The Apple Seed

(00:00) Trailer for our new Christmas Jars podcast. Gather your family to listen to stories about tall tales that are truly unbelievable. (2:44) "Courthouse Tall Tales" - Tim Lowry shares about the propensity for tall-tale-telling in one small town community, including three nonsensical tales about a talking mule, a singing catfish, and a prayerful bear. (11:19) Sam Payne tells a story about the p...

Gather your family to listen to a satisfying feast of stories. (00:41) "Grandma Jo and the Holiday Pig" - Lyn Ford tells her story about a laughably unappetizing menu and a grandma who saves the children's day. (10:39) Sam Payne tells a story about how food has been an important part of building family memories. (14:47) "Yeast Rolls" - Bill Harley tells a side-gripping story about childhood glutto...

Gather your family to listen to stories about the nitty gritty things in life that just might make a pearl. (1:15) "Pigwisps" - Angela Lloyd tells a story about oysters, pearls, and crossed fingers, but especially how the letter X made its mark. (14:17) Sam Payne tells a story about bedtime rituals with his young kids, and the song that was made in the process. (17:27) "Shayla's Prescriptions" - A...

Gather your family to listen to stories about how there are many ways to celebrate and worship God. (00:51) "Jack Mar Builds a House" - Donald Davis tells a story about the childhood recognition that good is not confined to one place or person. (11:26) Sam Payne talks about what keeps his family close even though they come from different religious backgrounds. (16:48) "Jerusalem Mourn" - Josh Gofo...

Gather your family around while we listen to stories of overcoming our foes with cleverness. (00:54) "Anansi and His Six Children" - Charlotte Blake Alston brings us a story of a West African trickster who was saved by his clever children. (6:33) Sam Payne tells a story about his trickster brother. (10:56) "Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby" - Donna Washington introduces and brings to life Brer Rabbit,...

Gather your family to listen to stories fit for the Halloween holiday. (00:36) "The Witch of Laggan" - Mara Menzies tells a story for the season about a hunter, a witch, and the devil himself. (11:00) Sam Payne talks about his change of heart towards the holiday of Halloween. (15:33) "Pency Cemetery" - Kim Weitkamp shares a story and a song about old Marcus Anthony Ramsey, a cemetery keeper who wa...

Gather your family to listen to stories about how even plans gone awry can make for zany memories. (00:37) "Diablo, or How I Met My Wife" - Bil Lepp tells the story of how he met his wife while working at a summer camp. One ride on a headstrong horse taught him the risks and rewards of trying something new. (16:21) Sam Payne tells a story about the mishaps of trying to build a screened-in porch fo...

Gather your family to listen to stories about children with big mouths and big ideas. Whether human or amphibian, their brashness will make your jaw drop with laughter. (1:00) "Potholders" - Kim Weitkamp tells about her experience as a kid creating a business with an interesting marketing scheme. The story she tells people to buy her goods might surprise you--because it surely surprised her neighb...

Gather your family to listen to stories about true bravery in the face of your fears and doing the right thing. (1:06) "Pedrito and the Skull" - Carolina the Storyteller shares a story where young Pedrito is the only one brave enough to face the haunted skull. (9:19) Sam Payne tells a story about being scared by his neighborhood ghost stories. (15:14) "Rush Cape" - Ed Stivender tells a story about...

Gather your family to listen to stories about yearning for and getting a chance at true love. Will our heroes take the chance? Will it pay off? (0:55) "Frog Kissing" - Geraldine Buckley tells a story about a surprise visitor in her shower and the opportunity for love that knocked, had she only listened to fairytales and bedtime stories. (6:48) Sam Payne tells us a story about an experience with hi...

Gather your family to listen to stories about the making and breaking of curses. Are curses always a curse? (1:50) "Beauty's Beast" - Donna Washington tells a story that is based on the well-known fairytale, Beauty and the Beast--but with a twist. Get the real scoop from the Fairy Godmother who cast the curse. (14:31) Sam Payne shares a story about taking an aptitude test in high school--one which...

Gather your family to listen to stories and songs about freedom and, in particular, about American slavery and the civil rights movement. (2:04) "Wade in the Water" - This story by Sheila Arnold is intertwined with the powerful spiritual by the same name. It's the story of a slave named Moses, his fight for freedom, and the terrible price people pay when their freedom is threatened. Content warnin...

Join us as Apple Seed listeners tell us some of their own stories - some of them inspired by The Apple Seed. (1:31) "Ameba Meningitis" - Listener Becca Hurley tells about a health freak-out. (5:53) "David and King Arthur" - Listener Karla Huntsman tells about a student whose life was changed by a school play. (10:02) "Froggy Goes to School" - Listener Paul Eberting tells a childhood memory of misc...

Gather your family to listen to stories about those moments when you realize you've more like your parents than you may even want to admit. For good or for bad, our families shape us into who we are. (1:38) "What Can I Say?" - Josh Goforth tells a personal story about the two types of people in his family and how a surprising revelation strengthened Josh's relationship with his dad and helped him...

Gather your family to listen to Angela Lloyd's twist on the classic fairytale Cinderella. (2:22) "Cinderella's Choice" - Angela Lloyd tells a story that focuses on the relationship Cinderella had with her mother and how that shaped the person Cinderella became. Maybe our choices refelct who we are, and there is much more beneath the surface of every individual when we are ready to listen to their...

Gather your family to listen to stories about the connections we make through family over the years, and the gifts those stories can become. (1:37) "The One Abouts" - Paul Strickland tells a story about taking the time to visit family, listening to their stories, and preparing to take ownership of those stories when the time comes. (14:23) Interview with Paul Strickland. "What is The One Abouts al...

Gather your family to listen to stories about getting into and out of trouble and how when you're the one who starts the trouble, trouble seems to come back on you. (1:55) "Cowpiles" - Donald Davis tells a childhood story about one wise brother, one foolish brother, parents who are just trying to keep up, and the stories that come from memories of getting into trouble. (13:12) Sam Payne tells a st...

Gather your family to listen to stories about being grateful for what you have--even if what you have is not ideal. (1:25) "The Rabbi and the Goat" - Noa Baum tells a story about a man seeking advice and a wise Rabbi creating chaos in a house to help the family learn it could always be worse. (12:06) Sam Payne shares a story about when home improvement project goes spiraling out of control. How ba...

Gather your family to listen to stories about tricking others and the consequences of being a trickster. (1:14) "Wicked John and the Devil" - Donna Washington tells a story based on the African American tradition, but with a North Carolina twist. A man progressively becomes older and crankier as the small town tells stories of his antics. When its his time to go, he is in for a rude awakening as t...

While on hiatus, The Apple Seed is calling you to send in your stories to air on the show. Plus a sneak peak at the 1st episode of Quentin Manning - Detective for Justice - a new summer series from Kaboom.

Join us for our season finale! Bil Lepp and Sheila Arnold tell stories that bring light to the little things. Discover the strength of little things. (1:42) Bil Lepp tells us how he got the idea for his picture book "The King of Little Things" (3:04) "The King of Little Things" - Bil Lepp tells a story, reminding us that when we are content with our collection of little things, we will have so muc...

Join us as Angela Lloyd and Paul Strickland, from live recordings in the Apple Seed Studio, tell stories about finding happiness in unassuming places. As we share laughs, good company, and show a little empathy, we might find more stories about happiness in our lives than we could ever imagine. (1:26) "The Ragged Peddler" - Angela Lloyd tells a story of how a peddler comes to a town to sell goods,...

Join us as Simon Brooks, Motoko, and Josh Goforth, from live recordings in the Apple Seed Studio, tell stories about true love, and the individual process each love story must go through. (1:57) "Hoja Seeks a Wife" - Simon Brooks tells a Middle Eastern story about a foolish wiseman's attempt to picking the perfect wife. (6:25) Sam shares a story about a conversation with his son who was lonely. He...

Join us as Donald Davis and Kevin Kling, from live recordings in the Apple Seed Studio, tell stories about parenting mishaps, tricky kids, and the situations we can get into as we do our best to parent. (1:05) "Molasses Revenge" - Donald Davis tells a personal story about generational mischief and super sticky stuff. (16:23) Sam shares a story of the annual making of fresh apple cider with his nei...

Join us as Kevin Kling and Josh Goforth, from live recordings in the Apple Seed Studio, tell stories about their family and ancestors. We are reminded through these stories of the different aspects of our lives that are possible because of those who came before us. (1:01) "Grandpa's Stars" - Kevin Kling tells a story that recounts a glimpse into Kling's fix-it, farmer grandpa that taught him astro...