Episode 20: Washed Up

Sometimes, you just outgrow your surroundings. When we try to come back to a familiar place that we’ve already outgrown, we feel washed up. In Episode 20, two storytellers share the times they experienced just that. First, Kathryn Bezella will tell us what it felt like to star in a children’s musical. Then, Christopher Illuminati will share a story about the time he visited his alma mater with his infant son.

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Episode 18: Crushes

Crushes start young, but they keep coming back. Perhaps your felt your first romantic crush in elementary school, and no doubt you continued to crush on people as you grew into adulthood. In Episode 18 of Story Shuffle, we share some crush experiences. First, Kathryn Bezella will tell us about the time she dated the star of her favorite teen movie. Then, Patrick McNeil will tell us about his first like — ever.

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Episode 7: India

It’s one of the biggest and most populous countries in the world. It is as diverse as countries are. And we’ll offer two different perspectives in Episode Seven of Story Shuffle, the weekly, first-draft storytelling podcast, with a theme of India. First, we hear Indian-born Archna Sahay talk about growing up an immigrant kid and building a bubble elsewhere. Next, we’ll hear Kathryn Bezella tell the story about two different versions of traveling in India, business and explorative.

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Episode #2: Phone Calls with Mom

The theme of the second episode of weekly first-draft storytelling podcast Story Shuffle is “Phone Calls with Mom.” Everyone has a special kind of relationship with her mom. Good, bad or other, the dynamics insist it is so. This week we have two stories about people with their own unique relationships with mom. First, social worker Michael O’Bryan recalls growing up ‘kinda poor’ and how that has influenced how he works with youth. Second, Kathryn Bezella, an academic executive, tells of her relationship with a bit of family folklore in Wisconsin as told in 2012.

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Philadelphia Podcast Festival — Story Shuffle live Thurs. Aug 1 at PhilaMOCA

Check out PhillyPodFest.com for details.

The live Story Shuffle will take place Thurs. Aug. 1 at 8pm as part of the three day Philadelphia Podcast Festival. Check out the lineup for Story Shuffle.

• R. Eric Thomas, a playwright and stand-up dramedian, has been hailed as “one of the best storytellers in Philly” by the Philadelphia Weekly.  Eric has read or performed throughout the country, including on the wildly successful RISK! podcast and at the 2011 TEDxPhilly conference. He lives in South Phillly. Visit him at rEricthomas.com.
• Eric Smith is the marketing director at Old City publishing company Quirk Books, author of the forthcoming ‘Geek’s Guide to Dating’ and cofounder of local culture blog Geekadelphia.com. He lives in Rittenhouse.
• Kathryn Bezella is a senior director of admissions at the Wharton School, a fiction writer and member of the Backyard Writers Group at the Kelly Writers House. She lives in West Philly.
• Lansie Sylvia is a communications director at EHL Consulting, a frequent First Person Arts Story Slam storyteller and cofounder of the Philly Give & Get experiential charity date auction.
• Patrick McNeil is a resource coordinator for social services nonprofit Resources for Human Development, a short fiction writer and member of the Backyard Writers Group at the Kelly Writers House. He lives in Fishtown.
• Christopher Wink is the cofounder and editor of Technical.ly Philly and its network of local technology news sites and events, including Philly Tech Week. In May 2010, he began the every-other-month storytelling event StoryShuffle.com and frequently writes and speaks. Visit him at ChristopherWink.com.

Toad House: Kathryn

Kathryn and her relationship with her mother.

Download here.

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