7 Minute Stories w/ Aaron Calafato

Aaron never wanted to go to a high school reunion. But when his wife Cori asks him to come along to hers, he says yes. Then he realizes someone from his past might be there: a guy he got into a fistfight with more than 25 years ago. What starts as an awkward night becomes a funny, honest story about old memories, unfinished business, and the relief of realizing you are not who you used to be. Be s...

This month’s Stories of Hope centers around two women in Fort Worth, Texas, whose lives became connected through one complicated family. At first, there was tension. One was the ex-wife. One was the new wife. But over time, through co-parenting, sacrifice, and the ordinary work of putting children first, something unexpected began to change. Years later, one of them would face a life-altering cris...

This week on 7 Minute Stories, a story about hunger, frustration, and the emotional collapse caused by one impossible-to-find turkey sandwich. What starts as a simple lunch craving turns into a full-blown suburban odyssey involving an empty deli counter, an Arby’s without turkey, a pharmacy mix-up, a family of eight at Subway, and one very unfortunate sandwich artist. But beneath the absurdity is...

Tricia Rose Burt is a storyteller, TEDx speaker, longtime instructor for The Moth, podcast host, consultant, and creator of No Time To Be Timid. In this episode of 7MS Presents: The Storytelling University, Trisha joins Aaron to talk about courage, craft, finding the story already inside you, and why the riskiest thing you can do is play it safe. Tricia shares how she moved from the corporate worl...

Welcome to Summer 2026 | The Best of Season 3. This week, Aaron takes us back to the late 1990s when a high school film project unexpectedly turned him into the most recognized person in school for exactly one day. What begins as a funny story about teenage ego, sudden popularity, and a brief taste of fame slowly reveals something much deeper about ambition, attention, creativity, and where we oft...

Aaron closes out Season 6 of 7 Minute Stories with a check-in about gratitude, growth, and the small moment at home that helped him pause and take it all in. After his wife Cori surprised him with balloons to celebrate the end of the season, Aaron reflects on where Season 6 began, how the 7 Minute Stories community continues to expand it's programming, how to keep up, what is coming next, includin...

In this episode of Storytelling University, Aaron sits down with James Whitemore, Chief Marketing Officer of Indeed, for a conversation about the stories we tell through work, resumes, interviews, and the future of hiring. James shares how early learning difficulties shaped the way he listens, communicates, and leads, and why storytelling is not separate from job seeking but deeply connected to it...

In the final episode of Season Six, Aaron tells a story in three parts. First, he remembers a boy from elementary school who seemed effortlessly ahead of the curve. The kind of kid who wore the right shoes before anyone knew they were cool, introduced him to Smashing Pumpkins, and left an impression that somehow lasted for decades. Then, Aaron tells another story of a young man searching for purpo...

In this 7 Minute Stories episode, Aaron reflects on a season of life that felt like too many trains trying to squeeze through one tunnel, and the small decision that helped him step off the track for a moment. What he found at Roxboro Elementary School in Cleveland Heights was a young poet named Kody, an orange poem, and a reminder that some of the best stories are the ones we almost miss. 👇 ⁠⁠⁠⁠...

After witnessing the devastation of a 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay, one person made a simple decision: he would stop riding in cars. But when people kept arguing that one person’s choice could never change the world, he made an even stranger decision. He stopped talking. In this month’s Stories of Hope, Aaron shares the true story of a quiet act of conviction, and how 17 years of silence re...

After recording a conversation with Rainn Wilson for the 7MS bonus series: The Storytelling University, Aaron reveals the anxiety he felt before the interview: wanting to make a meaningful connection without making the moment feel transactional. That anxiety somehow got wrapped up in a gift bag from Aaron’s hometown of Medina, Ohio, and a candle he suddenly worried might be a strange thing to give...

In this bonus episode of 7 Minute Stories Presents: The Storytelling University, Aaron sits down with Rainn Wilson, the award-winning actor, New York Times bestselling author, and host of the Soul Boom podcast, for a conversation about storytelling, spirituality, anxiety, faith, and the inner narratives that shape our lives. From vivid childhood memories in Nicaragua to Alice in Wonderland, The Of...

When Aaron discovers a robin’s nest outside his sliding glass door, a simple backyard moment turns into a daily ritual of wonder, worry, and unexpected responsibility. But when a murder of crows attacks the nest, Aaron finds himself stepping into nature’s drama, becoming an unlikely defender of three baby robins and learning something funny, humbling, and strangely beautiful about parenthood, prot...

More than a decade after his grandfather passed away, Aaron still sees the green light appear next to his grandfather’s old Gmail account. What began years ago as one of the most beloved stories in 7 Minute Stories has evolved into an ongoing phenomenon and meditation on grief, memory, connection, and the invisible ways people continue to say hello long after they’re gone. It’s also a reminder of...

7MS Presents: The Storytelling University returns with a heartfelt and deeply human conversation about storytelling, purpose, creativity, and the moments that quietly shape our lives. This week, Randall Kenneth Jones joins Aaron Calafato for a special dual-release episode shared across both podcast feeds. Randall is the host of On the Knows and the author of books including Show Me and Ruby. Toget...

An exhausting night in the emergency room pushes Aaron to make an impulsive wish: what if healthcare workers were replaced by AI? But when a quiet moment with a triage nurse changes everything, he’s forced to reconsider what efficiency might cost us. A story about frustration, humanity, technology, and the unexpected comfort of being cared for by another person. 👇 ⁠📬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Be a part of the...

In this month’s 7MS Presents: Stories of Hope, Aaron tells the true story of one woman risked everything to smuggle children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII—keeping their real identities buried in jars beneath an apple tree. This is a true story of courage, loss, and the quiet hope that survived. *Learn more about the heroic woman who inspired this month's short story of hope

Aaron reflects on the enduring power of Field of Dreams, weaving together baseball, memory, and the quiet bond between fathers and sons. As listener stories echo a universal longing for one more "catch", this nostalgic 7 Minute Story from years past explores why some scenes, movies and dreams never leave us. 👇 📬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Be a part of the 7 Minute Stories Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Once a month, y...

Today on 7MS Presents: The Storytelling University, Aaron talks with Rev. James Martin, Jesuit priest, New York Times bestselling author, an editor at large at America Magazine, consultant to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication and host of The Spiritual Life Podcast. Martin’s new memoir, Work in Progress, praised by Stephen Colbert as “funny, charming, inspiring, and wise,” becomes the doorw...

One afternoon, Aaron and his wife Cori drive to their favorite café… and it’s gone. No sign. No trace. Just a completely different place where it used to be. But days later, they return and everything has changed again. The café is back. The sign is there. As if nothing ever happened. This is a true story about a moment that didn’t make sense, a shared memory Aaron and Cori can’t explain, and the...

On a routine trip to a Northeast Ohio institution, a simple checkout line becomes something more... In this story, Aaron reflects on the quiet shift from living transactionally to truly seeing the people around us, sparked by his daughter’s instinct to imagine a life behind a stranger’s eyes. What begins as a quick stop at Discount Drug Mart turns into a meditation on dignity, attention, and the s...

In this bonus episode of 7 Minute Stories Presents: Storytelling University, Aaron Calafato sits down with David Moulton to explore the unexpected intersection of storytelling and cybersecurity. At first glance, cybersecurity feels purely technical. But underneath it? It is a story as old as time. As Senior Director of Content and Thought Leadership at Palo Alto Networks and host of the Threat Vec...

What if the words you never said still have somewhere to go? In this episode, Aaron revisits one of the most powerful monologues in film and turns it into something unexpected, a way to process the moments in life where we stayed silent but wish we hadn’t. Excerpt from Scent of a Woman (1992)Produced and distributed by Universal PicturesDirected by Martin BrestScreenplay by Bo GoldmanBased on the...

A strange package shows up at Aaron’s door, filled with Taco Bell hot sauce and a message that didn’t quite survive the journey. But what starts as a bizarre delivery turns into something else entirely: a reflection on memory, connection, and the unexpected ways we measure success. Want to hear the story that inspired Taco Bell Sauce - Gate? LISTEN HERE 📬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the 7 Minute Stories Newslett...

In this 7 Minute Stories, Aaron shares a story that was passed down to him about a boy who grows up believing his mother chose work over him. Years later, a quiet Thanksgiving visit reveals the truth behind those early mornings, and what she was holding onto all along. 📬⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the 7 Minute Stories Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Each month, Aaron shares a select edition of Stories in a Snap — a written sho...