Hello, story friends! September’s “The Long Way Home” was a beautiful night, and it was so good to see all of you in person. Ready to go somewhere a little darker?
Before anything else, mark your calendar because we’re two weeks early this month. DARK HEARTS is on Friday, October 16, not the last Friday like usual. I’ll probably repeat this a whole bunch of times because I don’t want a single one of you to miss this show. Our Storyteller Spotlights will come out a bit quicker than normal, too.
One more thing to know: there’s no November show. After October 16, the next time we’re all together is December 12, so this one matters because I’m going to miss you. (WANT TO SEE US IN NOVEMBER? Check out our open mic’s Grandslam: Shiny Thing Showcase!)
October 16 brings us DARK HEARTS: true stories from the parts of the heart we don’t easily put on display.
Dark Hearts
The Four Haunted Storytellers:
Ingrid Nixon
is a retired National Park Service ranger and an award-winning, world-traveling storyteller who loves to whisk listeners away on journeys of the imagination. Exploration nail-biters, lies, ghosts, traditional and personal stories... she tells them all. From Antarctica to the North Pole, Ingrid’s 40+ years in expedition tourism have taken her on a magic-carpet ride around the planet. She produces and hosts Story Borealis, a program dedicated to the art of storytelling on NPR’s KBBI Public Radio in Homer, Alaska. She holds an MA in storytelling from East Tennessee State University. Alaska is home. More at IngridNixon.com.
Her story: An ordinary day turns curious, and a series of events brings a beloved father back into the room.
Liv Styler
is a Chicana journalist focused on telling stories at the intersection of art, culture, and the social sciences. She fights for radical joy, BAMN. She feels the world is her oyster, but, ironically, she is allergic to shrimp and, unrelated, has never met a cup of coffee she didn’t like. Liv is a finalist for the Ida B. Wells Investigative Journalism Fellowship, serves on the board of the Institute for Independent Journalists, and is an active member of the Association of Raza Educators. She has bylines in Business Insider, Stacker, MSN, Miami Herald, The Courier, Alta Journal, Comstock’s Magazine, The Sacramento Bee, The Americano, Nuestro Stories, Submerge Magazine, and others.
Her story: The death of her father prompts Liv to search back through the paternal lineage of policemen and overseers, men whose jobs placed them on the side of somebody else’s suffering, until she reaches her grandfather RJ . . . and the part of his life nobody had passed down. What she finds are the dark hearts that can beat at the center of families, how that darkness preserves itself through silence, and how a strange, stubborn goodness can grow when one person finally turns the light on.
Regina Stoops
is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, writer, and co-producer of the online storytelling platform Six Feet Apart Productions. Her stories have been heard on the Risk! podcast, The Moth Grand Slam stage, NPR’s Story Borealis, Unreeling Stories, and the Women’s Storytelling Festival. Regina uses storytelling as her weapon of choice to help tackle diversity, adversity, and suburban chaos.
Her story: a mother, a son who loves horror, and the ridiculous lengths a parent will go to just to see their kid smile.
Note: Regina told us a story last year about receiving her son’s autism diagnosis, and she discussed it with us on The Nutshell True Story Hour. Have you heard the story? Check it out!
David Rodriguez
first took the stage to impress his date at a story slam competition. Years later, he’s a two-time Moth GrandSlam champion and is married to his story-slam date. David is the program director at St. Vincent’s Day Home, an Oakland nonprofit that provides child care for families in need.
His story: When David’s brother Daniel dies suddenly, grief begins to erase the memory of the funny, kind genius who taught him to find magic everywhere. So when an eccentric friend pitches a weekend ayahuasca ceremony, David agrees to go and shows up armed with a cult checklist, a plastic vomit bucket, and a healthy (?) skepticism. Prepare for a funny, unguarded story about grief, cynicism, and learning to forgive yourself enough to let someone you love stay close.
A little Nutshell trivia: when we asked Tom Darci back in August who his storytelling idol was, he named David. “There’s something about the way he speaks to us, like he’s working out the meaning of what he’s telling us right in the moment. It’s often hilarious and moving and insightful and very true.” High praise from a man who is himself very good at this.
Are you ready to go into the dark with us, Story Friends? I sure hope so. One thing I keep thinking about this lineup: every single story is about family, and that was a happy (??) accident. It seems the people closest to us—family, ancestors, the ones who made us—take up permanent residence in the deepest parts of us, for better and for worse. Why not shine a light on them, friends? In October, the veil is supposed to be thin, anyway.
Thank you, as always, for showing up in person and sharing this very human experience with us. Let’s keep it going. Get your tickets for October 16 now (two weeks early! Cheaper in advance!).
You KNOW I can’t wait to see you in real life, humans! It’s going to be a great time, even better with you there. xoxo, Amy Bee and her full-of-heart sidekicks, Keith and Aaron
(P.S. Speaking of Keith (HI, KEITH!), Nutshell is hosted by the one and only Keith Lowell Jensen, whose heart is only slightly dark and who will hold this whole spooky business together with his usual charm and impeccable comic timing. He’ll walk us out of each story and into the next without anyone getting lost. He’s very good at it. Consider yourself in good hands!)
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💜