Podcasts by 6-minute Stories

"It Started with a Typo" by Arlene Mandell from 2021-05-26T09:30

Arlene Mandell is an artist in Linville, North Carolina. Her portraits are displayed year-round at the Carlton Gallery in Banner Elk. A native New Yorker, ...

“Grand Standin’” by Sharon Stegall from 2021-05-23T09:30

Sharon Stegall resides in Ledyard, Connecticut. Her blog, Sharon Space, focuses on a humorous look at breeding and showing Maine Coon cats and liv...

"A Frank Lesson" by Janet K. Baxter from 2021-05-19T09:30

– a corresponding empathy A passing of letters and a lingering regard for their writer are remembered, and decades later treasured for their inspiration.

"Terror in the Backcountry, 1771" from BecomingAmerica250.com from 2021-05-16T03:38:34

This audio story is from BecomingAmerica250com where you can also watch a video touching on this story and more. It’s titled, ‘The Revolution around the Re...

"Mom Conquers Volcano" by Wendy A. Miller from 2021-05-12T09:30

Wendy A. Miller lives in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, with her family. She is a member of a writer’s group that she connected with through an online cl...

"No Laughing Matter" by Nikki Campo from 2021-05-08T09:30

Nikki Campo lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and three young children. She is a member of the Charlotte Writers’ Club and Charlotte Lit...

"Love in the Time of Corona" by Lorraine Martin Bennett from 2021-05-05T09:30

Lorraine Martin Bennett is a print, web, and broadcast journalist who grew up in Murphy, North Carolina. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, she began h...

"Lucky and Grateful" - a reprise from April 2020 from 2021-05-02T09:30

Randell Jones, creator and host of “6-minute Stories” podcast offers this story and podcast episode in love and honor of his dad, Dennis C. Jones. Sr. , no...

"What Luck These Friendships" by Landis Wade from 2021-04-28T09:30

Landis Wade is a recovering trial lawyer, award-winning author and host of Charlotte Readers Podcast (www.CharlotteReadersPodcast.com), wh...

"His Final Act of Kindness" by Linda Freudenberger from 2021-04-25T09:30

Linda Freudenberger resides in Lexington, Kentucky, with her Westie, Clancy, a certified therapy dog. She began writing in 2017 after the loss of her husba...

"Save the Tomatoes" by Bill Blancato from 2021-04-21T09:30

Bill Blancato is a native of Queens, New York, which is home to the Louis Armstrong house (a great place to visit) and the New York Mets. He is a practicin...

"Dear James Taylor&Carole King" by Dallas Lee from 2021-04-17T09:30

Dallas Lee is a retired journalist (The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and author of The Cotton Patch Evidence (Har...

"Parks and Re-Creation" by Ken Chamlee from 2021-04-14T09:30

Kenneth Chamlee (Mills River, NC) is Emeritus Professor of English at Brevard College in North Carolina. His poems have appeared in&nbs...

"Doing the Math" by Howard Pearre from 2021-04-10T09:30

Former SSG Howard Pearre received an “early out” in 1969 to return to college, earned degrees in history and rehabilitation psychology, and later also serv...

"Space: The Final Frontier" by Marie Mitchell from 2021-04-07T09:30

Marie Mitchell’s 30-years as a broadcast journalist, plus 15-years teaching communication classes at Eastern Kentucky University, have provided plenty of m...

"Journey" by Elizabeth Chalfant (reprise from January 2020) from 2021-04-03T09:30

Elizabeth Chalfant lives in Winchester, Kentucky. She owns a business and volunteers in the community, including as treasurer of the Fort Boonesborough Fou...

"Carrot Island" by Nancy Tilly from 2021-03-31T09:30

Nancy Tilly’s early years in deep South Atlanta received welcome corrections from the University of North Carolina and a ten-year exile in  Chicago wh...

"That Ain't the Way My Daddy Do It" by Joel Stegall (reprise from April 2020) from 2021-03-28T09:30

In Joel Stegall’s childhood home, words were valued. His father was a preacher; his mother a storyteller and frustrated writer. At Wake Forest University, ...

"Trinkets" by Suzanne Fernandez Gray from 2021-03-24T09:30

Suzanne Fernandez Gray is a writer who divides her time between Texas and the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Her essays and poetry have appeared in several ...

"Erline's Kitchen" by Bill Gramley (reprise from April 2020) from 2021-03-21T09:30

Bill Gramley is a retired Moravian minister.  In recent years he has written several Devotional Expressions and Prayers booklets through Centenary Uni...

"Luck of the Irish" by Randell Jones from 2021-03-17T09:30

Randell Jones is an award-winning history writer about the pioneer and Revolutionary War eras. From 2007 through 2019, he served as an invited member of th...

"A Real Small Town" by Patricia E. Watts (reprise from March 2020) from 2021-03-14T11:49:31

Coming from the Mountain West fifty years ago, a new bride discovered what “small town” really meant in South Carolina.

This episode was the first of Season 2 and began the sharing of sto...

"Rowena" by Janice Luckey from 2021-03-10T10:30

—say the words -
“Trained up right,” a messenger arrives unexpectedly, lingering just long enough to stir up an enduring lesson.

"Passing Memories" by Barbara Chandler (reprise from March 2020) from 2021-03-07T10:30

f these walls could tell our stories -
Kentucky writer Barbara Chandler wanders through an old family homestead of her childhood and reflects on years gone by and the people gone with them in ...

"Opportunity Knocks" by Jean Ashley from 2021-03-03T03:18:28

– a wild razzee
The “replacement child” and the incompetent Uncle Will confound the social hopes of the mother who takes to bed with a sick headache—again.

"Welcome to Season 3 - Luck and Opportunity" from 2021-02-28T00:20:19

Season 3 begins March 3 with stories from “Luck and Opportunity,” the fourth anthology from the Personal Story Publishing Project. Editor Randell Jones shares the introduction from the collection g...

"The Boston Massacre - 1770" by Randell Jones (reprise from Feb. 2020) from 2021-02-27T16:49:57

Becoming America -
250 years ago from March 5, 2020 occurred one of the most infamous and least understood events in American history. And, just before it, a murder hardly anyone remembers. A ...

"Apprehension and Transcendence" by Valerie Paterson (reprise from October 2019) from 2021-02-24T03:54:58

a mother's angst abroad
As her teen son leaves on his gap year experience before college ("A Walk in the Park" by Kyle Paterson, June 26, 2019 podcast), writer Valerie Paterson shares her view ...

"The Trip Home We Will Always Remember" by Carol Gearhart (reprise from Aug. 2019) from 2021-02-20T10:30

Getting to the destination is half the fun--and way more than half the trouble in a series of events laughable only in hindsight.

"A Storm of Trials - Learning To Be a Pioneer" by Beth Bixby Davis (reprise from Nov. 2019) from 2021-02-17T02:24:50

grateful to be alive

Surprised and trapped in their North Carolina mountain home by a harsh and threatening late-winter blizzard, a couple struggles to survive and to care for their horses...

"Bobby Got His Butt Kicked" by Randell Jones (reprise from June 2019) from 2021-02-10T10:30

Standing up for yourself takes courage at any age.

"A Walk in the Park" by Kyle Paterson (reprise from June 2019) from 2021-02-07T03:26:25

Gone to Patagonia

"Naked in New York" by Nancy Tilly (reprise from July 2019) from 2021-02-03T10:30

A Southern debutante of Atlanta makes a splash, or not, in 1956 New York.

"Eye of the Dolphin" by Arlene Mandell (reprise from July 2019) from 2021-01-31T10:30

An artist immerses herself in assisting other artists with compromised abilities and comes face to face with another being doing the same.

"The Brick" by Howard Pearre (reprise from July 2019) from 2021-01-27T10:30

Courage is a personal decision at any age.
A young Boy Scout away at camp confronts the murkiness of homesickness by diving into earning his swimming merit badge.

"The Day I Was Fired" by Diane Pascoe (reprise from Sept. 2019) from 2021-01-24T10:30

No rhythm, no job.
Humorist Diane Pascoe recalls a work-life lesson about understanding expectations and living up to one's potentials and talent from early in her schooling. Very early.

"Packable Pieces: Fear and Hope" by Lisa Miracle Ballard (reprise) from 2021-01-20T14:08:42

buried treasures -
The challenge and anxiety of packing up, downsizing, and moving offers up discoveries of hidden treasures and the opportunity to reflect on “days gone by and lives gone on.”...

"Independence Day 1968" by Jim Billman (reprise) from 2021-01-19T10:30

Fifty years after patrolling the jungles of Vietnam, a former soldier remembers that Fourth of July a half a world away.

"We Who Are Nobody" by Bohdan Dziadyk (reprise) from 2021-01-18T10:30

The long road to becoming American.

"Saving Washington" by Randell Jones from 2021-01-16T20:43:40

A bit of American history from over 200 years ago in advance of Inauguration Day, January 20—saving the portrait of George Washington as the British burned the city.

"Speech Therapy" by Steve Cushman (reprise from June 2019) from 2021-01-13T10:30

A father wrestles with expectations and acceptance.

"Dogwood Johnny" by Mary Alice Dixon (Reprise) from 2021-01-06T12:16:45

your wingman with angels

An engineering prodigy arrives in the South, fascinated with an ancient relic and searching for the aerodynamic laws of angel wings, all the wh...

"The Gift" by Lisa Miracle Ballard (Reprise from June 2019) from 2020-12-30T10:30

Granny was a healer.
At the end of a difficult 2020 when we are facing more of the same for a good while yet, this story from the beginning of “6-minute Stories” 18 months ago, offers courage ...

"Bringing North Carolina Home" by Paloma Capanna from 2020-12-27T10:30

After moving south recently from Upstate New York, writer and antiques dealer, Paloma Capanna, shares her experience of being welcomed to the community of Beaufort, North Carolina, and her continui...

"A Recipe for a Christmas Story" by Randell Jones from 2020-12-23T10:30

A serendipitous find at a used book sale offered North Carolina writer Randell Jones the chance to imagine for the holidays how some family's treasure came to be..

"The Call of the Forest" by Bohdan Dziadyk from 2020-12-20T10:30

In the spirit of the classic 1983 movie, “A Christmas Story” with Ralphie dreaming getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk offers this story of his building a "firecracker gun...

"A Christmas Dream Come True" by Landis Wade from 2020-12-16T10:30

What we don't know about tears
North Carolina writer Landis Wade confronts his disappointments imposed by the pandemic on the traditional gathering of his family for the holidays

"You Got You Another One" by Paula Teem Levi from 2020-12-09T10:30

South Carolina writer and genealogist Paula Teem Levi shares a story of her great-grandmother, “fetched” to help the mothers-to-be in the Poe Run holler in West Virginia.

"Renegade Daughter" by Arlene Mandell from 2020-12-06T10:30

In this bonus episode, North Carolina writer and portrait artist Arlene Mandell remembers two fathers of her career—admiration and inspiration, of course, but also her father and Grandpa Moe.

"The White Section" by JP McGillicuddy from 2020-12-02T10:30

Forty years after arriving South from Massachusetts, a North Carolina writer and photographer reflects on losing his innocence of assumptions and being awakened to an awareness of race realities in...

"The Other Thanksgiving Story" by Randell Jones from 2020-11-25T10:30

In keeping with the theme of “That Southern Thing,” podcast host Randell Jones shares in this bonus episode the story of how the first day of thanksgiving by English-speaking settlers happened in ...

"Grit" by Karen Luke Jackson from 2020-11-21T14:44:45

At Thanksgiving and in gratitude and love for the life of her late sister who charmed the world as “Clancey, the Clown,” North Carolina writer and poet Karen Luke Jackson shares selected excerpts f...

"All That I Could Say" by Lauren Summers from 2020-11-18T10:30

a rage exploded inside me

North Carolina writer Lauren Summers recounts in spoken word her encounters with overt racism among her peers throughout her schooling. (This episode includes bri...

"It's More Than a Drawl Y'all" by Ken Chamlee from 2020-11-11T10:30

North Carolina poet, writing teacher, and retired English professor Ken Chamlee recalls an early encounter that sharpened his thinking about language and perception and “Southern.”

"Lucky and Grateful" - a reprise for Veteran's Day 2020 from 2020-11-11T10:30

“6-minute Stories” Podcast producer and host Randell Jones claims the prerogative of the platform to share on Veteran’s Day a bonus story from April about his father’s experience in World War II. H...

"I Hope We're Not Losing the Handshake" by Landis Wade from 2020-11-08T10:30

This is a shorter story, a bonus episode offered for our enjoyment by Landis Wade, producer and host of Charlotte Readers Podcast. He shares his thoughts on the care and keeping of a strong Souther...

"Country Love and Marriage" by Joe Brown from 2020-11-04T10:30

This North Carolinian, who didn’t know he could write a good story until he tried, shares a memory of his own transition out of boyhood at a price he could afford, a memory with a priceless lesson ...

“Daniel Boone in Kentucky, 1770” by Randell Jones - a reprise from 2020-11-01T20:13:38

Randell Jones is the award-winning author of In the Footsteps of Daniel Boone and Before They Were Heroes at King’s Mountain. He has ...

"Sufis in Florida" by Fatima Alharthi from 2020-10-28T09:30

A graduate student in creative writing in Tallahassee, Florida, shares thoughts on how “the South” has informed her as a Saudi woman and Sufi.

"Into the Woods" by Marshall McClung from 2020-10-21T09:30

In the spirit of Daniel Boone, master woodsman, forester, historian, and author Marshall McClung recounts his 50-year career and life-long love affair with the wilds of Graham County, North Carolin...

"Capturing Our Divided Attention" by Randell Jones from 2020-10-18T18:10:09

This bonus episode shares some surprising Revolutionary War history from North Carolina on an anniversary seldom acknowledged much less celebrated in America. This story is history, not politics, a...

"Saying Goodbye" by Howard Pearre from 2020-10-14T09:30

This North Carolina writer remembers touchingly the intricate and the delicate, the lovely and the lovable in the passing of a parent.

"Spouse in the House" by R. Lee Riley from 2020-10-07T09:30

Southern hospitality and Southern hostility—an inconvenient marriage.

"Two Good Swings" by Landis Wade (reprise) from 2020-09-30T11:27:24

Landis Wade is a recovering trial lawyer, award-winning author and host of Charlotte Readers Podcast, where local and regional authors give voice to their written words. His third book—...

"Not Finished Yet" by Suzanne Cottrell from 2020-09-23T09:30

Learning to understand Southern for a non-native speaker can be a long, painstaking and open-ended process.

"Flying South" by Patricia Joslin from 2020-09-16T09:30

just right, just in time--This Midwesterner traded in the unpredictable cold of Minnesota for the warmth she and her husband found in North Carolina, a warmth of Southern hospitality and deep carin...

"The Cause of the Trouble" by Randell Jones from 2020-09-09T09:30

Strong Southern women and foolish men --A North Carolina writer recounts a few stories he heard from his mother-in-law about growing up in North Georgia. .

"Southern Blues" by Janet K. Baxter from 2020-09-02T09:30

Southern hospitality can be hard to get and cold comfort to those who don’t meet other’s expectations, this relocated Midwesterner learned in her family’s first encounter. .

"The Enduring Feast" by Jane Rockwell from 2020-08-26T09:30

pie and coffee--Memories of favorite foods and family recipes and the efforts to recreate Mother’s famous Chocolate Cake without one draw the family closer together.

"Speaking of Home" by Susan Poe Hauser from 2020-08-23T09:30

This North Carolina writer imagines her 1804 house sharing the stories of the family generations who lived there.

"From the Heart in Dixie" by Beth Sammons from 2020-08-19T09:30

Growing up in Alabama offered this writer contradictions but also lessons about life, limits, and love, lessons taught by her mother who could change hearts.

"Demanding Respect" by Randell Jones from 2020-08-16T16:39:25

We commemorate this month the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment recognizing the right of women to vote in America.

"Empty Pocketbook, Boundless Love" by Debra Madaris Efird from 2020-08-12T09:30

This North Carolina writer recalls the adventuress of visiting another time and another world as she remembers her grandmother’s generosity with love.

"Aerial Adventure" by Suzanne Cottrell from 2020-08-09T09:30

fearless flying --
Can two women at 65 master an obstacle course of rope ladders and zip lines? Good question.

"It's the Damn Humidity" by Alice Osborn from 2020-08-05T09:30

In the "dogs days" of August, this North Carolina writer reflects on her life-long experiences of enduring and thriving in Southern heat . . . and snow!

"Gobsmacked in the Gulfstream" by Arlene Mandell from 2020-08-02T09:30

Some of the South’s prettiest spots and grandest experiences are just a little farther south and not always the easiest to find.

"How Uncle Gene Got His Cut" by Richard Groves from 2020-07-29T09:30

Family secrets, family ties, and family treasure bind this North Carolina writer to his Louisiana roots.

"Native Son" by Randell Jones from 2020-07-26T09:30

This story of a North Carolinian living a century ago reminds us that some challenges are timeless and persistent..

"Casket Shopping" by Karen Luke Jackson from 2020-07-22T09:30

I’d feel like I was sleeping--North Carolina writer Karen Luke Jackson reads her own story about giving her mother one of the best days in her life.

"What's in a Name?" by Randell Jones from 2020-07-19T09:30

Our stories, our history, are out there--sometimes hidden, sometimes on prominent display--all waiting to be remembered and retold. A name? It begins a good story. .Take "Cumberland" for example.

"Biscuit Weaver" by Gary Neil Gupton from 2020-07-15T09:30

A North Carolina writer shares cherished memories of a favorite aunt with a special trick for baiting fish and kneading love into young lives.

"In the Hollers" by Linda Freudenberger from 2020-07-12T09:30

occupational hazard
Learning the Appalachian culture is just part of the job of delivering home health care

"Our 'Wild'-life Sanctuary" by Charles Davenport, Jr. from 2020-07-08T09:30

A North Carolina writer remembers vividly his boyhood tromping around in the now-disappeared forbidden woods adjacent to his neighborhood.

"Monumental Bragging Rights" by Randell Jones from 2020-07-04T16:55:41

The second oldest Revolutionary War monument in the country was dedicated on July 4, 1814 and stands today in a place quite surprising to most Americans.

"A Southern Girlhood - No Crinolines" by Annie McLeod Jenkins from 2020-07-01T09:30

A reluctant North Carolina writer recalls the freedom of her tomboy childhood through her memories of an adventure in the “wilds” of South Carolina one hot July, made special in it remembrance six ...

"Home Cookin' Diner" by Amy Star from 2020-06-27T09:30

Come in, y’all, and welcome--A transplanted New Yorker discovers the secret of good home-cooked hospitality and a lot more in Asheville, North Carolina.

"Cherry Picking To Feed the Soul" by Kaye Threatt from 2020-06-24T09:30

A North Carolina writer reflects on her delight of annually picking cherries for 40 years at one special orchard of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.

"Forgetting the Smilings" by Joel R. Stegall from 2020-06-17T09:30

what they always wanted--This North Carolina writer remembers his 1950s childhood in eastern North Carolina and the four separate school systems in his home county needed to accommodate the differe...

"Fake News Is an Old Story" by Randell Jones from 2020-06-14T16:03:09

This bonus episode of “6-minute Stories” about P.T. Barnum is edited from “From Time to Time in North Carolina” by Randell Jones. Today is National Flag Day, so the music is easy-listening patriot...

"Southern Exposure" by Ron Machado from 2020-06-10T09:30

her dad called her mom “Sugar”--
This California transplant and Air Force pilot recalls his first exposure to the South which he has now happily made his home.

"My Neighbor Is a D-Day Hero" with Horace Barrett from 2020-06-07T00:01:20

On the 76th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, listen to the story of one veteran, my neighbor, Horace Barrett, now 96, who jumped into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne. Three Purple Hearts and Bron...

"Little Rock" by Randell Jones from 2020-06-03T09:30

Randell Jones is an award-winning history writer about the pioneer and Revolutionary War eras. Since 2007, he has served as an invited member of the Road Scholars Speakers Bureau of the...

"Southern Lineage" by Grace Ellis from 2020-05-30T09:30

what was “proper” and what was “common”-- A North Carolina writer and playwright examines the stage on which generations of her family have played out their Southern penchant for rules and expectat...

"The Great Dumpling Divide" by Susan Griner from 2020-05-27T09:30

A Japanese-American writer from Seattle returns to her childhood community in Tennessee with her Chinese daughter to visit family. OMG!

"On the Wings of Angels" by Randell Jones from 2020-05-24T09:30

On this Memorial Day weekend, this story recounts the tragedy of six civilians, the only casualties from enemy action against the American mainland during World War II, which ended 75 years ago thi...

"Her Dusty Road to a Life of Service" by Phyliss Grady Adcock from 2020-05-20T09:30

trying to be "enough"

During the month of memorials and Mother's Day, this North Carolina writer reflects on the formidable challenges her mother faced as a child and the service she rende...

"Why I Did Not Make It to the Funeral" by Scott Hooper from 2020-05-17T16:17:27

Confronted by a mental block for remembering details and admitting to being geographically challenged, a North Carolina writer explains his adventure in trying to pay his respects.

"Southern Tides" by Landis Wade from 2020-05-13T09:30

life and memories ebb and flow--North Carolina writer Landis Wade recounts a blending of five generations of experiences at Wrightsville Beach involving “the kitty,” the “Out-Landis,” a ne’re-do-we...

"Busy Hands Remembered" by Joe Brown from 2020-05-10T09:30

Mom’s “busy hands” did a fine work--
A North Carolina son finds a story he wrote while tending his mother's passing. Even without rhyme or meter to mark it, it is poetry all the same. Mother’...

"Great Aunt Dora" by Pam Brinegar from 2020-05-06T09:30

Fried Spam and Rust - Kentucky writer Pam Brinegar recalls her experiences even as a young child visiting with her great aunt, a woman both particular and peculiar perhaps and most especially memor...

"Locked in the Hen House" (Davis) & "A Recipe for Frustration" (Holcomb-Pack) from 2020-05-03T09:30

Two short snippets by two different writers combine to help us deal with our sense of being trapped inside and dealing with our cabin fever. Writers Beth Bixby Davis and Judie Holcomb-Pack, both wi...

"Dogwood Johnny" by Mary Alice Dixon from 2020-04-29T09:30

An engineering prodigy arrives in the South, fascinated with an ancient relic and searching for the aerodynamic laws of angel wings, all the while nurturing his grove of Carolina dogwoods. It’s a ...

"A Bad Day for Dictators" by Randell Jones from 2020-04-27T02:17:08

This April and May mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe and the death of two notorious dictators--Mussolini and Hitler.

"One Southerner's Legacy" by Janice Luckey from 2020-04-22T09:30

A grandfather’s hardscrabble, Southern life on a farm and in the mill is a legacy embraced by this North Carolina writer who remembers him with “gnarled leather skin like a pair of old work gloves.”

"That Ain't the Way My Daddy Do It" by Joel R. Stegall from 2020-04-16T05:48:05

Life in eastern North Carolina's tobacco country had some lessons for a young teen from the city.

"Mom, You Did What!" by Suzanne Cottrell from 2020-04-08T11:30

A North Carolina writer learns that Southern graces don't come easily or without tears. .

"Lucky and Grateful" by Randell Jones from 2020-04-05T23:59:14

Gratitude is what keeps us humble as we realize at any age how much of a role luck plays in our lives.

"Silas Dooley and the Indian Brave" by William Hildebolt (in memoriam) from 2020-04-02T11:30

A native of Ohio, William Hildebolt shares a family story from the earliest days of his ancestors who have lived on and worked the same land near the Indiana border and kept up the family homestead...

"Erline's Kitchen" by Bill Gramley from 2020-04-01T11:30

a foretaste of glory divine yet to come -
Artist, writer, and athlete Bill Gramley of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, recounts his discoveries of Southern cooking and describes the delectables ...

"Failure of Leadership Is Not an Option" by Randell Jones from 2020-03-29T11:30

This bonus episode shares some history from 50 years ago in April 1970 with relevance to our challenges across the world today. Certainly the first Earth Day would be a good guess, but this story i...

"A Real Small Town" by Patricia E. Watts from 2020-03-25T10:30

Coming from the Mountain West fifty years ago, a new bride discovered what “small town” really meant in South Carolina.
This episode is the first of Season 2 and begins the sharing of stories...

"Avoiding a Calamity of Our Own Making" by Randell Jones from 2020-03-18T10:30

This story of a great catastrophe was written three-and-a-half years ago about an event 350 years before that. We may find that today this story holds insights about our current challenge of facin...

"Passing Memories" by Barbara Chandler from 2020-03-15T14:46:53

if these wall could tell our stories -
Kentucky writer Barbara Chandler wanders through an old family homestead of her childhood and reflects on years gone by and the people gone with them in ...

"The Brown-sign Challenge" by Gretchen Griffith from 2020-03-11T10:30

North Carolina writer, teacher, and history-lover Gretchen Griffith recounts her family’s continual exploration of America’s beauty and history through their travelling game of finding and followin...

"Daniel Boone in Kentucky, 1770" by Randell Jones from 2020-03-03T11:30

It was 250 years ago in early 1770, while liberty-minded American colonists in Boston were confronted by British soldiers in what became the Boston Massacre, that another story important to the ori...

"The Boston Massacre, 1770" by Randell Jones from 2020-02-26T11:30

Becoming America -
Exactly 250 years ago this year occurred one of the most famous and least understood events in American history. And, just before it, a murder hardly anyone remembers. On th...

"He Fell Off His Mule and Died" by Joel Stegall from 2020-02-19T11:30

a life well-lived -
North Carolina writer Joel Stegall shares an ancestor's story he uncovered in researching his family history. This Baptist minister from the 1700s and early 1800s led a rem...

"Making Yellow Sparks over the Bluegrass" by Charles Bogart from 2020-02-12T11:30

Finding traction to stay on track. A Kentucky history buff finds his passion in the hunt for obscure facts and artifacts in the narrow field of study about trolley service between big towns.

"Jimmy, Poison Ivy, and a Tattooed Moon" by Randell Jones from 2020-02-05T11:30

Summer Jobe
The rest of the story begun in “Swamp Creature” includes more than a few surprises and a chance meeting the writer will never forget.

"Swamp Creature" by Randell Jones from 2020-02-02T15:54:32

mud sucker
Not exactly the “Call of the Wild,” his summer job in Georgia 50 years ago was nonetheless a memorable learning experience which some might say still haunts him today. Still, if you ...

"Journey" by Elizabeth Chalfant from 2020-01-29T11:30

road trip into the heart of a marriage
A journey begins with expectations. but with no warning signs and no road maps, you can’t say exactly how it will end.

"Horse Whispering for the Average Woman" by Janet Baxter from 2020-01-22T11:30

finding the feel over four legs
Life lessons in humility, patience, compassion, and assertiveness come from time in the saddle. Getting the “feel” between horse and rider comes from learning to...

"Packable Pieces: Fear and Hope" by Lisa Miracle Ballard from 2020-01-15T11:30

buried treasures
The challenge and anxiety of packing up, downsizing, and moving offers up discoveries of hidden treasures and the opportunity to reflect on “days gone by and lives gone on.” O...

"Me Alone" by Valerie Paterson from 2020-01-08T11:30

(This episode contains passages of sexual violence.)
rape is rape is rape
A North Carolina writer recounts her trauma of being sexually assaulted decades before the “Me Too” movement, lendi...

"My Mensch" by Susan Proctor from 2019-12-31T11:30

Schooled in responsibility. A new beginning comes with a transformation in a sense of oneself. A North Carolina writer shares her son’s dealing with a personal failure encountered at the start of h...

A Holiday Reprise - “The Truth at 13” by Randell Jones from 2019-12-25T15:19:12

In this season when fact and fable and fantasy intertwine, it is still quite fair to say that regarding the human condition, all stories are true. This one, you’ve heard from us before, but we shar...

"Grandma's Shoebox" by Marie Mitchell from 2019-12-21T11:30

A Kentucky writer recalls a gift of faith in her abilities at a challenging time in her life, a gift which set her on her career path, a gift she has given to others in turn.

"Seasoned Hikers" by Kaye Threatt from 2019-12-18T11:30

A North Carolina writer reflects with all her senses attuned on her four-year experience of hiking over 100 trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway stretching through North Carolina and Virginia during...

"Camouflaged Concerns" by Judie Holcomb-Pack from 2019-12-11T11:30

A North Carolina writer remembers a time of peril when her fear of strangers almost thwarted her guardian angels.

"Mirror, Mirror" by Robin Hurdle from 2019-12-04T11:30

A toxic culture and work environment of objectifying women for their looks deeply affected how this writer sees herself years later.

"Banking on Yoga" by Deborah Rankin from 2019-11-30T11:30

Kentucky writer Deboroh Rankin encounters a memory of a beloved grandmother in a place re-purposed from what her Memie would have known. With the recollections of a powerful woman comes a transform...