In this episode, Emerson explores why people put themselves through the physically demanding experience of a run. Is it the flow state in running, the desire to feel untethered, or is it something else entirely?

Produced by Emerson Prentice

Matthew Mettias reads his piece “When the Light Turns Green”, about finding new people to call home. Following his reading, is an interview about how the piece came to be, and a near death experience.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions: 

Beyond the Cranberry House - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/377711

Pop Vibration - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/355650"

Frontana - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/355502

Gtks - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/355189

KeoKeo - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/354689

Vulcan Street - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/354686

Milkwood - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/355191

Felt Lining - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/355412

Dawn Line Approaching - https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/355511

On a school trip re-enacting the past, Coco tries to find themselves in the magic beyond who they are supposed to be.

In this episode, Author Lydia Conklin reads "Pioneer" a short story from Rainbow Rainbow, their collection of stories about queer, gender-nonconforming, and trans characters.

Produced by Alana Esposito

After an accident left Becca with a skull fracture and concussion, she turned to an unlikely form of play to pick up the pieces. 

Interview with: Becca Taylor

Producers: Arun Chhetri, Nardos Demilew, Gracielly Abreu, and Carolyn Stein

Narration: Nardos Demilew

After years of discipline and structure, Adesuwa takes a day off from productivity to remember how to have fun.

Producer: Adesuwa Agbonile

Host: Jacob Matlof

As a pediatric neuro-oncologist, Dr. Paul Fisher works with children fighting brain cancer. In this episode, he shares how invisible skills like empathy and human connection are central to his medical practice. 

Producer: Alex Strong

Viva Donohoe always saw her grandmother as the archetype of a sophisticated woman, modeled in the spirit of iconic country singer Patsy Cline. But an investigation into Cline’s life leads Viva to discover hidden truths about her grandmother and the woman she modeled herself after.

Story By: Viva Donohoe

Producers: Viva Donahoe, Eva Saenz, Ana De Almeida Amaral

Music: Internet Archive

In today’s episode, Sarah Lewis reads “Willies on West 79th,” a strangely moving tale about love, body dysmorphia, and why a rat ballet company might be the most honest place in New York.

Producers

Arun Chhetri

Sarah Lewis

Alex Strong

Story by: Sarah Lewis

Music by: Blue Dot Sessions

In today’s episode, Wallace Stegner Fellow Zach Williams reads his surreal story “Mousetraps,” where a simple errand spirals into a disorienting interrogation of masculinity, guilt, and moral performance.

Producers

Arun Chhetri

Zach Williams

Isabelle Edgar

Story by: Zach Williams

Music by: Blue Dot Sessions

As an added bonus to our Invisibility 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 Langston Buddenhagen, the creator of New Flowers, the first story in our Invisibility series.

Langston Buddenhagen takes us to Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa in order to explore how neighborhoods change and what that change means. In the process, Langston explores how his mixed racial identity dovetails into these same issues, and how is own hometown - Oakland, California - is changing too.