Storytellers Telling Stories is an episodic podcast created and hosted by writer and showrunner Jude Brewer, harkening back to the Golden Age of Radio as a "theatre of the mind" experience with writers, actors, and musicians. Consolidated into seasons and released weekly, the episodes range from just a few minutes to about an hour, with most hovering around the 30-minute mark, beginning with Brewer introducing the title of the story and that episode's featured author. The stories are either fiction or nonfiction, exploring a wide array of storytelling genres, from literary fiction to science fiction to magical realism, and noir fiction.
The first season consists entirely of authors reading short stories or excerpts from their published books. The second season introduces a featured songwriter for each episode, where the songwriter will play a live version of their song that loosely ties in with the story and the Season Two theme of "Endings". Brewer hosted a live performance of the podcast at the Literary Arts Portland Book Festival pre-show, Lit Crawl, for Season Two, featuring Kevin Sampsell, Margaret Malone, Tabitha Blankenbiller, Jennifer Robin, Brianna Barrett, and The Colin Trio.
Some notable appearances on the show are singer-songwriter, John Craigie, musician, Laura Hall, and comic book writer, Mark Russell. Several prominent authors have also been featured, among them being Monica Drake, Kevin Sampsell, Tammy Stoner, and Gina Ochsner. Season Two also features Luz from the Tender Loving Empire band, Y La Bamba.
The opening theme of the podcast begins with Brewer explaining the many different ways that listeners can experience a podcast, either through phone speakers, a car stereo, or earbuds. Two episodes introductions have deviated from this format, both episodes credited with Brewer as the featured performer. The finale for Season Two deviates the most, both lacking the show's intro music and featuring an extended monologue from Brewer.
The musical score for each episode in Season Two generally utilizes warped and distorted instruments sourced from the featured musician's song.
2019: series finale and Storybound
The finale for Season Two is referred to as the "series finale" by Brewer, highlighting multiple storytellers from both seasons. The finale features 27 voices reading the work of author Traci Foust, as Foust had died the previous year.
A "surprise unveiling" and "major announcement" was rumored for Lit Crawl 2019, listing performers from the previous two seasons.
On October 22, 2019, Lit Hub announced a partnership with The Podglomerate, launching Storybound, a new podcast created and hosted by Brewer. Season One includes musicians who originally appeared on Storytellers Telling Stories, alongside critically acclaimed and bestselling authors such as Mitch Albom, Lidia Yuknavitch, Matt Gallagher, Kim Barnes, Adelle Waldman, Diksha Basu, Nathan Hill, Caitlin Doughty, as well as a story told by Jack Rhysider, creator of the popular podcast Darknet Diaries.
The new show aired December 3, exploring "everything from family life to friendship, relationships to histories, and how everything in life can be impacted by the power of a good story."
Episodes No.TitleDurationReleasedS1:Ep.1The Beast – ft. Kate Ristau0:08:48March 10, 2017S1:Ep.2The Curtain, The Needle, The Lantern, and the Piglet – ft. Jason Arias0:15:27October 10, 2017S1:Ep.3Itzá – ft. Rios de la Luz0:12:21Oct 17, 2017S1:Ep.4Love & Other Action Words – ft. DeAngelo Gillispie & Shane Brown0:15:29Oct 24, 2017S1:Ep.5Dark Shadows 1970 – ft. David Ciminello0:14:04Oct 31, 2017S1:Ep.6Narrow River, Wide Sky – ft. Jenny Forrester0:15:19July 11, 2017S1:Ep.7Summer of Slim – ft. Zach Ellis0:15:43Nov 14, 2017S1:Ep.8Heller – ft. Domi Shoemaker0:13:50Nov 21, 2017S1:Ep.9The Great Invader – ft. Daniel Elder0:25:48Nov 28, 2017S1:Ep.10Nothing to Forgive – ft. Kate Gray0:14:01May 12, 2017S1:Ep.11The Harvest – ft. Reema Zaman0:30:17December 12, 2017S1:Ep.12New York City And All That – ft. Davis Slater & Mark Bowden0:37:09Dec 19, 2017S1:Ep.13No-See-Ums – ft. Paul E. Lapier0:09:27Dec 26, 2017S1:Ep.14Still Clutching Maps – ft. Christina Butcher0:13:45September 1, 2018S1:Ep.15The Art Gallery – ft. Geronimo Tagatac0:23:56Jan 16, 2018S1:Ep.16Elegy in Water – ft. Gina Ochsner0:20:41Jan 23, 2018S1:Ep.17Baptism by Fire – ft. James A. Gilletti0:39:05Jan 30, 2018S1:Ep.18Barefoot in the Guadalupe – ft. Samuel Snoek-Brown0:26:38June 2, 2018S1:Ep.19Star Crunch – ft. Kate Ristau0:09:35Feb 13, 2018S1:Ep.20Broken Man – ft. Sean Davis0:38:15Feb 20, 2018S1:Ep.21We Didn't Know What Was Happening – ft. Jude Brewer0:16:22Feb 27, 2018S2:Ep.1I Don't Know What Heaven's Like – ft. Rick Hall & Laura Hall0:28:08Nov 13, 2018S2:Ep.2The Folly of Loving Life – ft. Monica Drake & Katelyn Convery0:31:54Nov 20, 2018S2:Ep.3Death Becomes Her: The Morbid Nonfiction of Jennifer Robin – ft. Colin Hogan0:22:19Nov 27, 2018S2:Ep.4Lifestyles of the Unrich and Nonfamous – ft. Brianna Barrett & Haley Johnsen0:20:48April 12, 2018S2:Ep.5The Instruction – ft. Margaret Malone & Hayley Lynn0:21:14November 12, 2018S2:Ep.6Blue Lips & Bloodstains – ft. Stephanie Strange0:16:24Dec 18, 2018S2:Ep.7Possum – ft. Genevieve Hudson & Luz of Y La Bamba0:14:55August 1, 2019S2:Ep.8Mugger – ft. Kevin Sampsell & Joshua Rivera0:15:22Jan 15, 2019S2:Ep.9We're Live! ft. Tabitha Blankenbiller, Jennifer Robin, Kevin Sampsell, Margaret Malone, Brianna Barrett, and The Colin Trio0:43:19Jan 22, 2019S2:Ep.10Say What You Will – ft. Jude Brewer & Karyn Ann0:08:32Jan 29, 2019S2:Ep.11Saved – ft. Felicity Fenton0:12:06Feb 19, 2019S2:Ep.12The Oscar Wilde Way – ft. Tammy Stoner & Pretty Gritty0:18:07Feb 26, 2019S2:Ep.13The Soft No – ft. Kimberly King Parsons & Fox and Bones0:19:43May 3, 2019S2:Ep.14Endings – ft. John Craigie0:16:40December 3, 2019S2:Ep.15Cousin Kay – ft. Michael Shou-Yung Shum & Talk Station0:17:41Mar 19, 2019S2:Ep.16I Only Cry With Emoticons – ft. Yuvi Zalkow & Corinne Sharlet0:26:19February 4, 2019S2:Ep.17The Fixer – ft. Adam Strong & Margaret Wehr0:36:31September 4, 2019S2:Ep.18Her Own Special Touch – ft. Jackie Shannon Hollis & Redwood Son0:22:20Apr 18, 2019S2:Ep.19My Cable Access TV Show – ft. Mark Russell & J Graves0:21:27Apr 25, 2019S2:Ep.20Twitch – ft. Suzy Vitello & Annachristie Sapphire0:25:25June 6, 2019S2:Ep.21Shape and Slope – ft. Mo Daviau & Laryssa Birdseye0:16:36Jun 21, 2019S2:Ep.22Another Way In – ft. Tabitha Blankenbiller & Moses Barrett0:18:25Jul 25, 2019S2:Ep.23Stories Never End – ft. Joanna Rose & Christopher Worth0:12:21January 8, 2019S2:Ep.24The Isle of the Dead – ft. Stevan Allred & Shane Brown0:24:10August 8, 2019S2:Ep.25Nowhere Near Normal – ft. Traci Foust & Maiah Wynne0:37:58Aug 15, 2019
See also
Music podcast
References
External links
https://www.judebrewer.com/