Storytelling Resources
STORYTELLERS ON VIDEO
Mother Lode Storytelling Guild YouTube Chanel - Watch our tellers’ pre-recorded videos online at your convenience!
Margaret Read MacDonald - One of America’s most venerated storytellers
Craig Jenkins - Very animated & adorable
Arit Esseien - Delightfully animated & creative approach to storytelling. She tells African stories.
Los Angeles Public Library - Join the Los Angeles Public Library for a weekly storytelling and informational series on maternal and family mental health. Special guests, Paulina Lopez and Bricia Lopez of the Super Mamás podcast will kick off the series which covers topics ranging from postpartum depression (and recognizing the symptoms) to the impact of racism on maternal health to understanding how to navigate paid leave.
STORYTELLING PODCASTS
Search for these podcast titles wherever you typically access your podcasts.
The Moth - Amazing, and well worth listening to, all day live audience performances. You can see individual tellers on YouTube.com. Story time less than 11 minutes.
This American Life - A weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.
Snap Judgment - “Storytelling with a beat” from the San Francisco Bay Area. Mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, and dramatic radio. Host Glynn Washington is himself an engaging storyteller who the listener gets to know through his fast-paced engaging short stories that introduce the theme of each episode and center us after each story. Dana highly recommends this one! Usually 3 stories per episode.
The Stoop Storytelling Series - Very much just like the Moth, but less production.
Story Tellers Project, Des Moines Storytellers - Another Moth type podcast without clapping or audience noise.
Speak Up Storytelling - Personal stories that are REALLY polished. Learn to tell better stories with help from a husband and wife champions from the Moth. They give tips and techniques on how to tell a very clean, no mistakes, no personality stories. Over 60 minutes.
Let’s talk About Myths, Baby! - A Greek & Roman Mythology readings. The narrator talks and swears a lot, but once she gets going it is good. 20 to 35 minutes.
Story Story - Fairytales, stories and folktales from around the world. Told by well known storytellers. Cathryn Farilee, Milbre Burch, Liz Weir, Joel Ben Izzy, Brenda Wong Aoki, Ed Stivernder, Noa Baum, Laura Simms, Clare Murphy are some of the tellers. Highly recommended by Kathy! Usually two stories per 30 minute program.
Here:Say Storytelling - Another Moth like storytelling and audience can be heard. Over an hour per program with several tellers.
Duolingo Spanish Podcast - Storytelling to improve Spanish listening comprehension for English speakers with intermediate Spanish language ability. Each story is told in Spanish with narrator adding context in English for clarity and understanding. The stories are from Spanish speaking countries all over the world, on various unique topics. Sometimes the nature of the story is adults-only.
STORYTELLING PODCASTS FOR CHILDREN
Stories Podcast - A Bedtime Show for Kids of All Ages. Lots of commercials. The announcer/storyteller is a bit irritating and I had to stop listening. Stories are 7 to 15 minutes.
Circle Round - Thoughtfully-selected Children stories that come from around the world told by actors (TV, stage and screen). The stories are adapted/arranged by the producers. Lots of music and commercials. Their focus is young children.
STORYTELLING PODCASTS ~ FOR ADULTS ONLY~
Bawdy Storytelling - Adults only storytelling! R or X rated! The host is Dixie De La Tour and the introduction is often long. Stories are about 20-30 minutes. Then there is a song, which is also adults only in nature. Often hilarious, often very engaging.
Risk!- Adults only storytelling! R or X rated! The host talks for what feels like a long time, but the stories are often engaging and poignant.
STORIES READ TO YOU
Japanese Fairy Tales By Theodora Ozaki - Very good, but they read the stories out of a book.
The New Yorker Fiction Podcast - One author chooses to read a short story written by a second author, that was previously published in the New Yorker magazine. The reader and the fiction editor discuss the story and the author before and after.
STORIES
In the Blackfoot tradition, stories are shared as a way to document history and to teach important life lessons. Siksika Elder and Horn Society member Natóóhkitopi Fred Breaker tells us, “Our culture is centred around an oral tradition, and our people learn orally, through storytelling. The stories were given to us, passed down through generations, sometimes from the animals we used to converse with, and sometimes from the Creator.” Linguistics professor Dr. Heather Bliss has archived over 100 vital oral stories from more than 20 Elders into this amazing resource.
Stories as a way to teach science! This website is a collaboration between storyteller Cassandra Wye and astrophysicist Dr Megan Argo, who “aim is to bring science into primary schools in a creative and innovative way, using stories about the Moon.”
National Storytelling Network Resource page of Storytelling Collections
STORYTELLING NETWORKS, GUILDS, ETC.
Storytelling Association of California
LEARNING ABOUT THE CRAFT OF STORYTELLING
Great TedTalks on Storytelling:
Inspiring speech by Dominic Celenso
Josh Campbell: 7 Keys to Good Storytelling (He’s a bit nervous, but he has some good ideas)
Blog Essay by Kevin Cordi…A leader in the Storytelling in Education movement.
The Story Studio
Storyteller.net : articles about storytelling; find storytellers; find stories
Explores all forms of stories, from myth to memoir, in all kinds of media, from print to performance; sponsor courses, workshops, grants, and a live event series that give students an opportunity to appreciate the way stories work, work on us, and can work for us; produces two podcasts that feature the research and creative work of the Stanford community: the award-winning State of the Human, and new fiction and poetry show, Off the Page.
RECOGNIZED AS BOTH A CRAFT AND AN ART, STORYTELLING IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR THOSE WHO GIVE THEMSELVES A CHANCE TO TRY IT. STORYTELLING IS NOT JUST A PERFORMANCE ART, BUT CAN ALSO BE VALUABLE IN WORK SETTINGS, INCLUDING SCHOOLS, DAY CARE, COUNSELING, HOSPITALS, MUSEUMS, AND LIBRARIES, PLUS IN BUSINESS SETTINGS