In this episode, Hal George discovers unexpected grace in the quiet work of a cemetery office. Kathi Hickey follows a trail of uncanny rainbows while carrying out a promise to a dear friend. Jean Jackson recalls how a local protest suddenly put her on the Rachel Maddow Show. And Justine Murray reflects on Kyiv, holding both her memories of the city she once knew and the losses Ukraine has endured since the 2022 invasion.
Kathleen Stack journeys from bustling Bangkok to remote Thai villages, encountering elephants, rivers, and hill tribes, and later returns twelve weeks pregnant to discover her child’s first heartbeat and a vision for empowering women. Kathi Hickey braves Nepal’s chaotic buses, wild elephants, and near rhino encounters, finding danger, humor, and the thrill of the unexpected.
Jim Purdy takes us on a flavorful journey through Central Texas barbecue, from his first taste of smoky Austin brisket to a lifelong quest to recapture that perfect bite. David Blake turns a summer evening in Normandy into a fiery, hilarious Tex-Mex adventure, complete with hot sauce mishaps and a family-inspired country ballad. And Ann Russell immerses us in the final summer at Fish Camp, capturing leaping salmon, tireless net hauling, and the bittersweet rhythms of a life spent on the river.
A Peace Corps veteran jolts awake from Kyiv nightmares, haunted by Russia's invasion and Trump's mafia-like "world order" sidelining Ukraine—clinging to Shevchenko's cry: "Fight on and you will prevail."
A reluctant cemetery steward finds unexpected therapy in safeguarding memories, reuniting families with forgotten graves—from Olympians to lost infants—and glimpses a successor in a grieving young woman's kind heart.
In our last summer at fish camp, a canceled bear trip turns into a ferocious salmon run, leaving nets mangled, fingers aching, and a bittersweet farewell to a wild, vanishing beach life.
David Blake takes us on a wild midnight adventure from posh Woodside to the tattoo parlor frequented by Hells Angels. Maggy Gorrill shares a 4 a.m. brain dump of insomnia and menopause. Hal George remembers a single thank you note that shaped his career, growth, and love, and Maggy Gorrill joins us a second time to reflect on mentoring a shy student abroad and the lasting power of a dance lesson.
In Kinshasa, an exiled musical-theater artist reluctantly choreographs a school show, helps an awkward teen master a polka, and discovers the sacred responsibility of protecting others’ dreams.
Late life love, seniors who fall in love, experience the same passion and fascination as younger people who are in love. Seniors don’t always marry; they don’t always have sex; but they find themselves more intimately connected than ever before. What do we have to learn from people who’ve learned what really matters?
David Blake entertains us with the babysitter who somehow finds the ‘special’ brownies, while Dan Rott’s service station uniform seems to change size. Xiaomei Chen’s story begins when her mother was a girl at the beginning of the cultural revolution in China.
