This summer, students from the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio crowded into the KRUI studio to tell stories from memory. Without notes or written preparation, these high-schoolers gave oral histories—true-life tales they’ll hold inside their heads for a lifetime. The series was aired on four dates during a two-week period.
This program was inspired by The Moth Reading Series in New York City.
Listen to last year’s broadcast of this program (2010).
Note: Some students chose not to give their full names. Their names and hometowns are listed as they asked them to appear.
Part One: 6-21-2011
Ellie Kahn
Baltimore, MD
Stuck overnight at the Detroit Airport.
Emily Rekkia
Facing down bipolar disorder.
Harry
Pine Grove, PA
Rats attack.
Jake
Greenwich, CT
Reflections on a car accident.
Lauren
Philadelphia, PA
Backpacking for the first time.
Mike Ross
Minneapolis, MN
Mormonism through the eyes of an outsider.
Paris
Philadelphia,PA
Discovering Steinbeck, and mourning Lennie.
Sarah Gruner
Edgartown, MA
First love goes wrong.
Scott Broker
Colorado Springs, CO
When an underage friend gets dangerously drunk, disagreements about what to do.
Zoe
Scranton, PA
A nighttime Wal-Mart raid, fake moustaches included.
Part Two: 6-23-2011
Andy Chang
Corpus Christi, TX
The highs and lows of competitive swimming.
Anne-Sophie
Paris, France
Visiting Auschwitz.
Catherine
Brooklyn, NY
A mother’s fire of fire is passed down to her daughter.
Cole
Dallas, Texas
Losing best friends but becoming content with nerd status.
Danna
London, England
An encounter with anti-Muslim xenophobia in the United States.
Jenna
Kansas City, MO
Losing the spelling bee—on purpose.
Jonathan Hong
Seattle, WA
Learning to embrace a family dictum through a perplexing encounter with a panhandler.
Rosio
Des Plaines, IL
Coping with parental betrayal.
Sam
California
A brush with near-death on a mountain bike ride.
Sarah
Connecticut
Watching a friend grapple with severe anorexia.
Stephanie
Washington State
Worrying about a father’s alcoholism while away from home.
Part Three: 6-28-11
Due to technical difficulties, only a portion of this broadcast was recorded.
Jess Clay
Trapping a possum by mistake. (Excerpt.)
Part Four: 6-30-2011
Abbey Schneider
New York, NY
Triumphs and trials on a solo camping trip.
Andrew Quintana
Miami, FL
In writing class, inappropriate attention from a much older man.
Catherine
California
The pain of losing touch.
Chloe
Reno, NV
Taking sheep for a ride.
Christine
San Jose, CA
Completely lost, with curfew hour approaching.
Dylan Combs
Greenville, SC
A favorite childhood place, blown up.
Ian
New Orleans, LA
Lost in the wilderness.
Mallika
Windham, NH
A boarding school community struggles with a student’s sudden death.
Nathan
Ohio
A Japanese hike, with leeches and waterfalls, doesn’t keep a friendship together.
Sarah
Lake Forest, IL
Building homes and helping kids in Memphis.
Stephanie Campbell,
Bettendorf, IA
Obscured vistas on a mountain hike.
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Anonymous
