State of the Human
State of the Human, a podcast of the Stanford Storytelling Project, shares stories that deepen our understanding of single, common human experiences—belonging, giving, lying, forgiveness—all drawn from the experiences and research of the Stanford community.
Episodes

Dec 5, 2023
Dec 5, 2023
33 min
Little Tokyo is a small neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. Since 1905, it has been home to generations of Japanese Americans. Today, gentrification is threatening to destroy everything these families have built. This episode tells the story of one community's struggle for survival and the ways in which historical development has both fractured and solidified its people. For some, home is a bed one sleeps in. For us, home is Little Tokyo.

Feb 4, 2021
Feb 4, 2021
58 min
Eating is one of life’s great pleasures, but what about the pleasures that come with sharing your food with others? In this episode, we’re looking at how the act of feeding can bring people together. We’ll hear the tale of an unlikely pet, a meditation on cannibalism, and a story about children on a rooftop garden in San Francisco.

Jun 2, 2020
Jun 2, 2020
1hr 1 min
What do we gain from gathering? In this episode, we’re thinking about how coming together can change us. We’ll hear about a citizen-led clean-up movement in India, a Bay Area artist who forms an unlikely friendship with a church in Colorado, and a student who experiences the power of connection at a living museum on Stanford campus.
Producers: Isabella Tilley, Tanvi Dutta Gupta, Regina Ta, Adesuwa Agbonile, Aparna Verma, Victoria Yuan, Patricia Wei, Hannah Scott, Jenny March
Featuring stories produced by Tanvi Dutta Gupta, Regina Ta, and Adesuwa Agbonile. The stories feature the work of the Experience Sankofa Project (Venus Morris, Mizan Alkebulan-Abakah, Sizwe Andrews-Abakah), the artwork of Stanford professor Enrique Chagoya, and the grassroots-organized Ugly Indian Movement in Bangalore, India. Also featured in these stories are the voices of Frank Omowale Satterwhite, Jeanette Smith-Laws, Dereca Blackmon, and Persis Drell.
“Le Songe d’Halcohii” - Sunhiilow - From There to Here
“Awakenings” - Ketsa
“Clouds at the Gap” - Blue Dot Sessions - Zander
“Throughput” - Blue Dot Sessions - Holyoke
“Louver” - Blue Dot Sessions - Holyoke
“Willow Belle” - Blue Dot Sessions - Little Rock
“Soothe” - Blue Dot Sessions - Bodytonic
“Songe d’Automne” - Latché Swing

May 9, 2020
May 9, 2020
53 min
This episode investigates the act of preserving, a decision made in the present, regarding the past, looking towards the future. What can we learn from what we choose to preserve? What does preserving reveal about our values?
Producers: Cat Fergesen, Karen Ge, Regina Kong, Liv Jenks, Andy Lee, Lola McAllister, Carolyn Stein, Allie Wollner, and Grace Zhang
Music:
Traveler by Alexander Nakarada
http://oroclick.com/Celtic-music/3_Traveler.php
Teals Descending Upon the Level Sand, Lo Ka Ping:
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lo_Ka_Ping/Lost_Sounds_of_the_Tao/lokapingtealsmp3
Mountain Breeze, Purple Planet
https://www.purple-planet.com/mountain-breeze

Mar 19, 2020
Mar 19, 2020
56 min
We visit five places on campus where future doctors are learning how to practice medicine. We’re going to real classrooms: anatomy lab and wet lab, lecture halls, we visit a Stanford Free Clinic, bike across campus to the mausoleum, and head down the road to Webb Ranch. We’re asking: How are students learning to practice medicine, thoughtfully?
Producers: Victoria Yuan, Aparna Verma, JJ Kapur, Sarah Griffin, Esha Dhawan, Linda Liu, Christy Hartman, and Gaby Li

Dec 6, 2019
Dec 6, 2019
54 min
What ideas exist behind material objects? In this episode, we’re going to look at stuff—things we can see or hear or touch—to try to understand the intangible, like memory, history, and bias.
Producers: Adesuwa Agbonile, Jett Hayward, Yue Li, Jenny March, Isabella Tilley, Melina Walling, Val Gamao

May 29, 2019
May 29, 2019
33 min
In this episode, we’re going to think about death. All things must come to an end, but that does not mean death is all ending. We ask -- what can death teach us about life?
Featuring special reflections on death at the beginning and end of the show by Lazarre and Simone Elias, aged 6 and 9.
Producers: Aparna Verma, Isabella Tilley, Will Shan, Lena Lee, Regina Kong, Alessandra Wollner
Show Music:
Téki (with Les Gauchers Orchestra), Lee Maddeford, Instrumentals
kate bush, johnny_ripper, epilogue.

May 21, 2019
May 21, 2019
39 min
In this episode, we search for myths in the modern world. We ask-- where are monsters hiding, and who created them? What do the myths we circulate say about ourselves?
Producers: Claudia Heymach, Morgan Canaan, Sophie McNulty, Ben Schwartz, Jett Hayward, Michaela Elias, Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, Jenny March
Music:

Apr 1, 2019
Apr 1, 2019
49 min
Stories about being alone, wanting to be alone, or feeling alone. What is that place we go to to protect ourselves? How and why achieve seclusion?
Producers: Yue Li, Sofia Sanchez-Luege, Jett Hayward, Stephanie Niu, Sienna White and Adesuwa Agbonile.
http://storytelling.stanford.edu

Jun 15, 2018
Jun 15, 2018
1hr 3 min
Description: In this episode we ride the radio waves. We listen closely, digging deep in the static to hear stories of people following radio waves, of bouncing radio waves, but mainly stories of people listening to the voices.
Producers: Cathy Wong ,Cameron Tenner, Victoria Yuan, Yue Li, Neel Thaker, Christopher LeBoa, Jackson Roach








