StoryNight: Spring 2018

Wednesday, June 6 2018             
7 pm to 9 pm
Elliott Program Center
Free and open to the public.

Ever wondered what incredible stories your peers might have?
Or what lead them to where they are at now?

Join us for an unforgettable evening of live storytelling on Wednesday, June 6 at the Elliott Program Center! Students will perform stories they’ve developed throughout the quarter in the course StoryCraft, taught by TAPS faculty and improv guru Dan Klein and director Michelle Darby.

There are two shows, one at 7 pm and another at 9 pm (each one hour long), featuring different students. Come to both if you can!

StoryNight is free and open to the public. Come early: chai and desserts will be served before the performance!


Survival

Sometimes you have to keep your head down to stay alive.

This is a show about playing the cello in the darkest hour, and returning to the site of the fire, and keeping your head down to stay alive. This is a show about what happens when the sun goes down, and when you get lost in the mall, and when you pick up the phone because you have nowhere left to turn.

This is a show about the terrible and the beautiful. This is a show about survival.

Producers: Jett Hayward, Bella Lazzareschi, Elisabeth Dee, Stephanie Niu, Cathy Wong, Dylan Cunningham, Hannah Nguyen, Jackson Roach, Melina Walling, Alec Glassford, Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, Sam Greenspan, and Jonah Willinghanz.

Release date: 25 April 2018


Story 1: Santa Rosa

After the Santa Rosa fires, Bella revisits her childhood home.

Producer: Bella Lazzareschi
Music: As Fast As You Can Happen, junior85

Story 2: The Brink

What is it like to be LGBTQ+ in a Mormon community?

Producer: Elisabeth Dee
Featuring: Kimberly Anderson, Dean Stonehocker
Music: Ambient Pad by Karma-Ron, Melancholic Haze by FoolBoyMedia, I’m Trying To Be Like Jesus by Emily Brown, Love One Another by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Dark Water by Podington Bear, Fathomless – Ambient by Podington Bear, Calm Synthesizer, B by InspectorJ

Story 3: The Blue Time

A psychologist searches for the secret to survival in a town where the sun doesn’t rise for 50 days.

Producers: Stephanie Niu, Jett Hayward
Featuring: Kari Liebowitz and Jonas Björklund
Music: Sombra by Zé Trigueiros, Soft Euphoria by Lee Rosevere, Playmate by Podington Bear, Everybody Wants Gold and a Mermaid by Tony Higgins, Cylinder Three by Chris Zabriskie, Cylinder Nine by Chris Zabriskie, gaël by johnny_ripper

Story 4: The Misinformation Effect

Chris Coan remembers being lost in the mall, but we all have our stories.

Producer(s): Dylan Cunningham, Jett Hayward, Cathy Wong
Featuring: Dr. James Coan, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, Chris Coan
Music: bj.b (re:construction)_ remix by ono by -ono-, An opener by Bitbasic, Stealth Elk by Bitbasic, Pattern 4 (Version 10) by Cyan341, Datalinks (Line remix) by Posthuman, c by Gallery Six, m by Gallery Six, k by Gallery Six, Upward by junior85, Action Discovery by Komiku, may by SHOMOMOSE

Archival Sound: Rewriting History, Out in the Open, CBC Radio; Archival interview with Chris Coan provided by Jim Coan

Story 5: The Jane Collective

In an era when abortion was illegal, a group of women took matters into their own hands.

Producer: Hannah Nguyen
Featuring: Jeanne Galatzer-Levy, Martha Scott, Judith Arcana
Music: Universe in the Bath by Letmeknowyouanatole, Illumination I by Letmeknowyouanatole, Choose Another Way by Letmeknowyouanatole, Weightlessness by Daniel Birch, Absolutely Sweet Marie by Bob Dylan

Archival Sound: Roe v. Wade, Oyez, 1973 CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite (1/22/73), CBS, Third Presidential Debate Highlights | Trump, Clinton on Abortion, ABC News, Speaker Ryan’s Remarks at the March for Life, Speaker Paul Ryan, House’s 20-week abortion ban heads to the Senate, Fox News

SURVIVAL BONUS: Archival Tape Compilation

The Survival episode contains a collection of found archival sounds. These pieces of tape, on the theme of survival, have themselves survived the passage of time. Preserved fragments of another time, they remind us that human beings have always been survivors. This is a standalone collection of those fragments of tape.


Speculation

What can we know about the future? And where do we look? We plan ahead by speculating. We can’t imagine not imagining the next hour, the next day, the next email. In this show we look at the nature of guessing, of predicting, and what that can tell us about the future. And the past.

Host: Yue Li
Producers:​​ ​Chris Leboa, Cameron Tenner, Yue Li, Claudia Heymach, Noelle Chow, Sam Kargilis, Risa Cromer, Sam Greenspan
Release date: 11 April 2018


Story 1: Miner Threat

Meet the last Bitcoin miners of Stanford.

Producer: Sam Kargilis
Music (from Free Music Archive): Curves, Jhhhzzr

Story 2: Vanishing Vaccines

During the 2017-2018 flu season over 60 million Americans were infected with influenza and an estimated 50,000 died. Why has there been so much sickness when a vaccine does exist? Producer Chris LeBoa investigates the process and guesswork that goes into creating the flu shot each year and what is being done to take guesswork out of future vaccines.

Producer: Chris LeBoa
Featuring: Corrie Dekkar, Julie Parsonnet, Julie Fogarty

Story 3: The Coming Storm

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Houstonians Yue and Claudia wonder how future storms can be predicted. And if they can be predicted, whose responsibility is it to protect Houston?

Producers: Yue Li, Claudia Heymach, Noelle Chow
Featuring: Jeff Lindner, Jim Blackburn
Music (from freesound.org): vision- ambient gamelan by that jeff carter, Ambient Drone Solfeggio by Headphaze, Cosmos by pointpark cinema, cyclone hurricane hugo by solostud

Story 4: My Dear Melville

Herman Melville’s “great American novel,” Moby Dick, has fascinated, entertained, bored, and horrified audiences for the past 150 years, but … is Moby Dick gay? Was Herman Melville caught up in a same-sex-love affair? Producer Cameron Tenner searches for answers and learns about exploring queerness in the past.

Producer: Cameron Tenner
Featuring: Mark Beauregard, Kyla Schuller
Music: Cylinder Five by Chris Zabriskie, Gentle Chase by Podington Bear, Skeptic by Podington Bear, Vanagon by Podington Bear, Little Black Cloud by Podington Bear, Waltz for an Imaginary Piano by Johnny Ripper, Lonesome by Podington Bear, Lucky Stars by Podington Bear, In My Head by Podington Bear, Sensitive by Podington Bear, Whaling Song by Paul Clayton


What The Future Holds: A Conversation with Author Walter Mosley

May 15, 2018 | 7 – 8:30 pm
CEMEX Auditorium
Free and open to the public. General admission, no reservations required.

Novelist and social commentator Walter Mosley is one of the most powerful and prolific writers working in any genre today. He is the author of more than 40 books, ranging from the crime novel to literary fiction, nonfiction, political essay, young adult, and science fiction.

After a short reading by Mosley, he will be in conversation with Scott Hutchins, lecturer in Creative Writing. Topics will include Mosley’s views on writing, the state of the union, and his approaches for imagining the future. A Q&A will follow the conversation. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Novelist and social commentator WALTER MOSLEY is one of the most powerful and prolific writers working in any genre today. He is the author of more than 40 books, ranging from the crime novel to literary fiction, nonfiction, political essay, young adult, and science fiction. The New York Review of Books called him “a literary master as well as a master of mystery,” and The Boston Globe declared him “one of the nation’s finest writers.”

Mosley’s fiction tracks the African American experience from the migration from the Deep South to post-Obama election-era New York City. His characters are the sorts of “fully formed, complex black men who have been absent from much of contemporary literature,” he says.

Several of Mosley’s books have been adapted for film and television, with new projects in development at FX, Cinemax, and HBO. To adapt his works for television and feature films, Mosley teamed up with producer Diane Houslin to create his own production house, Best of Brooklyn Filmhouse.  With over a dozen entries, his Easy Rawlins detective series began with Devil in a Blue Dress, which was made into a feature film starring Denzel Washington. His latest Rawlins mystery, Charcoal Joe, was released in June 2016.

His upcoming novel, Down the River Unto the Sea, centers on a former New York City police detective turned Brooklyn PI, and is slated for a February 2018 release.

The first African-American to serve on the board of directors of the National Book Awards, Mosley has received an O’Henry Award, The Sundance Risktaker Award, a Grammy, and two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work. In 2016, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Annual Edgar Awards and was named the first African-American “Grand Master” by the Mystery Writers of America.


An Evening with Brandon Stanton

Wed, April 4, 2018 | 7:00 – 8:30 pm PDT
CEMEX Auditorium

Brandon Stanton shares his journey of personal growth and discovery, and uncovers the stories behind the stories featured on Humans of New York, powerfully illustrating the value of sharing your experiences.

As the founder of the street portrait blog, Humans of New York, Brandon has emerged as a worldwide Internet phenomenon and one of today’s most influential storytellers. With millions of social media followers, his individual story, like those on HONY, illustrates the power of the Internet, the value of storytelling, and our desire to remain connected with real people in a tech-driven world.

Brandon’s gift for storytelling has since spawned two best-selling books, “Humans of New York,” which spent 45 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, and “Humans of New York: Stories,” released in 2015. On stage, he candidly shares his own personal story, and the perspective he has gained since embarking on his journey to help others tell theirs. Listeners take away a renewed appreciation for the power of one person and one idea to inspire millions, and encouragement to be a force for good and contribute something meaningful to the world.