What is it like to be a student who has fought in a war? In this episode, six Stanford students and recent alumni, all veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tell their stories. With thoughtfulness, humor, and stone cold honesty, they share with us their decision to join, their experiences in boot camp, living and fighting in Iraq, and their eventual return home to civilian and student life. This is your chance to listen. Producers: Xandra Clark and Natacha Ruck Hosts: Natacha Ruck and Xandra Clark Featuring: Dustin Barfield, Chris Clark, Josh Francis, Annie Hsieh, Heidi Toll, Russ Toll, and William Treseder Music and scoring by Eoin Callery More info at: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-4/327-episode-408-returning-home.html more info about this episode here: http://bit.ly/sspveterans In April 2013, this story won The General Oliver P. Smith Award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. More info about the award here: http://www.marineheritage.org/Awards.asp Warning: this episode contains explicit language

"Returning Home"

Produced for Stanford Storytelling Project

Aired on KZSU, KALW, and International Media Project's Making Contact in 2012, 2013, and 2015

Won the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's General Oliver P. Smith Award for Local Reporting, 2013

What is it like to be a student who has fought in a war? In this episode, six Stanford students and recent alumni, all veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tell their stories. With thoughtfulness, humor, and stone cold honesty, they share with us their decision to join, their experiences in boot camp, living and fighting in Iraq, and their eventual return home to civilian and student life. This is your chance to listen.


 

"My daughter has something to look up to"

Produced for StoryCorps / The Rockefeller Foundation

(Read the accompanying article)

Southwire, North America's largest manufacturer of building wire and cable, established a program to address the high number of students failing to graduate from high school in Carrollton, Georgia. The "12 for Life" program gives students who are in danger of dropping out an opportunity to earn both a paycheck and a diploma.

In this recording, Ashley Jordan and her supervisor Debbie Jordan (no relation) talk about how the “12 for Life” program helped Ashley get started on her career path. But first, Southwire President and CEO Stu Thorn talks about the program.

Southwire, North America's largest manufacturer of building wire and cable, is one of those pioneering employers. In 2007, the company joined forces with the local school system in Carrollton, Georgia, to establish a program designed to address the high number of students failing to graduate from high school. The "12 for Life" program developed by Southwire gives students who are in danger of dropping out an opportunity to earn both a paycheck and a diploma, showing them that they don't need to compromise their futures in order to sustain themselves in the present. Credits: Recorded by StoryCorps Produced by Eve Claxton & Xandra Clark Photography by Sarah Shatz Music “Flitter Key Backwards Beat” and “Chipper Dan” by Podington Bear

"A more resilient New York: one oyster at a time"

Produced for StoryCorps / The Rockefeller Foundation

(Read the accompanying article, and a blog post from StoryCorps)

Alyssa Giacinto and her mother Denise talk about their experiences during Hurricane Sandy while living in the East Village in New York City in 2012—and about how this inspired Alyssa to get involved with the Billion Oyster Project at her high school, The Harbor School.

Alyssa Giacinto and her mother Denise talk about their experiences during Hurricane Sandy while living in the East Village in 2012—and about how this inspired Alyssa to get involved with the Billion Oyster Project at her school. Credits: Recorded by StoryCorps Produced by Eve Claxton & Xandra Clark Photography by Sarah Shatz Music "By Grace" by Podington Bear

"Your worth is like gold to me"

Produced for StoryCorps / The Rockefeller Foundation

(Read the accompanying article)

Dewetta Logan, owner of Smart Beginnings Early Learning Center, provides daycare for families in the low-income neighborhood of West Philadelphia and is committed to providing paid leave for her employees.

In this recording, Dewetta speaks to her employee Aigner Warring about the importance of staff paid leave—and how many of the families with children at her center don't always have the same advantage.

Dewetta Logan, owner of Smart Beginnings Early Learning Center found this out firsthand, after she got frustrated that she couldn’t retain talented staff members for her daycare serving families in the low-income neighborhood of West Philadelphia. In a conversation shared with the award-winning storytelling project StoryCorps, Dewetta spoke to employee Aigner Warring about the importance of staff paid leave—and how many of the families with children at her center don't always have the same advantage. Credits: Recorded by StoryCorps Produced by Eve Claxton and Xandra Clark Photography by Sarah Shatz Music "Light Touch" by Podington Bear

"Clean water and resilience in El Paso"

Produced for StoryCorps / The Rockefeller Foundation

(Read the accompanying article)

Isaac Campos is a civil engineering PhD student at the University of Texas at El Paso. Since 2012, Isaac has been involved in a program to bring clean water to the colonias, small low-income settlements along the border with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

In this recording, Isaac speaks with his girlfriend Michelle Brown about how limited access to clean water affected his life growing up, and how he’s now working to improve water quality for others in the community.

Joined by his girlfriend, Michelle Brown, Isaac shared his story with the award-winning national storytelling project StoryCorps—via a Rockefeller Foundation grant—about how limited access to clean water affected his life growing up, and how he’s now working to improve water quality for others in the community. Credits: Recorded by StoryCorps Produced by Eve Claxton & Xandra Clark Photography by Sarah Shatz Music "Dust in the Sunlight" by Podington Bear

When an Oxford University student starts losing his sight, he walks onto the stage. Producer: Xandra Clark Featuring: Tom Skelton, Dougie Walker Original music: John Hollywood More info at:http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/shows/season-4/387-episode-414-seeing-in-the-dark.html

"Blind-Sighted"

Produced for Stanford Storytelling Project

Aired on KZSU in June 2013

When an Oxford University student starts losing his sight, he walks onto the stage. Featured at the end of an episode called "Seeing in the Dark."

 

“Nightmare at Ten Sleep.”

Produced for True Story

As a co-founder and producer of True Story, a podcast of true personal stories told live at intimate gatherings, Xandra produced and hosted numerous episodes. From its origins in 2012 to its closing shop in 2017, the podcast had over 6 million downloads. You can find all episodes on our website: http://truestorytime.org/.

In 2015, the True Story team launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund The True Story Game, a storytelling card game that helps players tell personal stories and learn hilarious, moving, heartbreaking, thrilling stories about their fellow players. Read more about the game and order it here: http://truestorygame.com/.

For the time being, True Story has shuttered its doors. We had a fantastic run and are grateful for all our listeners!

Dreams and premonitions darken a climbing trip in remote Wyoming. Subscribe in iTunes (www.bit.ly/ts_itunes) or check out www.truestorytime.org.

"Stanford A Cappella"

Produced for VoiceBox

Aired on KALW in 2012 at the beginning of the episode, "The Real Glee"

The a cappella groups on college campuses are often quite eccentric. This piece zooms in on the groups at Stanford University.