Stories - Page 2 - The Memoir Podcast

Gestation

Story by: Kathleen Stack

On a precarious journey to reinvent an anti-poverty program in rural Thailand, a newly pregnant evaluator and a legendary microcredit expert uncover a model that can finance women’s dreams—just as she first hears her own baby’s heartbeat.

Thailand Adventures

Story by: Kathleen Stack

Clinging to an elephant in Thailand’s Golden Triangle, two former aid workers follow a fearless friend into hill-tribe country, opium dreams, and lifelong gratitude for a wildly lucky, fully lived adventure.

Last Big Day at Fish Camp

Story by: Ann Russell

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.

Barbeque Elegy

Story by: Jim Purdy

A physicist’s lifelong love affair with Central Texas brisket becomes a wandering quest through America’s barbecue belt, ending in California, where salmon and sashimi finally replace his holy grail of smoked beef.

Ballad of the Gringo

Story by: David Blake

Around a Normandy fire pit, a hot-sauce-obsessed “patriarch” is dared to write the first country song about hot sauce, birthing a tongue-scorching cowboy ballad that outshines the family’s real condiments.

Brain Dump

Story by: Maggy Gorrill

At 4 a.m., a retired performer, once powered by nine-hour nights, now cycles through rituals, meditations, and doomscrolling before trying a therapist-prescribed “brain dump” journal—her hopeful new path back to sleep.

Hop Step Step

Story by: Maggy Gorrill

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.

Just A Thank You Note

Story by: Hal George

A dying mentor’s handwritten thank-you note quietly altered a career, ignited an unexpected love, and echoed for forty years, urging courage, integrity, and real friendship—proof that a simple expression of gratitude can change a life forever.

Tattoo Dreams

Story by: David Blake

A boozy Woodside dinner sends six “tattoo virgins” to a midnight parlor, where three brave wives get inked, three husbands balk, and one Hell’s Angel offers his hand.

Michael & Gail

Story by: Colene Sawyer

At 82 and 86, Gail and Michael found love again—married in Hawaii during COVID, living apart but deeply connected in a “golden” union.

1937: When My Mother Was Fifteen

Story by: Xiaomei Chen

In 1937, war upended my mother's life and sparked her passion for theater—turning tragedy into purpose through art and resistance.

The Summer Job

Story by: Dan Rott

Late for work, wore Dad’s socks with ill-fitting uniform at a busy gas station job. Hard work, good pay, and college dreams fueled us.