, because writing is how so many people process grief. We believe writing opens the heart, clears the mind, and helps us understand and process. In this essay, Farida throws o…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sarena Neyman. Sarena is in Allison’s 2nd Draft class, which is made up of writers who come together to share a draft of their essay and receive feedback from the group. Sarena’s stories are funny and brimming with voice and perfect landings. Sarena Neyman has been writing for numerous human rights groups …

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Janet Funk. Janet writes about her experience sharing an essay she wrote with her family prior to submitting for publication to. The essay was about the horrible fourth of July when her brother Robbie drowned and was published in Business Insider on July 3, 2024. We’ll discuss the age-old-memoir questions:…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Bonnie Shor, who we call Blee. Blee has been a student of Writing Class Radio for two years. We love the shit out of her. Listen to what she told us: I took up knitting, Zumba and writing when I turned 60. Eight years later, there's a ball of yarn in my closet, and four unused Zumba classes on my lost danc…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Alison Colwell. At age 8, Alison was responsible for making sure her mother’s epileptic seizure didn’t kill her. In this essay, Alison takes us to a moment in the hospital where if she’d looked away, her mom might have died. Alison’s essay is an excellent example of hot topic cold prose and is contained in…

This episode focuses on how to tell a story out loud. In May 2024, our own Andrea Askowitz made her way to a Moth storytelling competition and for the 15th time (over nine years), dropped her name in the bag. The prompt was snooping. Before she left home, her wife told her to look at this evening, if chosen, as practice instead of assuming this wou…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Emma Lathrop, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Emma’s story is about proving your value and fighting for your position as a woman in STEM. The best part is when we get a glimpse into how the field would look if Emma were the boss. T…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by our own Allison Langer. Her essay is called My Mom And I Fought For 55 Years. Now Battling My Son Is Making Me Rethink Everything, which was originally published in Huffington Post, May 16, 2023. In this episode, Allison shows us that you can write about the same thing over and over and you should. It’s th…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Darby Bergl, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story is about resilience and survival in the face of a volatile father. Darby has a passion for ecology and the study of carbon dynamics in temperate forests, which she interjects i…

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Keven Griffen, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story uses science to understand an emotional connection to place. She did it by having us fall in love with the place. She set the scene and raised the stakes. Keven’s story was o…

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. Mor…