As Kathleen found herself in unpretentious punk clubs surrounded by folks with no sense of shame, she learned a valuable lesson about herself. She may know a lot from books and a big brain, but she has no chill.

We sat down with Kathleen in her beautiful Sacramento home. She was a delight to talk with about her story; it was abundantly clear how different she is now from the person she was back then.

Aside from being a fantastic writer and storyteller, Kathleen is a professor, an Air Force veteran, and the founder of Veteran Women’s Voices, which supports women military veterans in California in developing the writing skills and confidence to express their unique experiences.

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Our photographer, Antonio Lovig.

Babalou and Suzon Lucore for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

Buy tickets to In a Nutshell on May 15

We also hope that you do Sacramento a favor and share this with everyone you know. This is a MUST-SEE event! And all your friends will be glad they came along. It doesn’t hurt that we have one of our most compelling themes of the entire 2026 season: Cults, Crackpots and Swindlers!

👉 Read about the May 15 show

🎟️ Get tickets at The Sofia

Share

Time Magazine ranked Snap Judgment as one of the best 100 podcasts of all time. Its host, Glynn Washington, uses it to give a fresh take on storytelling. Not only does he gather some of the most compelling stories ever told, but the episodes are masterfully mixed and edited with just the right music to take them to the next level. Some of the most beloved episodes include "24 Hours in Syria," "The Soundtrack of Silence," "Zoo Nebraska," and "The Real Black Klansman." Truly mind-blowing stories! The show has even been such a success that it spun off a different podcast called Spooked, a true-life supernatural storytelling show, which regularly tours large venues and gives big groups of people the chills! Last October, Glynn hosted a packed evening of scary stories at the legendary Paramount Theatre in Oakland.

Glynn is also an amazing storyteller, unlike anyone else. His stories are raw, unique, surprising and reflect his unusual upbringing and life experiences. For the upcoming In a Nutshell storytelling show on Friday, May 15, at the Sofia, Glynn is the perfect featured storyteller. The theme is Cults, Crackpots & Swindlers. he grew up in rural Michigan in the apocalyptic, white supremacist cult known as The Worldwide Church of God. He has quite a story about it!

Glynn is only one of three people in the world who have had three different podcasts hit #1 on the Apple charts at the same time. (Snap Judgment, Spooked, and his limited series, Heaven’s Gate...which is about a cult, and inspired the HBO docu-series Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults). Snap Judgment is such a big success; it airs on over 400 different NPR affiliate stations.

At the upcoming Nutshell show on May 15, he intends to bring his A-game and will be accompanied by three other masterful storytellers: JP Frary (a Nutshell fan favorite making his 8th appearance on the monthly show), as well as local comedians/storytellers Holly James and Johnny Taylor Jr. You can catch Glynn’s show Snap Judgment on CapRadio on Sundays at 3pm PST. He will be appearing on the CapRadio show Insight on Tuesday, May 12 at approx 12:30 pm PST to talk about his upcoming performance at In a Nutshell Storytelling.

Also be sure to listen to our latest episode of the Nutshell True Story Hour with local legend, John Aubert.

And please grab tickets to Wildcard on May 20. It’ll be our first show at our new venue, Teneral Cellars. We are going to have so much fun!

Subscribe now

The Night

📅 Friday, May 15, 2026

🕖 7pm (doors at 6pm)

📍 The Sofia, Sacramento

👥 Come alone, bring a friend, make it a night out. All are welcome!

If you’ve been to In a Nutshell before, you already know the rhythm: a room full of attentive humans, big laughs, reflective moments, and stories that don’t flatten life into easy lessons.

If you haven’t been yet, April is a great time to start.

🎟️ Tickets are available through The Sofia box office

(And yes, tickets are cheaper in advance than at the door.)

👉 Get tickets at The Sofia

Thank you story friends! We love you and look forward to seeing you in person.

And while each of these forms of transportation were mentioned. It was the automobile that was the focus of his story. There’s nothing quite like hitting the road and making good miles. That was the trip John thought was was having, until he noticed a few peculiar details on his journey. Humiliation ensued.

After the story, we sat down with John at the Sofia Theater to learn why this story was so embarrassing for him to tell on stage. Isn’t pain where all the best stories come from?

The Nutshell True Story Hour is presented by In a Nutshell Storytelling

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Babalou and Suzon Lucore for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

YOU can also subscribe for true stories and backstage conversations from the In a Nutshell community.

Subscribe now

What’s the appeal to hearing these seemingly outlandish tales? It’s a very similar reason why people are so drawn to true crime stories. It always feels unreal that it’s reality. And yet, it is. And the question many of us ask ourselves is, would I get sucked into a cult?

Not only that, but what is it like to be in a cult, and how do people get out of them? These are all endlessly fascinating questions. One that we hope to shed some light on at this month’s In a Nutshell storytelling show.

As the title of this month’s show suggests, it isn’t strictly about cults (Though that will be there). But the silimiarity in these stories has to do with how other people warp our realities, and the damaging effect that can have on our fragile souls.

The Storytellers

Glynn Washington

The host of the wildly popular show, Snap Judgment, Glynn Washington, grew up in the Worldwide Church of God, an apocalyptic, white supremacist religious cult. Holly Hell! There is an amazing story here

Holly James

Joining a charismatic religious group is all fun and games until reality bends to the point of breaking. Holly James has a lot to unpack at this upcoming show.

Johnny Taylor Jr.

What happens when your mother doesn’t have a solid grasp on reality? One thinks this might make dealing with the outside world…challenging. For Johnny, it led to him becoming one of our favorite storytellers/comedians.

JP Frary

JP Frary has lived many lives. But in one of them, he stole the image of a popular person in a different community to finally experience what it was like to be…popular. A bit of a cult of personality story

Host Keith “Not For Rehire” Jensen will be there guiding the night—and, as always, probably telling a story or two of his own along the way. Did you know he almost joined a cult when he was younger? We’re glad he didn’t!

The Night

📅 Friday, May 15, 2026

🕖 7pm (doors at 6pm)

📍 The Sofia, Sacramento

👥 Come alone, bring a friend, make it a night out. All are welcome!

If you’ve been to In a Nutshell before, you already know the rhythm: a room full of attentive humans, big laughs, reflective moments, and stories that don’t flatten life into easy lessons.

If you haven’t been yet, April is a great time to start.

🎟️ Tickets are available through The Sofia box office

(And yes, tickets are cheaper in advance than at the door.)

👉 Get tickets at The Sofia

We can’t wait to see you in real life, humans!

xoxo,

Amy Bee

(and her two totally awesome co-workers, Keith & Aaron)

If you enjoy what we’re building here, one of the most helpful ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack. That support helps us pay storytellers, keep live shows going, and keep producing our podcast (now called The Nutshell True Story Hour), which is free for everyone to enjoy.

No pressure at all, but it truly does make a difference.

xoxo, Amy

Subscribe now

When DNA came to In a Nutshell last year to tell his story of running for mayor, the theme was “It’s a beautiful day.” The reason it was a beautiful day for DNA was that he didn’t run his campaign(s) like a normal politician. There were pranks, publicity stunts and jokes. “Nudes for Nader” was one of the most famous publicity stunts that emerged from all of this. Some of it was designed to comment on the foul nature of American politics.

So, when we talked to DNA (In Chico, of course), we got quite philosophical in our conversation. The sour state of politics, the dumbing down of American culture and the hopelessness that any of it will ever get better. It’s a fun listen! Plus, we find out if he still wants to be the mayor of Chico.

The Nutshell True Story Hour is presented by In a Nutshell Storytelling

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Babalou and Suzon Lucore for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

SHOUT OUT to Frances Southwick for becoming a paid subscriber and supporting live storytelling! You’re our ride or die, Frances!

YOU can also subscribe for true stories and backstage conversations from the In a Nutshell community.

Subscribe now

We are approaching our fourth show of 2026. We went into this year wanting to continue to build community in Sacramento through storytelling. And guess what, Sacramento365 gave us a very nice review, and they pointed out exactly that!

“In a Nutshell does so much more than just provide entertainment; it connects people with the community. When the world, or even our own personal world, feels so out of control and inhumane, In a Nutshell provides a space for people to gain that humanity back.”

We hope that you come to our next show (April 17^th at The Sofia) and not only enjoy some excellent stories but also become part of this community we are building in Sacramento. And gosh darn it, make a new friend while you’re here!

This month, we have FIVE storytellers (you read that right) who come armed with work stories. We’ve all had that one job, that one boss, that one coworker, rule, regulation, protocol, or expectation that pushed us so far or was so inane, absurd, and unfair that it almost tipped us over from the decent folks we are and turned us into hair-pulling, foot stomping, spit-spewing, whirling dervishes hell bent on revenge or arson or, most-likely, a sitting-in-your-car-bawling social media rant. Basically, these will be VERY relatable stories.

Take This Job And #$%!

Featuring:

Jessica Robinson · Corey Rosen · Gloria Jones · Claire Hennessy · Mike Kornblatt

Hosted by the ever-lovely Keith Lowell Jensen (HI KEITH!)

This month, we have two beloved returnees, one first-time local, and two storytellers from different states. They will all take us through the multitude of emotions that get brought up at work.

If you want a preview (and a closer look at the tellers), you can read the invitation post here:

👉 Read about the April 17 show

🎟️ Get tickets at The Sofia

Ticket sales have been climbing steadily this year, so if you’re thinking about coming, advance purchase is the way to go. And yes, tickets are a little cheaper in advance than at the door.

WILDCARD! April 16

WILDCARD! is our slightly feral storytelling sibling. Same heart as Nutshell, but with a little more chaos and surprise.

This is a very special Wildcard. It will be our last show at Old Soul. We are having a party! Starting in May, we will be doing Wildcard at Teneral Cellars in midtown Sacramento. And it’ll be every third Wednesday of the month.

But also, this month’s Wildcard happened to land the day before our main show, so we are offering our special story friends an amazing deal! Purchase a ticket to our April 17 show at the Sofia, then email Nutshell Aaron your receipt (littleplasticmen@yahoo.com) and get a free ticket to our April 16 Wildcard show. Two nights of storytelling in a row! Can’t beat that.

That’s not all. Jessica Robinson, who will be performing on our main stage on April 17, will also be telling a different story at our April 16^th Wildcard show. You’ve got to go just to hear both of Jessica’s stories. She is coming all the way from Virginia to tell these fantastic tales.

If you’ve been thinking about telling a story of your own, get yer buns over here and put your name in the NOT HAT. This is the place for you!

🎟 Tickets + details here

The Nutshell True Story Hour

Our podcast keeps rolling along! The latest episode features Anne Rutherford, who told an enlightening story about realizing the guy she was with was totally wrong for her. All it took was some vocal peacocks at a silent meditation retreat for her to get the message.

If you haven’t listened yet, it’s a good one.

🎧 Listen to the Anne Rutherford episode

Next up:

April 15: DNA

DNA is a comedian/storyteller based out of Chico, California. He ran for Mayor of Chico five times! And well, that’s what his story is about. We get really philosophical on this episode, and DNA throws in several tales about famous comedians that are a bit fantastical.

Nutshell Friends Doing Cool Things

Why not get ready now for the Bay Area Storytelling Festival? On Sunday, April 26th, they’ll gather to celebrate the vibrant art of storytelling with nationally acclaimed featured tellers like Andy Offutt Irwin, Motoko, and Jasmin Cardenas. It’s a day of award-winning storytelling that brings the ancient art to life for modern audiences.

A small Amy update

Amy is in Spain as we speak, hiking the Camino de Santiago. We can’t wait for her to come back. And we hope that she will tell a story or two about her experience on the Nutshell stage.

Follow her adventure here: 👉 This Might Go Terribly | Amy Bee

Thanks, as always, for being part of this strange, wonderful little storytelling world we’re building together.

We cannot wait to see you in real life.

xoxo, Aaron Carnes (and Keith & Amy)

If you enjoy what we’re building here, one of the most helpful ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps us pay storytellers, pay ourselves, keep live shows going, and continue producing the Nutshell True Story Hour podcast for everyone to enjoy. No pressure, but it truly does make a difference.

And as always: showing up, listening, and bringing friends is already real support💜

Subscribe now

Our Ride or Dies:

“What if an umbrella could double as a STOP sign?” That question became a movement to help pedestrians stand out, feel seen, and cross with confidence. The STOP Umbrella is more than just an umbrella; it’s a collapsible STOP sign designed for real life. Curious to find out more? Go to STOP Umbrella and check it out! And thanks for being our Ride or Die!

Turns those creepy crawlies into a fiction! Find him at hansonpestcontrol.com

Looking for things to do in Sacramento?

Sacramento365 is your year-round resource for arts and entertainment in Sacramento County. From festivals and music to theatre and holiday events, you’ll always find something new to do in Sacramento. Visit Sacramento 365 to learn more. And thanks for being our Ride or Die!

Join the best storytelling ambassador we know, John Aubert, at LogOff Brewing for Capital Storytelling’s monthly in-person true storytelling open mic event, Do Tell! At this gathering, you’ll hear true personal stories told by regular folks just like you. In fact, he invites YOU, and anyone else who is interested, to put their name in his AWESOME GIANT HAT for a chance to tell a story.

(You’re receiving this email because you either signed up for it or interacted somehow with Keith, Amy, or Aaron in the past. We’re so glad you’re here!)

Anne Rutherford wasn’t booked on our show, In a Nutshell storytelling. But one of our storytellers got sick, and Anne—an audience member and professional storyteller—volunteered to replace her. Anne stole the show.

The theme that night was “Eureka,” and Anne immediately knew which story she wanted to tell. It involved love (of course), but more specifically, falling for the wrong person. Someone who didn’t seem to be all that interested in her, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him. It took a silent meditation retreat and witnessing the unusual behaviors of some roaming peacocks for Anne to say, “Eureka! This guy isn’t right for me!”

For this episode, we drove up to Anne’s beautiful house in Chico, CA, and discussed her story. We learned a bunch about other storytelling genres besides true and personal. Turns out, Anne does them all! In fact, one of her most popular characters, Clementine, made an appearance during the interview.

The Nutshell True Story Hour is presented by In a Nutshell Storytelling

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Babalou and Suzon Lucore for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

SHOUT OUT to Frances Southwick for becoming a paid subscriber and supporting live storytelling! You’re our ride or die, Frances!

YOU can also subscribe for true stories and backstage conversations from the In a Nutshell community.

Subscribe now

We’ve all had that one job, that one boss, that one coworker, rule, regulation, protocol, or expectation that pushed us so far or was so inane, absurd, and unfair that it almost tipped us over from the decent folks we are and turned us into hair-pulling, foot stomping, spit-spewing, whirling dervishes hell bent on revenge or arson or, most-likely, a sitting-in-your-car-bawling social media rant.

We, The Nutshell Three, totally understand your angst, and we’re here to give you a cathartic night of comeuppance, trash talk, fist-shaking, and hearty commiseration over how miserable our jobs can make us feel sometimes. We promise, by the end of the night, you’ll either be dusting off your resumes (or your half-written manuscripts, or maybe you’ll be calling up the members of your old high school ska band) for a new start or feel so drained and seen and validated that, FINE, you can make it back to work on Monday.

Grumble grumble.

The Storytellers

Jessica Robinson

When you want to be a movie director, a natural step on the ladder is to be an Assistant Director, right? For feature films in NYC, even? Great idea. Nothing can go wrong there, right? No big egos at all. Nope.

Corey Rosen

Getting fired from the local Post Office is probably the best way not to go postal, in our opinion. And who cares that your only option left is to work at the local Burger King now? Things can only go up from there, right? RIGHT?!

Gloria Jones

There’s nothing more exciting than being a college sophomore and getting hired by a promising startup. So what that the purveyor, his wife, his ex-wife, and his ex-wife’s lover all sure seem to have a lot of guns lying around. And all that counterfeit cash? Well, there’s probably a perfectly harmless explanation for all of it, right? We’re sure of it!

Claire Hennessy

Our first jobs are often at places we swear we will never work. But it only takes a few weeks of rejections before we’re back at that first place, taking work because beggars can’t be choosers. Some of us get lucky and find out the job we thought we’d hate is actually pretty fun. Until a new boss comes along and ruins everything. No problem, right? We can win that monster—I mean, boss—over, can’t we? It’ll all be fine, just fine!

Mike Kornblatt

A dentist doesn’t have stories about needing to take their job and tell it to #$%! right off, do they? Dentistry is safe, plain, and full of patient, competent coworkers and appreciative clients, yeah? I mean, everyone LOOOOOOVES dentists, don’t they? No problems in this profession, none at all!

Host Keith “Not For Rehire” Jensen will be there guiding the night—and, as always, probably telling a story or two of his own along the way. Did you know he has a lifetime and a comedy special about taking jobs and $%#!? Check it out here:

The Night

📅 Friday, April 17, 2026
🕖 7pm (doors at 6pm)
📍 The Sofia, Sacramento

👥 Come alone, bring a friend, make it a night out. All are welcome!

If you’ve been to In a Nutshell before, you already know the rhythm: a room full of attentive humans, big laughs, reflective moments, and stories that don’t flatten life into easy lessons.

If you haven’t been yet, April is a great time to start.

🎟️ Tickets are available through The Sofia box office
(And yes, tickets are cheaper in advance than at the door.)

👉 Get tickets at The Sofia

We can’t wait to see you in real life, humans!

xoxo,
Amy Bee
(and her two totally awesome co-workers, Keith & Aaron)

If you enjoy what we’re building here, one of the most helpful ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack. That support helps us pay storytellers, keep live shows going, and keep producing our podcast (now called The Nutshell True Story Hour), which is free for everyone to enjoy.

No pressure at all, but it truly does make a difference.
xoxo, Amy

Subscribe now

If you’ve seen Beau before, you already know: this is going to be fun.

Get tickets!

She’s spent years telling Sacramento’s food stories.

Now she’s telling one of her own.

Get tickets!

What we want to know is whether Anne does all her storytelling practice in the snack pantry!

Get tickets!

Keith first caught our attention at WILDCARD, and we knew we wanted him on the Nutshell stage.

We’re really glad he said yes.

Get Tickets!

Joe’s therapist suggested he do something that his sister loved. She’d always wanted to be on Survivor, so he applied. And he made it on. He finished third in season 48 and was so loved that he was invited to the All-Star season 50, which is currently airing.

Last September, Joe told his story on the Nutshell stage, where he shared how being a Survivor contestant simultaneously healed him and messed with his sense of reality. In this episode of the Nutshell True Story Hour, we dig into all these topics even deeper. Joe is an absolutely delightful human and was extremely gracious with us.

This podcast is free for everyone, and it’s made possible by our paid subscribers. If you’d like to support stories like Joe’s, becoming a paid subscriber helps us keep going. xoxo, Amy

Subscribe now

The Nutshell True Story Hour is presented by In a Nutshell Storytelling

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Babalou and Suzon Lucore for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

Imagine yourself in a crowd of people all laughing at the same moment. Then the room falls silent, sharing a lightning bolt of clarity or an emotional detail you all seem to understand instinctively, even if it’s a situation that hasn’t happened to you personally. This is a magical thing you’ve just experienced, and I’m telling you: it happens at every single Nutshell show.

We’re officially rolling into the heart of the storytelling season, and March is shaping up to be a really fun one. Our next In a Nutshell show is coming up on March 27, and this month’s theme is:

All You Can Eat

Featuring:

Anne Rutherford · Beau Ryder Davis · Steph Rodriguez · Keith Staten

Hosted by the ever-lovely Keith Lowell Jensen (HI KEITH!)

This lineup is a great mix of beloved audience favorites and exciting new voices, and the stories range from hilarious to reflective to surprising. The storytellers are taking us on a journey of all things food, whether it be the simple delight of finding the perfect dumpling (or is that just me?) or the complex ways food can inform our conception of ourselves and each other.

In fact, our connection to food is quite similar to storytelling, isn’t it? There’s nothing like getting to know someone through the kinds of cuisine they choose to share with you; the same goes for stories.

Food is where a lot of our stories come alive: stories about comfort, shame, belonging, family rules, pleasure, identity, and memory can all be embodied through food. And the storytellers this month bring four very different relationships to the ways food weaves itself into our lives.

If you want a preview (and a closer look at the tellers), you can read the invitation post here:

👉 Read about the March 27 show

🎟️ Get tickets at The Sofia

Ticket sales have been climbing steadily this year, so if you're thinking about coming, advance purchase is the way to go. And yes, tickets are a little cheaper in advance than at the door.

WILDCARD! March 19

WILDCARD! is our slightly feral storytelling sibling. Same heart as Nutshell, but with a little more chaos and surprise.

We’re still working on locking down a venue (the glamorous behind-the-scenes life of producing art!), but the show will happen.

Tickets are already available, and if, for some reason, we can’t make the venue piece fall into place, we’ll refund everyone immediately. Buying tickets helps show potential venues that people are interested in shows like WILDCARD!

If you’ve been thinking about telling a story of your own, get yer buns over here and put your name in the NOT HAT. This is the place for you!

🎟 Tickets + details here

The Nutshell True Story Hour

Our podcast keeps rolling along! The latest episode features Kimberlli Joy, telling a powerful story about confronting racism and realizing there’s nothing wrong with claiming one’s anger.

If you haven’t listened yet, it’s a good one.

🎧 Listen to the Kimberlli Joy episode

Next up:

March 18 Joe Hunter

Joe is a contestant on Survivor 48 and 50 (currently airing!), and he shared an incredible story at Nutshell about how Survivor forced him to accept the “shadow side” in all of us. It turns out the game really rattled Joe’s concepts of honesty, loyalty, and even how he defined himself, and it’s interesting to listen to his story and watch how this shake-up is still playing out, both on the show right now and possibly in his personal life.

You’ll want to hear this one, too!

Nutshell Friends Doing Cool Things

We love seeing storytellers from our community out in the world doing brave, beautiful things.

• John Aubert, one of our favorite story ambassadors, will be competing in the Moth GrandSLAM on March 14. Go John!

• One of our upcoming April storytellers, Jessica Robinson, is also the creator of the only national Women’s Storytelling Festival happening March 19-22, and you can attend virtually if you’d like to support. Our recent storyteller, Meghna Bhat, will be telling a story, as will the illustrious Regina Stoops.

• Why not get ready now for the Bay Area Storytelling Festival? On Sunday, April 26th, they’ll gather to celebrate the vibrant art of storytelling with nationally acclaimed featured tellers like Andy Offutt Irwin, Motoko, and Jasmin Cardenas. It’s a day of award-winning storytelling that brings the ancient art to life for modern audiences.

Storytelling communities grow because people show up for each other, and we love watching that happen.

A small Amy update

Some of you already know this, but I’ll be leaving in early April to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

All things Nutshell will continue while I’m gone; Keith and Aaron will be taking care of the show, and I have full confidence they will keep things running beautifully.

But if you see them after the show or even around town, maybe check in and make sure they’ve had water and snacks? Just saying.

If you’re curious about the walking, thinking, blisters, and general existential wanderings that may occur along the way, I’ll be writing about the journey over on my personal Substack (and I can use all the encouragement you care to give me!):

👉 This Might Go Terribly | Amy Bee

For now, though, we’ve got one more big night together before I head off across Spain.

And I really hope you’ll be there, humans, you know I do. 💜

Thanks, as always, for being part of this strange, wonderful little storytelling world we’re building together.

We cannot wait to see you in real life.

xoxo, Amy Bee (and the very capable Keith & Aaron)

If you enjoy what we’re building here, one of the most helpful ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps us pay storytellers, pay ourselves, keep live shows going, and continue producing the Nutshell True Story Hour podcast for everyone to enjoy. No pressure, but it truly does make a difference.

And as always: showing up, listening, and bringing friends is already real support💜

Subscribe now

Our Ride or Dies:

“What if an umbrella could double as a STOP sign?” That question became a movement to help pedestrians stand out, feel seen, and cross with confidence. The STOP Umbrella is more than just an umbrella; it’s a collapsible STOP sign designed for real life. Curious to find out more? Go to STOP Umbrella and check it out! And thanks for being our Ride or Die!

Looking for things to do in Sacramento?

Sacramento365 is your year-round resource for arts and entertainment in Sacramento County. From festivals and music to theatre and holiday events, you’ll always find something new to do in Sacramento. Visit Sacramento 365 to learn more. And thanks for being our Ride or Die!

Join the best storytelling ambassador we know, John Aubert, at LogOff Brewing for Capital Storytelling’s monthly in-person true storytelling open mic event, Do Tell! At this gathering, you’ll hear true personal stories told by regular folks just like you. In fact, he invites YOU, and anyone else who is interested, to put their name in his AWESOME GIANT HAT for a chance to tell a story.

(You’re receiving this email because you either signed up for it or interacted somehow with Keith, Amy, or Aaron in the past. We’re so glad you’re here!)

This wasn’t Kim’s first experience dealing with white people resorting to racial epithets at the drop of a hat; she had grown up in Boston, after all, and she had been schooled her whole life on how to deal with such things. And being a young Black woman, the pressure to at all times make sure no one—no one!—would ever perceive her as angry was ingrained in her like a second skin. Kim was well-versed in turning the other cheek.

But not this night. Cheeks were no longer being turned. Kim was going to stand up for herself and her sister, perceptions be damned. Weren’t those perceptions built to keep her down, anyway? No more.

It’s an experience that she and her sister now look back on fondly. And when we interviewed Kim about the story, she told us, “I like that person,” referring to herself. We all do!

Kimberlli can be seen and heard across multiple stages and is here on Substack. She is currently working on a solo show. Let’s all go support her!

The Nutshell True Story Hour is presented by In a Nutshell Storytelling

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Babalou and Suzon Lucore for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

If you enjoy these stories, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps us pay storytellers, our sound engineer, ourselves, and keeps us sharing true stories with everyone.

Subscribe now

At first glance, All You Can Eat sounds like it might be about meals, buffets, indulgence, or excess. And yes, food shows up. But this month’s stories aren’t just about what’s on the plate. They’re about what food teaches us about our bodies. About belonging. About control, comfort, and shame. All You Can Eat reveals the rules we absorb early and the stories we tell ourselves long after the table is cleared.

All You Can Eat is an evening of true, personal storytelling about the strange, funny, revealing ways food weaves itself into our lives and relationships.

And like all great storytelling, these stories work best when heard in a room full of other people listening, laughing, and recognizing themselves in one another.

We can’t wait to see you there, humans!

The Storytellers

Four voices take the stage on March 27, each bringing a very different relationship to food, family, and self-understanding:

Keith Staten

Keith tells a dramatic, emotionally layered story fueled by how food is connected to shame, complicity, and the complicated ways we learn how to treat the people closest to us.

Anne Rutherford

Anne shares a (mostly) funny childhood story about resorting to desperate measures to evade the wrath of a tyrannical cook.

Steph Rodriguez

A beloved Sacramento voice and first-time Nutshell storyteller, Steph shares a journey of loss, resilience, and discovery from childhood upheaval to finding her voice through journalism and food writing, eventually passing that sense of curiosity and connection on to her son.

Beau Ryder Davis

An audience favorite, Beau brings a characteristically hilarious story rooted in his college years and a developing binge habit. Funny, candid, and unmistakably Beau.

Together, these stories form a night that feels playful on the surface and resonant underneath, the kind of evening where you laugh yer butt off and then find yourself thinking about it later. It’s going to be a great night!

The Night

📅 Friday, March 27, 2026
🕖 7pm (doors at 6pm)
📍 The Sofia, Sacramento
👥 Come alone, bring a friend, make it a night out. All are welcome!

If you’ve been to In a Nutshell before, you already know the rhythm: a room full of attentive humans, big laughs, reflective moments, and stories that don’t flatten life into easy lessons.

If you haven’t been yet, March is a really good place to start.

🎟️ Tickets are available through The Sofia box office
(And yes, tickets are a little cheaper in advance than at the door.)

Get tickets at The Sofia

We can’t wait to see you in real life, humans!

xoxo,
Amy Bee
(and her All-You-Can-Eat pals, Keith & Aaron)

If you enjoy what we’re building here, one of the most helpful ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack. That support helps us pay storytellers, keep live shows going, and keep producing our podcast (now called The Nutshell True Story Hour), which is free for everyone to enjoy.

No pressure at all, but it truly does make a difference.
xoxo, Amy

Subscribe now

xoxo, Amy and her chosen family, Keith and Aaron

Photographs by Antonio Lovig

Leave a comment

We had about 24 hours to do it.

We moved WILDCARD! to Wild Sisters Book Co., sent messages as fast as we could, crossed our fingers, and hoped people would find us.

And they did.

People showed up.
They listened closely.
They told brave, funny, thoughtful stories.

It turned out to be a fantastic night!

WILDCARD exists to make space for community voices, to encourage and show through practice that stories don’t need perfection, but they do deserve intention. And sometimes that intention looks like choosing values over convenience, even when it’s uncomfortable, messy, or last-minute.

We’re grateful to Wild Sisters Book Co. for opening their doors, and to every human who adjusted plans, followed our breadcrumbs, and helped turn a sudden pivot into a really special night.

Here are a few moments from the room.

This is our first episode of the Nutshell True Story Hour!

It’s kind of like our previous podcast Prompt, but better, more refined (read: sound engineer, ooh-la-la), and destined to be your favorite podcast of all time.

Every episode, we share with you one of our favorite stories told live at our show, In a Nutshell Storytelling, followed by a conversation with the storyteller about how that story came to be.

For our first episode, we bring you Bay Area storytelling celebrity Corey Rosen, who, for our theme “Bullies,” shared a funny, insightful story about losing his cool one day while driving his kids to school. Anyone who has had to drop their kids off knows the situation is already rife with potential miscommunication, frazzled nerves, and entitled, impatient parents ready to point fingers at anyone except themselves. Throw in a guy just trying to get 14 meaningful minutes with his kids (and yeah, maybe Corey has a touch of the instigator in him), and, well, yep. Someone’s gonna get punched in the face.

Like most well-told stories, Corey’s doesn’t give us an obvious good guy or bad guy. Instead, he presents us with imperfect people reacting in their own imperfect ways. And when Corey sat down with us later, he gained a fresh perspective on a story he’s told many times before.

Corey Rosen is the host of The Moth Storyslam in Berkeley, CA, as well as Simply Said in Larkspur. He is also the author of Your Story, Well Told & A Story for Everything.

The Nutshell Story Hour is presented by In a Nutshell Storytelling

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Babalou for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

If you’re enjoying The Nutshell True Story Hour, one of the best ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber.

Your support helps us pay storytellers, pay our sound engineer (ooh-la-la indeed), keep live shows going, and continue sharing these stories freely with the world.

We believe true stories should be accessible and paid subscribers make that possible. Thank you for being here.

Subscribe now

Our paid subscribers make this podcast possible! Ed Lewis, Holly James, Kathleen Taylor, Kevin Woodruff, Ashley Berenstein, Lori B, John McAvoy, Jolene Lavine, Abigail Hoiland (Thanks, RIDE or DIE!), Wendy Jordan

(And yes, I read every single comment and message. Come say hi! xoxo, Amy)