Narratively Out Loud

As an Indonesian adoptee in Sweden, I was alarmed when my new stepbrother started dabbling in white supremacy. I didn’t realize how far it had gone until I was lying in a dark field, getting kicked in the chest with a steel-toed boot. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

I have learned all the stories my father was too protective of me to share, parsed the conflicting histories and studied the maps. Now I can finally recreate our family’s lost home, in a once small village in Palestine. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

In opulent seaside Newport, a wealthy and beloved Black businessman turns up dead. The prime suspect is his son-in-law, a dashing medical student set to become one of the country’s first Black surgeons. The resulting trial will tear the town in two. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

It was the era when video killed the radio star, when glitz and glamor and bubblegum pop dominated the airwaves. Meanwhile, a handful of musicians and misfits were subverting the pop culture narrative forever. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

I was 13 when my father was killed right before my eyes. Two weeks later, while everyone in our small town obsessed over his grizzly death, I embarked on a new horror: 8th grade. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

As a disillusioned cub reporter, I jumped at the bizarro job of a lifetime: editor-in-chief of Playboy Russia when nouveau riche Moscow was a hedonistic playground of sex, drugs, and early-stage capitalism — until Putin’s rise brought my reign to a screeching halt. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively....

Riding the emotional rollercoaster with “Loogy,” “Barefoot” and the most dedicated family of Mets superfans as they root, root, root for the hardest-luck team in sports. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

Students say the University of Michigan’s Sigma Phi chapter is a vital, lifesaving space, and that going all-gender was the obvious thing to do. The national organization responded by suing them. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

I woke up one morning in my mid-thirties and suddenly couldn’t see. I vowed if I ever got my vision back I would live life differently — I had no idea that would mean flying down highways twice the speed limit with a colorful crew in the dead of night. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

In a Bible-belt state where sex toys stores are illegal, a church-going grandma, enterprising mom and sassy granddaughter build a booming business hawking penis pumps and butt plugs—and helping every person find their path to pleasure. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

For two centuries, an extreme protectionist policy barred foreigners from setting foot inside Japan — except for one tiny island, a cramped cultural crossroads where anything could, and did, happen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

Our wealthy California school had a hookup game where boys “drafted” girls, then tracked their sex acts. A decade later, my classmates still debate whether “FSL” was harmless teenage hijinks or a symptom of toxic rot in our elite enclave. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

The new owner of Argentina’s de facto national treat stopped paying his majority-female workforce — so they seized control of the entire operation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

Andrea Knabel spent countless hours searching for missing people. Then one day she was the one who disappeared. Her family and friends—and half the internet—are still searching. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

Is Steve Pankey a cold-blooded killer who got away with murder for decades, or just a true-crime obsessive craving attention? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

When the Great War sent the men of Europe to the front lines and left a legendary family business on the brink of bankruptcy, two brave women stepped into the ring. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

After the King of France beheaded a nobleman on questionable charges, his devastated widow transformed into “the Lioness of Brittany” and spent the next decade exacting her revenge. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

Renegade developers co-opted this controversial video game’s source code to build a complex alternate universe where breaking character is the cardinal sin. Millions tune in to watch. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

In 1840s Vermont, Achsa Sprague swore that the spirits who miraculously helped her walk again also possessed her with a crucial mission: freeing every soul in America. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

Everyone from bawdy bachelorettes to married lesbians pay Ray the masseur to get them off. And he gloats that when it comes to female pleasure, he’s the G.O.A.T. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

Cocky male monarchs underestimated Queen Amanirenas for her gender, her race, and her disability. Each time, they did so at their own peril. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

In a sleepy corner of Connecticut, a radical band of leftists are sneaking out after dark to tackle the homelessness crisis that has spread to every corner of America. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

I fell 20 feet out of a redwood tree and when I came to, my memory was shattered and a man I’d broken things off with was telling everyone we were together. Then I found out why. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

As James V came of age, his evil ex-stepfather and a counsel of unscrupulous gatekeepers hatched a scheme to keep him from power: distract him with an ungodly amount of intercourse. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe

The incredibly colorful true life story of Dick Kulpa, a nerdy small-town kid who loved cartoons so much that he became one. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narratively.com/subscribe