Soundings

Stories to Save the Planet is a podcast about the stories behind climate change solutions. The United Nations have called climate change the challenge of our generation. A growing body of environmental storytelling is bringing clarity to complicated climate conversations by casting a vision for a better future, and providing compelling, actionable climate change solutions. All work is produced by Stanford students, who learn the entire process of narrative podcast production in just 10 weeks, research a climate change challenge and solution of their choice, and work together to create a narrative episode. The class it taught by Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project.

A story of the rise of electric vehicles and their promise to make a more sustainable planet. Yet this promise has proven to be detrimental to the quality of life for the people in the Congo. Sustainability Paradox pulls back the curtain on the realities of the electric car industry, and the promising solutions that might offer real, meaningful change. Produced by Sydney Davis and Jana Gomri with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stories to Save Our Planet class, a part of the Stanford Storytelling Project. Asu Kulu - Undergraduate Congolese Student at Stanford, Anonymous Congolese Miners via Friends of the Congo https://friendsofthecongo.org/ Links to an external site. Link to References https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcK2hsyt8L_VyogsNTaPxsf5AgtizYzm1F9uJHLYzxM/edit?usp=sharing Links to an external site. All music by Blue Dot Sessions

In this episode, Nathan, Ana, and Nia explore the importance of sustainable food practices, and how alternative, truly healthy food practices are not necessarily the most commercially produced and advertised ones. The episode aims to broaden the horizon of viewing food practices in a context beyond just your own plate. This episode was produced by Nathan Elias, Ana Nguyen, and Nia Patton, with support from Laura Joyce Davis and the Stanford Storytelling Project's course "Stories to Save Our Planet." Complete show notes at storytelling.stanford.edu.

Living Memory by Stanford Storytelling Project

Have you ever wondered how seemingly ordinary people are able to accomplish extraordinary feats? In this episode of Soul Searching, we explore this question and attempt to find the common threads between rowing across the Atlantic ocean, founding a start-up venture, and raising thousands of dollars for charity. Listen now to hear three amazing stories from some incredibly accomplished Stanford students, learn about their motivations, and difficulties, and glean transformational takeaways from their experiences.

Have you ever felt like your cell phone is controlling your life, or that of someone you know? I’m sure you’ve asked yourself, “Why is it so addictive?” and then just scrolled once again. In this episode, dive into the new yet familiar world of TikTok as three Stanford students uncover the dangers of data collection, addiction, and algorithmic manipulation, shedding light on the impact of social media on privacy and mental well-being.

Have you ever felt like an outsider in a new place, not sure how to act? In this podcast, we delve deep into how Hawai’i has changed over the past 2000 years as a result of different groups of outsiders, from the military to tourists to scientists. Along the way, we might just discover how we all can be better outsiders to wherever we may visit.

When’s the last time you spent an entire day without looking at your to-do list? Chances are —never. If so, you’ve come to the right place. Come take a break from your productive routine and join us as we uncover the layers of productivity, one checkbox at a time. Hold onto your Google calendars, because after this episode, you might just want to throw that to-do list away and join us as we lie in the wood chips!

Sometimes you have to climb mountains to go on an adventure, other times the adventure is hidden right in front of you. Join us as we uncover a campus mystery in real time, one where the writing was on the walls the whole time. Are all of Stanford’s stories set in-stone?

What can you expect from Sound Stories? The 2024 class weighs in. Taught by Laura Joyce Davis through the Stanford Storytelling Project, this hands-on, workshop-oriented course is designed to teach you the fundamentals of podcast storytelling. Class work will include pitching, interviewing, scriptwriting, narration, audio editing, and sound design. You’ll learn time-honored principles for strong storytelling in any medium, as well as strategies specific to storytelling in sound. Though we focus on audio stories, the craft skills you learn here are transferable to making stories for any medium, from print and performance to film and games. By the end of the course, you will have crafted both a narrative essay and a 10-minute podcast episode that entertains, challenges, and moves your audience. All fully produced student pieces will be published in the Stanford Storytelling Project Soundings podcast. Course info: https://shorturl.at/eLOR0

Each year, the Stanford Storytelling Project awards Braden Grants to support the research, writing, and production of audio documentaries. The aim of the program is to help students learn how to tell powerful, research-driven stories based on testimony they gather through interviews, research, or oral history archives. Grantees receive up to $2,500, along with teaching, training, and mentorship for the duration of the project. Here's what the 2023 Grantees had to say about their experience.

Each year, the Stanford Storytelling Project awards Braden Grants to support the research, writing, and production of audio documentaries. The aim of the program is to help students learn how to tell powerful, research-driven stories based on testimony they gather through interviews, research, or oral history archives. Grantees receive up to $2,500, along with teaching, training, and mentorship for the duration of the project. Here's what the 2023 Grantees had to say about their experience.

This episode explores the different futures made possible when you balance narratives of dispossession with narratives of joy--and how we see that manifest in Oaxaca's celebrations and the different ways that community members seek to make themselves visible.

Despite 13+ years of a fractured relationship between mother and daughter, this episode journeys through the past, present, and future, highlighting one unlikely solution that changed the trajectory of a family and its generations.

Kevi grew up surrounded by Filipino caregivers--many of whom had to leave their families in the Philippines to work in the US. As she starts to unpack the histories of the people who raised her, Kevi embarks on a journey of discovery that reveals the dark history of how the US caregiving industry became dependent on the separation of Filipina workers from their families.

In an effort to reconnect with her Cambodian identity, Marissa Mengheang explores the experiences of Cambodian genocide survivors, including her own grandparents. But her search for knowledge takes to her to an unexpected place. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to genocide, murder, and human rights violations.

This intro episode of the Regeneration Pilgrimage series is about a journey of self discovery that took place in nature-based off grid communities in Portugal and Spain. This episode is an intimate, deeply personal story of the month long solo-pilgrimage that your host, Alice Grace, set out on in the Summer of 2023. This is her story of finding healing and the secrets to living in alignment with purpose to transcend the illusions of the modern capitalistic matrix.

“Back to the Garden” tells the story of an organic farming couple, Jose and Rich, who are committed to sustaining the environment and who also don't believe in climate change. This episode explores how that dissonance might be possible, the power of language, and whether or not the term "climate change" will help save the planet.

In this story about connection outside the bounds of physical space, time, and life experience, an unlikely friendship buds during uncertain times.

n the midst of the pandemic, Neelay embarks on a cross country road trip to take a break from the stresses of life and to explore more of the country around him. However, as his excursion takes him deep in the Midwest, he encounters protestors at Nebraska’s state capital that radically change his worldview. With a tight knit community right in front of him, fighting for their people back in their home country, he ponders the status of the Asian American community today and its presence across all parts of the nation.