My story project consists of three parts, each with a different theme. I put a link in my Instagram bio and invited my followers to click on the link (to a google form) and submit an anonymous story corresponding to the theme. I then shared the stories to my Instagram story to encourage more people to join and so that my followers could enjoy reading through them as I have with Humans of New York or The Moth Radio Hour. Here are the stories: STORY PROJECT I: Any Story That Comes to Mind
STORY PROJECT II: Hardships
STORY PROJECT III: Beliefs
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Another week, another podcast. Let's get right into it!
DISCLAIMER: There are some spoilers in this blog, so read to your discretion. The Moth Radio Hour is a podcast that shares stories told by people at live events, meaning that they were originally given to a crowd. So, The Moth teams up with story telling events and all of a sudden you're part of that audience, listening to a stranger tell a personal story. Each episode has a theme, and this one was about love. The title of this episode, as stated in the blog title, is "In the Name of Love". This intrigued me because I thought about all the things people would do for love. At first, I thought about the movie type love. The type of love where a person goes through war or does a bunch of illegal things for the person they love and then everything turns out okay in the end. Obviously, that wasn't going to be one of the stories so I started thinking again and the next thing to come to mind was the "rags to riches" story. Working hard from nothing to support a family. The podcast was nothing that I expected; it was better. It was so real and intimate, even though I was merely listening to their voices. The first story was about a Christian Palestinian (which I identified with, since I am Palestinian as well) who immigrated to America. She explained how growing up, she was taught that Muslims were the enemy and that Christians should not associate with, let alone have relations with, them. Long story short, her family becomes infuriated when she falls in love with a muslim man and she has to choose between the love of her life and her family. She chose her eventual husband and although her mom supported her, she was shunned from her immediate and extended family for years after the marriage. The next story was my favorite out of the four given in this podcast. It was told by an 65 year old fisherman who began with explaining his bond with his late grandfather. He continues with his heartfelt recollections of the past and quotes his grandfather who told him, "One day you will know how lucky you are". Once his grandfather passed away, he grew up, got married, and had kids, One day, he noticed his father playing with his grandchild and this was nostalgic for the fisherman because it reminded him when he used to play with his grandfather. It was in that moment, the fisherman realized how lucky he was. This story was so emotional and captivating. If you only have time to listen to one story, I advise you to listen to this one. The third story was a sweet short story about how a man proposed to a woman. It involves a famous person. I'll leave it at that. The last story was an extremely emotional story about a man and his husband against the government. They agreed to not get married until it was legal in the state that they lived in to support the gay community in their state. However, the speaker's significant other was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal illness. After some time, the ALS caused him to be paralyzed in bed, and the speaker decided to ask him to get married while they still had time together. They flew over Maryland, a state that had legalized gay marriage, got married in a jet, and then flew back to Iowa as a wedded couple. However, the state of Iowa did not acknowledge them as married, and the death certificate of the man with ALS would not recognize the speaker as his husband. This caused them to battle for their right to get married and they won, with an eventual supreme court decision to make same sex marriage legal in all 50 states. I absolutely loved this podcast! It included music and audience reactions which made the entire experience even better. To go along with this podcast, I decided to do my own story time and asked my social media followers to submit a random story anonymously through google forms. Stay updated to find out the results! The Secrets Hotline is one of the greatest ideas for a podcast that I have ever come across. It is composed of many anonymous calls of people who tell their secrets. These secrets range from silly little quirks to dark and heart wrenching stories.
For this blog, I wanted to do something to show my readers how emotional this podcast can be. So, I decided to do a "stream of consciousness" type blog. I will write my thoughts and feelings as I listen to this episode of The Secrets Hotline Vol. II. Here it goes:
Love + Radio did a great job on the creation of this podcast. They include background music that doesn't distract from the storyteller and they sometimes edit the recordings which adds to the tone of the story. I was interested in the idea of the podcast enough to listen to it, but if you are not convinced, I would recommend that you listen to the first few minutes of it and if you still don't like it, then stop listening (but I really doubt that will happen). People inherently love hearing secrets and I applaud the people that volunteer to tell them. Thank you Love + Radio for creating this fascinating podcast. I can't wait for Volume III! My friend introduced me to this exhilarating podcast called the Atlanta Monster, now known as Wayne Williams. After listening to the first episode, I was shocked that I didn't know about this man beforehand. He incited fear into the state of Georgia and sparked interest in the entire nation.
From 1979-1981, children, specifically young African American boys, were disappearing and found dead around a week later. This sparked not only fear, but racial disputes, considering that the civil rights movement ended not long before the killings. According the the podcast, around 30 kids were found dead in one summer, and that's only counting the bodies that were found. This was obviously terrifying to the African American community and the entire police force, and even the FBI, dedicated their resources to this case. Even though the case is well-known and a summary could be found on google within minutes, HowStuffWorks & Tenderfoot TV kept me enthralled with the riveting music and the emotional interviews. The creators interviewed relatives of the victims and asked them to recall how they felt during those years of unrest and how they felt about the arrest. This humanized the victims and I felt empathy, a feeling that could not have been provoked after reading a Wikipedia summary. The creators not only interviewed the victims, but also the FBI agents and police officers that were involved. The way they told the story made me feel as though I was with them trying gather evidence and ultimately catch the perpetrator. The interviews kept the story going, but the music and news reports made the podcast a horrifying reality. The creators included various reporters asking "It's 10pm, do you know where your kids are?". When I heard that, I felt truly afraid (and I don't scare easily). The podcast also included news reports of the missing children and the imprisonment of Williams. However, all of this would not have the same effect without the enticing music. The upbeat music matched perfectly with the police chase, while the melancholy music accompanied the emotional interviews and the revealing of the deaths. I could provide endless examples that show how well this podcast was made, but I don't want to ruin it for you. I also don't want you to be scared to listen to it. The horror of the crime itself is definitely frightening, however the podcast does more than just focus on the crime. It reveals the controversy over the arrest of Williams, who was only prosecuted for killing two adults. He never pleaded guilty to the child murders, and this made the people, even the victims' families, question if he was the true perpetrator. So, what I'm trying to say is, listen to the podcast because it dives deeper into the crime and asks if justice was truly attained. There have only been 3 episodes so far of the podcast; the creators are releasing one episode a week. So I urge you to listen to the first three and join me on this journey through history. Listening to this podcast is an experience I will never forget, and I didn't even have to get up from the sofa! |
AuthorHuda Aldadah |