Episodes - Page 2 | writing class radio

Sept. 4, 2024

189: I Found Connection Through a Tattoo of a Bee

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Sizeland, who lives in Manchester, England. Her story, I found connection through a tattoo of a bee is a great example of situation and story. It’s important to know the difference and we will discuss why.

Aug. 21, 2024

188: Making Room for Hope after My Daughter Died

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Farida Taha. Farida writes about losing her daughter to cancer and how she’s moving forward. We talk a lot about loss on our podcast, because writing is how so many people process grief. We believe writing opens the heart, clears the mind, and helps us und…

Aug. 7, 2024

187: How I Lost My Husband But Gained a Bigger Family

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sarena Neyman. Sarena is in Allison’s 2nd Draft class, which is made up of writers who come together to share a draft of their essay and receive feedback from the group. Sarena’s stories are funny and brimming with voice and perfect landings.

July 24, 2024

186: Something Beautiful Happened When I Shared My Writing with My Family

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Janet Funk. Janet writes about her experience sharing an essay she wrote with her family prior to submitting for publication to. The essay was about the horrible fourth of July when ...

July 10, 2024

185: Am I Turning into My Mother

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Bonnie Shor, who we call Blee.

June 26, 2024

184: Just Tell Us How it Went Down

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Alison Colwell. At age 8, Alison was responsible for making sure her mother’s epileptic seizure didn’t kill her. In this essay, Alison takes us to a moment in the hospital where if she’d looked away, her mom might have died. Alison’s essay is an excellent …

June 12, 2024

183: If You Don’t Want to Know, Don’t Snoop on Your Daughter’s Instagram Account

This episode focuses on how to tell a story out loud. In May 2024, our own Andrea Askowitz made her way to a Moth storytelling competition and for the 15th time (over nine years), dropped her name in the bag. The prompt was snooping. Before she left home, her wife told her to look at this evening, …

May 29, 2024

182: A Story is Like a Thesis. You Gotta Make Your Point.

This story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. Like episode 174, 175, 177, 179, and 180 this was a collaboration with ECOSS, The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, at Northern Arizona University and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true …

May 15, 2024

181: What Do I Do if I Have Nothing Left to Write About?

Today on our show, we bring you a story by our own Allison Langer. Her essay is called My Mom And I Fought For 55 Years. Now Battling My Son Is Making Me Rethink Everything, which was originally published in Huffington Post, May 16, 2023.

May 1, 2024

180: The Forest Raised Me Better than My Father

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Darby Bergl, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story is about resilience and survival in the face of a volatile father. Darby has a passion for ecology and the study of carbon dy…

April 17, 2024

179: How to Use Science to Create an Emotional Connection to Place.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Keven Griffen, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story uses science to understand an emotional connection to place. She did it by having us fall in love with the place. She set t…

April 3, 2024

178: Is it Rape if You Were Blackout Drunk?

Today on our show we bring you a story by Morgan Sutton that embodies everything a story should embody. The story uses no extra words; the narrator looks inside herself; and the story matters to the broader world.

March 20, 2024

177: How to See Beauty in Small Things

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jasmine Anenberg, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) . Her story is about losing a friend, but gaining somethi...

March 13, 2024

176: Flying Home or Someplace Better

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Byrne, who conjures the courage to leave her husband after she's faced with removing a bird that flew into her house. Her story is an excellent example of using a book-end structure.

Feb. 28, 2024

175: Fighting Fire with Aspen and Birch

Nick’s story takes a personal experience that has been burned into his memory. As an undergraduate student, he and his housemates almost burned down the neighborhood when they got rid of their Christmas trees. This experience led him to his work today, building natural fire breaks in the forest of …

Feb. 14, 2024

174: For the Love of Science

Happy Valentine’s Day. Today on our show, we bring you a story that was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Story Collider, a p…

Feb. 7, 2024

173: Birds Will Be Birds

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Christopher Blackwell. Chris is 42 and serving a 45-year prison sentence in Washington. Chris’s story came to us through writer and Chris’s mentor, Jamie Beth Cohen. This episode is about taking a small moment and bringing big meaning. Through details a…

Jan. 24, 2024

172: How to Start a New Job

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sumitra Mattai. Sumitra is a writer and textile designer based in New York City. She holds a BFA in Textile Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School.

Jan. 10, 2024

171: Can You Find Humor in Addiction?

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Maxine Poupko, a semi-retired nurse, long-time student of Writing Class Radio, and hilarious person. Maxine is a master at writing humor and writing the truth. Of course someone can learn the craft of writing, but there might be some debate about whether y…

Dec. 27, 2023

170: Here's Why I Resolve to Fail More

Today on our show we’re talking about the writing process and how getting rejected is just part of the fun. After our own Andrea Askowitz takes a class on rejection taught by Elissa Bassist, she develops a new way of thinking about failure. If you are not getting rejected, you’re not in the game. Y…

Dec. 13, 2023

169: My Brother's in Prison. Could I Have Done More?

Today on our show, we’re talking about structure and planting seeds. You’ll hear a story by Claire Tak called The Unopened Letter. Claire is a freelance writer and editor living in Denver.

Nov. 29, 2023

168: How to Write about Life When Everyday Is a Reminder of Death?

Today on our show, we are talking about hot topic/cold prose and when and why to write in the present tense vs. past. The story we share is written in the present tense, which gives readers the feeling that they're going through the situation with the narrator, in real time.

Nov. 15, 2023

167: Even Though I'm Judging You, Don't Judge Me for Being a Chopper Mom

Today on our show, we’re talking about writing with personality and being vulnerable. And when we say vulnerable, we mean including the hard things, good and bad, about ourselves. You’ll hear a story by Dr. Jane Marks, who is a conservation ecologist and professor of Aquatic Ecology at Northern Ari…

Nov. 1, 2023

166: The Most Unique Essay We've Ever Aired

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Kimberly Elkins . Kimberly is the author of the novel, WHAT IS VISIBLE , which was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and named to several Best of 2014 lists. She’s written...