Off The Page

In the spring of 2020, Stanford University made the decision to cut 11 of their varsity teams due to financial issues and lack of success. This episode follows the men’s wrestling team and their coaches in the months following the decision to cut their team as they navigate the challenges of fighting for their spot back.

As an added bonus to our Reclaiming series, we’re including conversations with the creators who made them to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the craft of audio storytelling. In this episode, Alex Strong talks with Aru Nair, the creator of Journey Through Generations, the second story in our Reclaiming series.

In this episode, the 2nd in our Reclaiming What's Been Lost series, Aru Nair goes on a journey to India to understand how oral tradition preserves cultures. But when a surprise trip to her father's home town shows her a side if him she's never seen, she emerges with a new understanding of how the stories we tell shape the people we become.

Little Tokyo is a small neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. Since 1905, it has been home to generations of Japanese Americans. Today, gentrification is threatening to destroy everything these families have built. This episode tells the story of one community's struggle for survival and the ways in which historical development has both fractured and solidified its people. For some, home is a bed one sleeps in. For us, home is Little Tokyo.

Eating is one of life’s great pleasures, but what about the pleasures that come with sharing your food with others? In this episode, we’re looking at how the act of feeding can bring people together. We’ll hear the tale of an unlikely pet, a meditation on cannibalism, and a story about children on a rooftop garden in San Francisco.

What do we gain from gathering? In this episode, we’re thinking about how coming together can change us. We’ll hear about a citizen-led clean-up movement in India, a Bay Area artist who forms an unlikely friendship with a church in Colorado, and a student who experiences the power of connection at a living museum on Stanford campus. Producers: Isabella Tilley, Tanvi Dutta Gupta, Regina Ta, Adesuwa Agbonile, Aparna Verma, Victoria Yuan, Patricia Wei, Hannah Scott, Jenny March Featuring stories produced by Tanvi Dutta Gupta, Regina Ta, and Adesuwa Agbonile. The stories feature the work of the Experience Sankofa Project (Venus Morris, Mizan Alkebulan-Abakah, Sizwe Andrews-Abakah), the artwork of Stanford professor Enrique Chagoya, and the grassroots-organized Ugly Indian Movement in Bangalore, India. Also featured in these stories are the voices of Frank Omowale Satterwhite, Jeanette Smith-Laws, Dereca Blackmon, and Persis Drell. “Le Songe d’Halcohii” - Sunhiilow - From There to Here “Awakenings” - Ketsa “C

This episode investigates the act of preserving, a decision made in the present, regarding the past, looking towards the future. What can we learn from what we choose to preserve? What does preserving reveal about our values? Producers: Cat Fergesen, Karen Ge, Regina Kong, Liv Jenks, Andy Lee, Lola McAllister, Carolyn Stein, Allie Wollner, and Grace Zhang Music: Traveler by Alexander Nakarada http://oroclick.com/Celtic-music/3_Traveler.php Teals Descending Upon the Level Sand, Lo Ka Ping: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lo_Ka_Ping/Lost_Sounds_of_the_Tao/lokapingtealsmp3 Mountain Breeze, Purple Planet https://www.purple-planet.com/mountain-breeze

We visit five places on campus where future doctors are learning how to practice medicine. We’re going to real classrooms: anatomy lab and wet lab, lecture halls, we visit a Stanford Free Clinic, bike across campus to the mausoleum, and head down the road to Webb Ranch. We’re asking: How are students learning to practice medicine, thoughtfully? Producers: Victoria Yuan, Aparna Verma, JJ Kapur, Sarah Griffin, Esha Dhawan, Linda Liu, Christy Hartman, and Gaby Li

What ideas exist behind material objects? In this episode, we’re going to look at stuff—things we can see or hear or touch—to try to understand the intangible, like memory, history, and bias. Producers: Adesuwa Agbonile, Jett Hayward, Yue Li, Jenny March, Isabella Tilley, Melina Walling, Val Gamao

In this episode, we’re going to think about death. All things must come to an end, but that does not mean death is all ending. We ask -- what can death teach us about life? Featuring special reflections on death at the beginning and end of the show by Lazarre and Simone Elias, aged 6 and 9. Producers: Aparna Verma, Isabella Tilley, Will Shan, Lena Lee, Regina Kong, Alessandra Wollner Show Music: Téki (with Les Gauchers Orchestra), Lee Maddeford, Instrumentals kate bush, johnny_ripper, epilogue.

In this episode, we search for myths in the modern world. We ask-- where are monsters hiding, and who created them? What do the myths we circulate say about ourselves? Producers: Claudia Heymach, Morgan Canaan, Sophie McNulty, Ben Schwartz, Jett Hayward, Michaela Elias, Christy Hartman, Jake Warga, Jenny March Music:

Stories about being alone, wanting to be alone, or feeling alone. What is that place we go to to protect ourselves? How and why achieve seclusion? Producers: Yue Li, Sofia Sanchez-Luege, Jett Hayward, Stephanie Niu, Sienna White and Adesuwa Agbonile. http://storytelling.stanford.edu

Description: In this episode we ride the radio waves. We listen closely, digging deep in the static to hear stories of people following radio waves, of bouncing radio waves, but mainly stories of people listening to the voices. Producers: Cathy Wong ,Cameron Tenner, Victoria Yuan, Yue Li, Neel Thaker, Christopher LeBoa, Jackson Roach

We name people, places, and things out of necessity, but the labels we choose take on the weight of history, culture, and identity. In this episode, we talk about the names we use, and why they matter.

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.

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 Featuring: Corrie Dekkar, Julie Parsonnet, Julie Fogarty, Jeff Lindner, Jim Blackburn, Mark Beauregard, Kyla Schuller Story 1: Miner Threat Meet the last Bitcoin miners of Stanford. Producer: Sam Kargilis Music (from Free Music Archive): Curves, Jhhhzzr Story 2: Vanquishing 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 g

How do we take care of the past after it turns to ash? We visit with families digging through the rubble of their homes in Sonoma after the fires as they sift for memories. This episode asks how we care for people, and what to do if there's no obvious path to healing. Along the way, we meet a midwife, some worms, and a daughter caring for her mother and herself. Host: Claudia Heymach Producers: Claudia Heymach, Crystal Escolero, Emma Heath, Bella Lazzareschi, Helvia Taina, Sarah Jiang, Eileen Williams Featuring: Roshni Thachil, Ronnie Falcoa, Claire Mollard, Josh Weil Show music: "The Flight of the Lulu" by Possimiste Story 1: Midwife Crisis We don’t always think of caretaking in a professional terms, but for a homebirth midwife, the emotional and physical wellbeing of others is the whole job. Producer: Emma Heath Featuring: Ronnie Falcoa Story 2: From the Ashes We went to Sonoma County after the fires to help residents dig through the rubble of their homes. Along the way, we asked about what they took

We hear a lot about immigrants. In this episode, we hear from immigrants – not as statistics, but as individual human beings crossing borders. Oscar gets deported and tries to return home. Maddie comes to terms with her family relationships. And Nisrin enters the U.S. from Sudan after the first travel ban takes effect. In this episode, stories of crossing. This is part one of a two part series. Host: Noelle Chow Producers:​​ ​Carissa​ ​Cirelli,​ ​Noelle​ ​Chow,​ ​Jett​ ​Hayward,​ ​An-Li​ ​Herring,​ ​Julia​ ​Ingram,​ ​Louis​ ​Lafair,​ ​Rosie LaPuma,​ ​Yue​ ​Li,​ ​Jenny​ ​March,​ ​Kate​ ​Nelson,​ ​Jackson​ ​Roach,​ ​Helvia​ ​Taina,​ ​Melina​ ​Walling,​ ​Jake​ ​Warga, Eileen​ ​Williams,​ ​Cathy​ ​Wong Show​ ​Music:​​ ​​johnny_ripper (Links to this show's music and sound sources can be found at https://storytelling.stanford.edu) Story 1: Oscar Oscar gets deported. He’s determined to come back, no matter what. Producers: Kate Nelson, Carissa Cirelli, and Jackson Roach 
Featuring: Oscar
 Music: "Delican't" b

Immigrating is a conversation that happens across borders, generations, and versions of oneself. Grace and Justin talk across political differences. Unknown workers who forged the Transcontinental Railroad receive a new voice. Solmaz writes poetry to orient herself in the world. And Frankie and Francisco reflect on growing up in a new place. This is part two of a two-part series. Host: Cathy Wong Producers:​​ ​Carissa​ ​Cirelli,​ ​Noelle​ ​Chow,​ ​Jett​ ​Hayward,​ ​An-Li​ ​Herring,​ ​Julia​ ​Ingram,​ ​Louis​ ​Lafair,​ ​Rosie LaPuma,​ ​Yue​ ​Li,​ ​Jenny​ ​March,​ ​Kate​ ​Nelson,​ ​Jackson​ ​Roach,​ ​Helvia​ ​Taina,​ ​Melina​ ​Walling,​ ​Jake​ ​Warga, Eileen​ ​Williams,​ ​Cathy​ ​Wong Show​ ​Music:​​ ​​johnny_ripper (Links to this show's music and sound sources can be found at https://storytelling.stanford.edu) Story 4: Grace and Justin Grace and Justin send each other letters. Producers: Cathy Wong and Kate Nelson
 Featuring: Justin Hsuan and Grace
 Music: "When in the West," "Sage the Hunter," and "Dron

Sometimes, marching steadily through the steps of life—we crash right into something entirely unexpected. In one instant, the entire world changes, without even a word of warning. When a crash comes, that collision can destroy everything. But it can wake us up to what we truly need; we must decide what to raze and what to rebuild. How do humans move forward before the smoke is cleared? What happens after the crash? Host: Eileen Williams Producers: Eileen Williams, Claudia Heymach, Jackson Roach, Megan Calfas, Alex Cheng, Noelle Li Syn Chow, Jake Warga Featuring: Eddie Mazon, Michael Peskin, Miles Traer, Dr. David Radler, Dan Klein, Dehan Glanz Show music: "Darger's strawberry" by Exteenager, "opening credits" by Johnny Ripper (Links to this show's music and sound sources can be found at storytelling.stanford.edu) Story 1: SLACing off Dr. Michael Peskin works in the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, home of the world’s longest linear accelerator. At SLAC, researchers crash X rays and particles, and