State of the Human

Inheritance - Story 2: Abuelita

Twenty years ago, Claudia’s mom created a book of family history based on interviews she taped with Claudia’s late great-grandmother. Claudia listens to the tapes for the first time and explores what it means to collect family history and receive it.
 
Producer: Claudia HeymachFeaturing: Claudia Heymach, Marisa Heymach, Rosie La Puma
Music and Sound: Afterglow by Podington Bear, gunfight sound effect from Freesound (links at storytelling.stanford.edu)

Inheritance - Story 1: The Stories We Wear

Brooke McEver, an MFA student at Stanford sets up a free store where people donate clothing along with a handwritten tag that explains the story behind the clothing. When someone takes that clothing, they respond to the story on the other side of the tag. We explore what this means for understanding inheritance as a choice.
 
Luke Soon-Shiong with help from Hadley Reid and Jake Warga
Music: Bensound.com

Inheritance - Intro Story: Alice

“For my mom and myself, taking care of Alice means taking care of a part of my grandmother, and her mother, and her mother before her.” She’s over a century old, but still the size of a toddler. Meet Alice, the inherited family member that has been handed down for five generations of daughters.
 
Producer: Rosie La PumaFeaturing: Rosie La Puma, Deborah Wicks-La Puma, and Deanna Wicks
Music: Proliferate by Podington Bear

Burying (full episode)

As a society, we still maintain many ancient traditions and practices relating to the care of our dead. We invest tremendous resources and energy in maintaining cemeteries and sacred ground for the bodies of our beloved. In the face of death, we dig and scrape through dirt, mixing our emotions in with the earth. We create a grave--a hallowed space carved out for sadness and pain, but also for warmth and joy. We lay down what we carry from the person we’ve lost--the good and the bad. It doesn’t matter what we bury--a body, a feeling, or an object--we expect it to stay buried. We put it aside, and bid it farewell. And yet, when so much has changed, why do we still rely on this physical process? How can digging a hole--metaphorically or literally--help us to make sense of our loss? And what happens when things go awry? We may not like to admit it, but sometimes the grave is not a final resting place. In today’s episode, we’ll be investigating why we bury--and what happens when our attempts fail.
Host: Eileen Williams
Producers: Eileen Williams with help from Noelle Li Syn Chow, Kate Nelson, Yue Li, Jackson Roach, Nicole Bennett-Fite, Cathy Wong, Katie Lan, Reade Levinson, Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, Jenny March, Jonah Willihnganz
Featuring: Naveen Kassamali, Xochitl Raine Rhodes Longstaff, Janet Voight, Barbad Golshiri, Magellan Pfluke, and the staff of Pet’s Rest Cemetery. Thanks also to Sofi Filipa, Charlie Gibson, Ben Cady, Ivy Sanders Schneider, Jackie Langelier, Kim McElwee, Marlon Antunez, Skye Mooney, Tudi Roche, Chris Gerben, Caroline Spears, Stephen Aman, Adnan Khan, Jim Yount, Milan Mosse Phil C’de Baca, Teresa Hernandez, Carlos Yuen, Ganbat Namjilsangarav, Christine Murphy, Tsogbadrakh Banzragch, Tuya Banzragch, and Keith Bildstein
Show Music: Podington Bear
Image via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Copps_Hill_Burying_Ground_Headstones_Leaning.jpg
Intro Story: Unburying
Producers: Noelle Chow and Kate Nelson
Featuring: Magellan Pfluke
Special thanks: Xochitl Raine Rhodes Longstaff
Music: Response Data, Standing Like a Tree - Part II, Doomflaffsonoria (Whale Mix by Eisenlager)
Story 1: Vanishing Remains
Producer: Reade Levinson
Featuring: Ganbat Namjilsangarav, Christine Murphy, Tsogbadrakh and Tuya Banzragch, and Dr. Keith Bildstein
Special Thanks: Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, and Generation Anthropocene
Music: All ambient recorded by Reade Levinson, sound effects downloaded from FreeSound.
Story 2: Pet Cemetery
Producers: Yue Li, with help from Jackson Roach
Featuring: Lackie Langelier, Ben Cady, Skye Mooney, Sofi Filipa, Milan Mosse (voice over for Ben Cady), Phil C’de Baca, Teresa Hernandez, Carlos Yuen
Music: Alex Finch Seeking Clarity Pt. II, Ketsa Far From Home, Ketsa Clear and Present, Podington Bear Lonesome, Podington Bear Pink Gradient
Story 3: The Cryonicist's Wager
Producers: Nicole Bennett-Fite, Jake Warga, and Eileen Williams
Featuring: Jim Yount, Acting President of the American Cryonics Society
Music: Karma Ron (https://www.freesound.org/people/Karma-Ron/sounds/240624/)
Story 4: Anger Box
Producers: Cathy Wong, Jenny March, Jake Warga
Featuring: Naveen Kassamali, Adnan Khan
Music: Thread of Clouds - Blue Dot Sessions, Migration (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/Migration/Thread_of_Clouds)
Story 5: Unburying Iran
Producers: Katie Lan, recorded with the help of Jackson Roach
Featuring: Barbad Golshiri
Music: Dropped Ticket by Podington Bear, Isolate by Moby
Story 6: Through the Deep
Producer: Kate Nelson
Featuring: Dr. Janet Voight
Music: Chris Zabriskie (We Were Never Meant to Live Here, Remember Trees?, The Oceans Continue to Rise), Podington Bear
Story 7: Time Capsule
Producers: Yue Li and Reade Levinson
Featuring: Leslie Winnick and voices of Stanford's class of 2016
Music: Trellis , Golden Era, Dryness (by Podington Bear)
Listen to the individual stories here: https://soundcloud.com/stateofthehuman/sets/burying

Imagining (full episode)

The mind’s ability to envision more than what is physically present in the world is an astounding fact of life. We’re always imagining, thinking, and living in our heads. Our thoughts and our imaginations shape how we see the world, they shape our words and our actions. This is nothing new. We’ve been doing this for all our lives. as far as we can remember. But that’s why we take a closer look and ask the question: how do our imagined lives shape our reality? What happens day to day at the frontier between the worlds we imagine and the worlds we inhabit.
Host: Justine Beed
Producers: Justine Beed and Natacha Ruck with help from Louis Lafair, Amabel Stokes, Alec Glassford, Tamu Adumer, Joshua Hoyt, Austin Meyer, Claire Schoen, Christy Hartman, Will Rogers, Albert Gehami, Jonah Willihnganz, and Jake Warga
Featuring: John Rick, Tamu Adumer, Louis Lafair, Terry Root, Louie Psihoyos, WonGi Jung, Austin Meyer, Amabel Stokes, Alec Glassford, Max Whitmeyer, Nina Donaldson, Maria Doerr, Liam Bhajan, Jeffrey Abidor, Emma Fisher, Natacha Ruck, and Jackson Roach
Music and Sounds: See storytelling.stanford.edu for full list of music and sounds used in this episode
Image via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kainkalju/5894855297
Story 1: Birth of Imagination
Description: What happened the first time humans used imagination to shape the world?
Producers: Tamu Adumer and Natacha Ruck
Featuring: Professor John Rick
Image via Wikimedia: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bifa…o_(Madrid).png
Story 2: One Quinoa Burger At A Time
Description: Can imagination help one student tackle one of the biggest problems of our time?
Producer: Louis Lafair
Featuring: Terry Root and Louie Psihoyos
Music: "T-Shirt Weather," "Little Dipper," "Pure Swell," "Funk," and "Boop" by Podington Bear
Photo via the Stanford Review: stanfordreview.org/article/is-stan…conserve-water/
Story 3: My Imaginary Girlfriend
Description: How hard can it be to break up with an imaginary girlfriend?
Producer: WonGi Jung with help from Justine Beed
Featuring: WonGi Jung
Image via StoryNight
Story 4: Double Banded Dream
Description: In this story, we venture into the land of dreams and investigate how imagination can endanger reality.
Producers: Austin Meyer and Joshua Hoyt
Featuring: Austin Meyer
Music: "Nothing Lasts" by Alexandre Desplat and "Gnossienne No. 2: Avec étonnement" and “Gynopédie No. 1”by Erik Satie
Image via Wikimedia: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wedding_rings.jpg
Story 5: The Periphery
Description: In this story we dive deep into the head of a coffee shop vigilante and listen to her thoughts as she tries to save the day.
Producers: Amabel Stokes, Justine Beed
Writer: Amabel Stokes
Featuring: Amabel Stokes, Alec Glassford, Max Whitmeyer, Nina Donaldson, Maria Doerr, Justine Beed, Liam Bhajan, Jeffrey Abidor, Emma Fisher, and Jackson Roach
Music and Sounds: See storytelling.stanford.edu for full list of music and sounds used in this piece
Image via Unsplash: unsplash.com/photos/k_RYBedEvDw

Teaching (full episode)

Teaching seems pretty straightforward: one person knows something better than someone else and teaches it to them. But there’s something important that happens to the teacher themselves. In this episode, a 3-year-old teaches his parents what he’s made of, a student defies expectations and becomes a teacher himself, teachers are surprised to learn what makes them tick, prehistoric people have to teach one of life’s hardest lessons (hint: there are llamas involved), a professor regrets a missed opportunity, and the cover of a Ghanaian newspaper does a whole lot of teaching. This week, we’re exploring how teaching shapes the teacher.
Host: Kate Nelson and Hadley Reid
Producers: Kate Nelson, Hadley Reid, Christy Hartman with help from Jake Warga, Will Rogers, Nina Foushee, Claire Schoen, Natacha Ruck, Joshua Hoyt, and Jonah Willihnganz
Featuring: Chris Andrews, Andrew Nelson, Gabe Lomeli, Madonna Riesenmy, John Kleiman, John Rick, Linda Paulson, and Emily Polk.
Music used during transitions: Nick Jaina, Podington Bear, Broke for Free, Alex Fitch, Gillicuddy
Image via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gracewong/141384577
Story 1: Training Wheels
Description: When Kate’s parents set out to teach her and her brother how to ride bikes, they expected to take it step by step, using every precaution: helmets, kneepads, training wheels. What they didn’t expect was a lesson of their own.
Producer: Kate Nelson
Featuring: Chris Andrews and Andrew Nelson
Music: Podington Bear (Ice Cream Sandwich, Bit Rio); Alex Fitch
Story 2: See Me After Class
Description: Gabriel Lomeli didn’t look like your typical A+ student. Problem was, he was getting A+’s. In this story, we follow Gabe as he reconciles others’ expectations with his own ambitions and achievements.
Producer: Eileen Williams and Emmerich Anklam
Featuring: Gabriel Francisco Lomeli, Junior
Sounds: 76288__timbre__dramatic-violin-stab-long-decay
Music: Kai Engel; Broke for Free (Golden Hour, Heart Ache, Something Old, And And, Something Elated)
Story 3: The Power of Teaching
Description: Professor Madonna Riesenmy was curious about what motivates teachers and decided to investigate. But other teachers weren’t too happy to hear about her findings. To be honest, we’re not quite sure how we feel about them, either.
Producer: Emma Heath with help from Christy Hartman and Hadley Reid
Featuring: Jonathan Kleiman, Madonna Riesenmy
Music: Podington Bear (Caravan, Jettisoned), The Losers
Story 4: Expulsion of the Yearlings
Description: Stanford Anthropologist John Rick takes us to the highlands of Peru to discuss the impact of teaching at it’s most fundamental level.
Producer: Jacob Wolf with help from Hadley Reid
Featuring: John Rick
Sounds: blouhond, 15050_Francois, kurono01, damiananache, felix.blume, JohnsonBrandEditing, sardan1972
Music: Original Scoring by Christina Galisatus
Story 5: Tales from the RF Apartment
Description: Linda Paulson is a Stanford faculty member who lives with eighty-eight teenagers in a freshman dorm. A late night knock at her door takes on new meaning years later.
Producer: Vanna Tran with help from Kate Nelson
Featuring: Linda Paulson
Music: Alex Fitch (We Call this Home, Secret Place); Chris Zabriskie (Cylinder Six, It’s Always Too Late to Start Over); Broke for Free (Love is Not)
Story 6: Just a Little Bit of Sweat
Description: Emily Polk went to Buduburam refugee camp to teach journalism. But one newspaper photo ended up teaching the most memorable lesson of all.
Producer: Hadley Reid
Featuring: Emily Polk
Music: Gillicuddy (Fudge, A Garden and a Rose ) Martin R, Original music by Man of Suit (Breathing Rhythm, Diagnosis)

Losing (full episode)

When you lose something, there’s an emptiness, a hole, where that something used to be. And you have to figure out a way to keep living your life with that loss. Even though the emptiness will always be there, what can be gained from trying to fill it? What can be gained from losing? This episode has four stories about people who lose something, and then look for new things to fill the emptiness. A lifelong dream gets derailed by a butterfly knife, an athlete’s passion for her sport crumbles after an injury, a girl searches for something she isn’t really sure she wants to find, and a woman slowly loses her ability to hear.
Host: Jackson Roach
Producers: Jackson Roach, with help from Jonathan Kleiman, Will Rogers, Nina Foushee, Jake Warga, Christy Hartman, Claire Schoen and Jonah Willihnganz
Featuring: Owen O Súilleabháin, Gabriel Lomeli, Amabel Stokes, Julia Berkson, Mitch Berkson, Olivia Berkson, Claire Richards, Daniela Roop, Jody Louise
Music: All music in this episode originally composed by Owen Ó Súilleabháin
Story 1: Hole-Hearted
Description: When a policeman stopped Gabe Lomeli on the street, he thought he had nothing to hide, but that one interaction would shift the course of his dreams.
Producer: Maddie Chang with help from Will Rogers
Featuring: Gabriel Lomeli
Story 2: Getting Off Track
Description: As a successful track athlete, Amabel Stokes has crossed many finish lines. In this story, she learns to move beyond the red tape.
Producer: Justine Beed
Featuring: Amabel Stokes
Story 3: An Eventful Brunch
Description: A lovely meal in a small mountain villa is interrupted by a stumbling man with his hand tight against his stomach. Everyone spends the rest of the morning frantically searching for something they’re not sure they want to find.
Produced by: Maddy Berkson with help from Nina Foushee, Jackson Roach, and Jonathan Kleiman.
Featuring: Julia Berkson, Mitch Berkson, Olivia Berkson, Claire Richards, Daniela Roop
Story 4: Forgiveness
Description: Dr. Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project, shares his story of loss, and how he learned to move forward.
Producer: Jake Warga, Emma Heath, Jon Kleiman
Featuring: Dr. Fred Luskin
Story 5: Sound by Sound
Description: In her twenties, Jody Louise started to lose her hearing, and her doctors couldn’t figure out why.
Producer: Jackson Roach with help from Maya Lorey
Featuring: Jody Louise

Losing - Story 5: Sound by Sound

In her twenties, Jody Louise started to lose her hearing, and her doctors couldn’t figure out why.
 
Producer: Jackson Roach with help from Maya LoreyFeaturing: Jody Louise
Image via Wikimedia: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm…cUtensils1.jpg

Losing - Story 4: Forgiveness

Dr. Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project, shares his story of loss, and how he learned to move forward.
 
Producer: Jake Warga, Emma Heath, Jon KleimanFeaturing: Dr. Fred Luskin
Image via Geograph: s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/79…76_837c76b0.jpg

Losing - Story 3: An Eventful Brunch

A lovely meal in a small mountain villa is interrupted by a stumbling man with his hand tight against his stomach. Everyone spends the rest of the morning frantically searching for something they’re not sure they want to find.
 
Produced by: Maddy Berkson with help from Nina Foushee, Jackson Roach, and Jonathan Kleiman.Featuring: Julia Berkson, Mitch Berkson, Olivia Berkson, Claire Richards, Daniela Roop
Image via flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/gromgull/3375802661