Storylisteners

In this fourth and final episode, Rich looks at his present and future and he talks with Michael about the themes that can be derived from a life richly lived. NOTE: Barbara is Rich's wife. Chris is his son. Lorie studied with Rich and is Michael's wife.

In this third episode, Rich speaks with Michael about building his reputation as a trailblazer and leader in the career development field. He talks about continuing his education in both traditional and not-so-traditional ways, including seeking some of the leading thinkers in America to learn from them directly. Then he takes us on a journey, both personal and professional, to understand how he w...

In this second episode, Rich speaks with Michael about college life in the late 1960s, including the role of being a college basketball player, which forged lifelong friendships. And the role of politics and activism that would form his life as a citizen. He also discusses the decisions and insights that led to his career path and the love interests of his youth. One student he knew back in his ea...

Timelines are long-form narrative listening projects that walk through a whole life of one person. The purpose is to both demonstrate narrative listening as a conversational technique, while also celebrating the lives of extraordinary people. This series features the life of Rich Feller, a beloved and influential professor, speaker, and leader in the career development field. From 1980 until 2013,...

When Jesse Grace and Steve Weiss were asked to make a documentary about mail-in voting, it seemed like a straightforward assignment. Until COVID struck, and the 2020 presidential election turned into a referendum on mail-in voting, filled with conspiracy theories, death threats to election workers, and ultimately, an invasion of the U.S. Capitol. What resulted was the hour long documentary Democra...

Dr. Ryan Claycomb remembers the night he found the subject that would animate and define his life as a literature and theater scholar. It was the first night he had ever seen a verbatim theater production. Verbatim theater has a unique relationship with democracy, because in many ways it is democratic. As Dr. Claycomb describes it in his new book, In the Lurch , verbatim theater is, “socially enga...

What power does language hold in a democracy? From deliberation experts to linguists to journalists, many experts will tell you it sits at the critical center. So when Adrea Purdy became a founding member of the Deliberative Journalism Project in 2021, it was to ensure the whole conversation did not occur in just one language. An Associate Teaching Professor of Spanish, Purdy is a native of Parral...

In this final episode, we talk about what we learned as we spoke to nine healers who use narrative listening as a way to better serve their patients and clients. We also discuss how to define storylistening, how it might be used in journalism, and how the experience of meeting and discussing storylisteners changed us.

In this episode, we delve into the world of healthcare administration through the lens of an experienced professional. Ron Holder, COO of the Medical Group Management Association discusses resolving conflict through effective communication, using the " ladders of inference " to tailor messages for each person, and the differences between hearing and listening. We also explore generational communic...

We speak to Lee Tomlinson, also known as “Patient Lee”, who after a battle with advanced throat cancer, began a speaking and writing campaign inspiring healthcare professionals to place compassionate care at the forefront of the modern healthcare system. He talks about experiencing a lack of listening and empathy during his own illness, the role that kindness plays in listening to another person,...

We speak to Trinity Wilbourn, founder of Arkitekt , which guides and facilitates community circles for women seeking self-exploration, community connection, and spiritual growth. She talks about the revelations that grew from the ashes of personal trials and loss, what it means to be truly listened to, and how she creates spaces of trust for spiritual and narrative healing.

Sarah Mitchell is a life coach and medium based in Northern California. She talks about the value of finding a mentor and truly being heard, how she transformed her innate intuitions into an empowering and healing coaching practice, and the importance of listening in a safe, deeply honesty and clear space. Our reporter this week, Alexis Austere, also reflects on having a session with Sarah, where...

Our healer this week is Shannon Darling, a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Fort Collins. Using listening to provide wholistic mental health care, she offers ketamine prescriptions and ketamine assisted therapy for appropriate clients. We discuss why ketamine is an effective tool in therapy, what offering wholistic treatment entails, and how to interpret and diagnose the right psychiatric treatme...

Veterinarians must listen, diagnose, and treat patients who can’t express themselves verbally. They do this while creating trust with both the pet and client. Our healer this week is Jody Engel, Owner and Veterinarian for the Meadows Veterinary Center in Windsor, Colorado. We discuss non-verbal listening, negotiating trust, and how team listening fosters support in stressful and emotional environm...

In this episode, we speak with the therapist of one of the podcast team members. The therapist asked to remain anonymous. He talks about the ways he breaks (at least some people's) rules of therapy, his own opinions about listening and narrative, and how a life less travelled led him to healing.

The faces of the ER for patients are the emergency medicine doctors who are responsible for diagnosis, referral, and treatment of patients in an environment where time is at a premium. This week, we are joined by healer Rachel Pearl, an ER doctor for Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California. We discuss mental preparation for the ER and how she has developed a style of listening that’s not taug...

We begin the podcast by listening to the first person you see when you walk into a medical facility. Xenia Copeland-Fuentes is the Front Desk Coordinator at a low-income health clinic, the first line of care. How she hears patients' stories plays an important role in their healing experience. We also tell the story of how we started the podcast and introduce the staff. Music by White Records.