Episodes

This episode is about obsessions. Andrea Askowitz, the teacher of the class speaks to Allison Langer, co-producer and student in the class. They discuss what she learned from the Tim Ferriss podcast when he interviewed Tony Robbins. Allison heard Robbins say, “Rejection breeds obsession.” And, ”The parent whose attention you were trying to get is the person who shaped you.” Andrea talks about how at the dinner table growing up, her dad would tell her to cut to the chase. That led to her obsession with getting her dad’s attention and everyone else’s. Basically old rejection-wounds create obsessions. And obsessions create our best stories. We asked our listeners what they’re obsessed with: Karen Tolchin said, “Mermaids. I think it's about wanting a girl. Or to be a girl again, in a different, glitter-spun way. Carol Coombes said, “Philately.” Which sounded dirty so we looked up. It means stamp collecting. Carol’s particularly obsessed with stamps about film, children, flowers, archi…

This episode is about self destruction. Jahn Dope, one of the students in our class, reads his story, Dark Matter. Jahn’s story begins after he overdoses on LSD after a crazy night of drinking and drugs, then backtracks to childhood. After Jahn’s story ends, the class was left with questions. So, producers Diego and Misha met Jahn at work to get the whole story. Listeners will hear why Jahn dropped out of college and what happened next.Jahn tells us how he got deeper and deeper into drugs and eventually ended up homeless. For ten years, Jahn lived on the streets of Miami doing whatever it took to stay alive. When Andrea Askowitz, co-host and teacher of our class, met Jahn Dope, he was living at the Miami Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter in downtown Miami. Andrea taught writing classes at the mission every Friday for two years. Jahn did not miss a class. A year and a half ago, when Writing Class Radio started, Jahn joined our class. This is where Jahn first told this story. Recen…

This episode explores perspective, how sometimes it takes years to figure out that something you did or thought was totally fucked up. Bo tells his story about getting blocked from a 1-900 gay hotline. But the story is really about how it took him years to become comfortable enough with himself to stop judging the free expression he witnessed among the gay people he first encountered on Miami Beach 24 years ago. Bo came from the deep South in search of freedom from oppression. He wanted gay book clubs and stimulating political conversations with other like-minded gay men. But what he found instead were all kinds of people who fit into categories he describes as circuit boys, gym rats, fashion queens, papi chulos, and bears. He felt like he didn’t fit in. He didn’t want to fit in. But when Bo called the gay hotline to try to “save the gay soul” and made fun of it, he realized he was imparting the same hurtful and hateful church messages he came to Miami Beach to get away from.Twen…

This episode explores the different zones we live in: comfort zone, stretch zone and panic zone. Allison talks about her experience at dinner with new friends and how she complained the entire night. She realizes she ventured too far into her stretch zone and panicked. Misha Mehrel tells his story on the stage at Lip Service, a live storytelling event in Miami. The story is about his hairy ass. The story was written in his very first writing class in response to a prompt. Misha worked on the story for the stage. Misha knew he had to reveal something difficult in that first class in order to feel comfortable writing about any other intimate situations. Our teacher, Andrea Askowitz, tells her story about wanting to give birth to her first child on stage. She realizes that she’s not as comfortable as she thought having people witness her in such an intimate moment. In fact, she’s extremely uncomfortable with people watching her give birth. A new student in the class, Karen Collazo, revea…

This episode explores the epistolary form, which is just a snobby way to say stories written in the form of a letter. Andrea Askowitz starts with a letter written to her from her best friend in high school. Robin and Andrea wrote hundreds of letters back and forth to each other throughout their friendship.The letters in this episode were written 30 years ago, when Andrea spent a summer at camp away from Robin. She also has the letters she wrote to Robin, because Robin died when they were both 33. Robin’s mom gave Andrea the letters. In a round of letters between Robin and Andrea from the summer of 1986, Robin writes about how something was missing while Andrea was away. She reveals how hard it is to date boys and Andrea writes back with very specific dating advice: “BJ’s are a big deal, very personal, but if you lust peni, only do it if he’ll eat you out, it’s only fair.”Andrea shows us an example of an inside joke between Andrea and Robin. Andrea might be the only one who thinks …

In this episode, we discuss what is taboo. Is it a word, a topic? Is it the same for everyone? We learn why we need to talk about things considered taboo, and when to actually write taboo words instead of referring to them. You’ll hear from Inessa Freylekhman who’s mom tells her what not to say on a date. You’ll also hear from Nicki Post, who feels that abortion is more taboo in the United States than in Korea. We’ll also take you into our community workshop where several new students write after given the prompt: Pussy. Also, Sallye Zilberstein and Mary Parker share stories about subjects that feel taboo to them. And in honor of International Masturbation Month, Allison reveals her masturbation story. Andrea offers insight into when it’s ok to use words like fuck and pussy in a story and when using taboo words is just distracting. Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is…

In this episode, student and co-producer Allison Langer puts herself out there in writing and in love. The first story she tells was submitted to Modern Love, a column in the New York Times. Allison’s story got rejected, which is the subject of the second story she tells. Also in the second story, Allison compares the Modern Love rejection to rejection in love. Allison shares her motto for dealing with rejection. A motto she borrowed from author Cheryl Strayed. You’ll also hear Andrea discuss her current rejection and why she puts herself out there. Like most of us, Andrea wants connection and love. Inessa, a student from Season 1, tells a story about the time she missed a bus to an audition when she was nine years old. Inessa is 40 now, but she still wonders what would have become of her had she been on that bus. Here’s the thing: If you want to get published, you have to risk rejection. If you want love, you have to risk rejection. Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll h…

Have you ever told a story or shared a secret and regretted it? Like you wake up the next morning and you’re like ew, why’d I say that? And then you want to vomit? Today we’re talking about telling stories that give us emotional hangovers. Those times when you feel you told too much. In this episode, Nicki Post tells her story about the time she was raped. Andrea discusses the class rules after someone tells a story. We pretend the person who just told the story isn’t in the room. We address that person as the narrator and talk about what worked and what didn’t work in his or her story. We do this because it creates a separation between the person’s life and the person’s story. The comments can only be about the writing. We can talk about where we got confused in the story. Or where we wanted more details. Or where we wanted less details. Those are the types of comments that are fair game in class. “So even if someone says they were raped, we can’t say, ‘Oh my God, are you okay?’” Ano…

The words we say to each other and ourselves shape our lives. One of Andrea’s favorite writing tenets is: Make every word count. In today’s episode we learn that every word counts in life also. This is the first episode of our second semester and we have some new students. You’ll hear Missy Hernandez tell her story called Words. Her story is about sharing words with her hero Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love. Missy ended up on Gilbert’s Podcast, Magic Lessons. Hear how Lizzy’s words brought Missy back to life. Misha Mehrel, also a new student tells a story called Fighting Words about how words can trigger repressed emotion. We also bring you a response from a writing prompt by Rebeca Ruiz, a student in one of Andrea’s community workshops. Her story is about a single word, NO. Her parents said “no” to her when she wanted to go to New World School of the Arts and killed her creativity. Until now. Hear what tips Andrea gives Rebeca to make her story stronger. Here’s the prompt for this …

Today, we’re talking about writing stories meant to be told out loud. Jahn Dope tells his story, Tackled, about the time he was raped. Andrea Askowitz tells her story Thank You For Listening, about the time she went 24 hours without talking about herself. Both stories were told on stage at Lip Service in front of 600 people. You’ll hear how a performance can change the gravity of a subject. Allison Langer is the host and substitute teacher for this episode. Andrea, our regular host and teacher is taking a personal day, but she does show up at the end of the episode to give her top tips for writing a story meant to be told out loud. Some tips include: end your sentences, paragraphs and the whole story on the strongest note; and avoid gerunds, because for some reason the audience can’t hear ING words. More tips can also be found on the Craft Talks page of our website. Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write you…

Today, we are stepping out of order because it’s February and we’re in the U.S. and we can’t avoid thinking about love. So, we’re bringing you a Valentine’s Day episode. This episode is a little different. Slightly less teachy, thought not without this lesson: A good way to approach a story is to ask a question and then to try to answer it. You’ll meet students from season two and you’ll hear from some of regulars that you already know. You’ll hear their questions about love. Miriam Herman, a new student, writer, programmer and mathematician asks if it’s true that once you love someone, you love them forever? Cynthia Castillo, another new student writes, teaches, coaches, mentors, and heals. Cynthia’s story is about friendship love, a love we assume will be there forever. Cynthia asks: What if our best friend is not here forever? Nicki is an artist and traveler who spent her twenties living abroad. Now she works with international students at U.M.. In her response to the prompt love…

We’re talking about stakes. And we don’t mean those slabs of meat you eat if you’re not a vegetarian, but what makes a listener or a reader care about a story. And we’re talking about what we have to lose as storytellers when we tell our stories. One thing we know about memoir writing is that the narrator lived to tell the tale. So if we know the narrator lived, why do we care? The job of storytellers is to make us care. Andrea talks about a writing webinar with Lea Thau, host and producer of Strangers, http://www.storycentral.org/strangers/. Lea describes how the written story is different than the event that actually happened. There's the situation and what the story is about. The most pointed way to figure out what the story is about, is to ask: What’s at stake? What is there to be lost or won? The biggest mistake people make is thinking that a dramatic experience equals a story. Andrea uses a personal example to illustrate this point. While Andrea was giving her vows, her un…

This episode is about writing humor. Andrea tells a joke only she thinks is funny, then calls our humor expert, Jay Wexler, who confirms just how funny her joke is. Jay is an attorney and the author of five books.Later in the show, Jay shares his ten suggestions for writing humor. Andrea adds four. Together, they have 14 suggestions for writing humor.Terry DeMeo introduces herself before telling a story in front of a live audience, at Lip Service. In her own words, Terry wonders about who she is. She’s a former lawyer and currently a life coach. Also a writer. The story Terry tells is about undying her hair, but you’ll realize as she realizes that the story is about much more than hair. She tells her story in front of a live audience in Miami. Andrea notes that while many of the audience members are over 40 years old, no one lets her hair go gray, except Andrea. Terry’s story is called Fifty Shades of Gray.Jay Wexler’s 10 Humor Commandments (Plus Four):1. Do not start with a j…

We’re interrupting our first semester to give you a taste of who’s to come in our second semester. You’ll meet Frenchy, who took Andrea’s writing class years ago and is now back. Does she get a kiss on New Year’s Eve? You’ll also meet Tobi Ash and hear why she’s been avoiding New Year’s celebrations for 30 years. Cynthia Castillo who wished for a tragic life to write about until tragedy hit. Nicki Post takes us on a trip to Korea, one of her many adventures out of the country. You’ll hear from Season One’s Bo, who would rather stay home on New Year’s Eve and from Allison, also a Season One student, who tells us about waiting for her man. Andrea tells the story behind Auld Lang Syne, that mysterious song we all know but don’t know. And it wouldn’t be New Year’s without resolutions. Because Andrea is a total dud, every year she resolves to drink more. But two weeks in, she’s back on the wagon. This year she resolves to try harder. And she challenges you to make a New Year’s Resolution…

How should a story be structured? Start from the very beginning by using the concept of story spine. Story spine, a technique articulated by the playwright Ken Adams, is the backbone of every traditional story. In this episode, Allison uses the story spine to write about her return to dating after having children on her own. Inessa writes about a date that goes wrong and Jahn uses this structure to tell stories about the first time he got a boner. In each story, the story spine structure brings clarity to the writer and makes the story easy for the listener to follow. Andrea uses her own life as an example of why she fell in love with the story spine and why you will too. Witness the creation of these stories as you learn a new (old) way to structure your own. Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art…

Today we give you Wendi Adelson the way she revealed herself in the first semester. Andrea talks about hot topic, cold prose, a writing technique where the narrator pares down the writing in a difficult moment. The story is told without sentiment. It’s just reported. Two weeks into the semester, Wendi came back with some of the answers to students’ questions. In her first story she hinted at not feeling like she can publicly express how she really feels, a theme she repeated in the next story. In her writing though, she seems to express how she really feels. Wendi responds to the prompt: What is the story you tell about your relationship with your mom?

Danny and Bo reveal the lies they've told, especially to themselves. And then the fallout. Danny falls in love with two women but neither knows about the other. Everyone is happy, until he hears a knock at the door. Bo admits to his many sexual encounters with women, sometimes in the same day; all an attempt to cure himself from being gay. Andrea talks about the importance of feedback and encourages the listener to find a writing group. She says feedback can be delicate, especially with any new writing and reveals her own difficulty receiving feedback, especially positive feedback as it poured in about this podcast. She talks about how important it is for students to resist the urge to comment on student's lives--as much as we want to say, "Dude, don't have sex with women who aren't your girlfriend!"--and to keep the feedback specific to the writing. And she encourages you to go to writingclassradio.com, or our Twitter or FB page and pick a daily prompt, set a timer and write. If yo…

Andrea follows Inessa to the fertility clinic early one morning as she goes through the process of harvesting her eggs, an undertaking not entirely of her doing. We heard in the second episode that Mama put down $10,000 toward the procedure. Inessa paid the remaining $2,000. Turns out Inessa is not the only one in class who has or is currently going about having children without getting knocked up.Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com)…

Hear what Inessa, Danny, Bo, Jahn, Allison and Andrea confess about their relationships with their moms and how those relationships have shaped their lives. We all tell stories, including to ourselves. The truth is, you never know how the people you love will respond to what you write about them. You may be surprised.Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Diego Saldana-Rojas, Andrea Askowitz and Alli…

In our first class of the semester, we got the writing prompt, "How are you? Really?" Danny and Inessa are two students in the class who share exactly how they are. Danny's story involves underwear. Inessa's involves stabbing hormones into her belly to create eggs that may become her future children. Both stories are about how they are influenced by their parents. Aren't we all?Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radi…

Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz created a podcast of their writing class. On this episode you'll hear what qualifies Andrea to be the teacher. And why Allison insisted the world needs this podcast. We believe that once you write about the thing you don't want to write about, that thing has less emotional power over you. Allison reveals the hardest thing in the world to write about. Content warning: this episode contains a story about the loss of a child.Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.all…