Tell Us Something

Today, I talked with Jenny Buchman Phelps by phone. Jenny Buchman Phelps was born and raised in East Helena, Montana. As a young woman she headed west, like the gold prospectors before her, and settled in Helena. Jenny has been doing hair and listening to stories for 11 years. She lives with her husband Colin, daughters Graycen and Grier, and her dog Lane. We chatted about life during a pandemic,...

Today, I sit out on the deck, socially distant from Ibrahin Mena. Ibrahin is is from Caracas Venezuela. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master degree in Journalism. He has more than ten years of experience teaching at the primary, secondary and university levels. He was honored as teacher of the year in Caracas in 2014. Ibrahin lived in Malta, Europe for a year and half and arrived...

  I’m excited to bring you stories from the archives and a behind the scenes look at Tell Us Something. In this new series I’ll sit down with a storyteller every week, and we’ll talk about what they’ve been up to, go more in depth with their story and get to know them a little better. The first episode of this new series features Ibrahin Mena. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so that you d...

In this podcast episode, you’ll hear stories about a rule-following good girl making a stand against injustice, a woman who uses kindness to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation in Brooklyn, New York, successful communication during a near-death experience on a mountain road and a neighborhood coming together to protect songbirds in a time of crisis. Today we feature four storytellers who wor...

In this podcast episode, you’ll hear stories about a man overcoming his obesity and depression through the magic of MMA fighting, a model who escapes the insidious modeling industry, a volunteer who helps restore an historic C-47 aircraft for the commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day and a mother making a difficult decision on the day of an important hunt. Note that the quality of the sou...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on December 10, 2019, at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Tipping Point”. Today we hear from three of those storytellers. Note that the quality of the sound is not as perfect as we would like it to be. These stories are really worthwhile and we want you to hear them. Thank you. In our...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on September 24, 2019 at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Leap of Faith”. Today we hear from three of those storytellers. Our first story comes to us from Steven T! Millhouse, who takes us on a journey walking form Missoula, MT to Los Angeles, CA, regaining a lost hope in humanity alo...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on September 24, 2019 at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Leap of Faith”. Our first story comes to us from Tomi Cook whose downward spiral into addiction is transcended when her drug dealer takes a leap of faith of his own and treats Tomi with compassion. This is Tomi’s story of heali...

In the summer of 2019, Tell Us Something hosted a storytelling summer camp for youth at Zootown Arts Community Center. Seven young women worked together with Tell Us Something director Marc Moss for a week during the summer of 2019 to learn about how to decide what story to share, stage presence, story structure, elements of a story, keeping ourselves, our audience, and the characters in a story s...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on June 12, 2019 at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “What Are the Chances?”   While walking near the Yellowstone River with her dog, Kate Cholewa is attacked by a grizzly bear. She calls her story “I Didn’t Die”. Kate Cholewa has worked in public policy in Montana for...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on June 12, 2019 at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “What Are the Chances?” Our first story comes to us from Mariah Kelly, who shares her tale of how her traveling companion and she end up in jail on drug charges after a traffic stop goes sideways on a road trip in Mississippi. She ca...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on May 9, 2019, at The Myrna Loy in Helena, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Getting Away With It”. Today we hear from four of those storytellers. Aaron Parrett, along with his band of misfits, buys weed from the Deputy Sheriff in Anchorage, Alaska, then have to figure out how to get it across the Canadian...

  Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on May 9, 2019, at The Myrna Loy in Helena, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Getting Away With It”. Today we hear from four of those storytellers. Our first story comes to us from Gay Eyemon who drops acid with her boyfriend before embarking on a hitchhiking trip to San Francisco for a show at...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on March 18, 2019, to a sold-out crowd at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Today we hear from four of those storytellers.     Our first story comes to us from Dick King, who, In the 1970s, is traveling in Iran and has an uncomfortable encounter w...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on March 18, 2019, to a sold-out crowd at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Today we hear from four of those storytellers.   Mike Jakupcak, who moves to Missoula from Illinois and has culture shock adjusting to life out West.   Mike Jakupcak is a...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on March 18, 2019 at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Audience members were invited to anonymously submit their stories on the night’s theme of “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Selected stories were chosen from a hat and read live on stage by Lauren Ciampa an...

A woman accidentally points a gun at Jim Beyer in a rough biker bar in the 1970s of Missoula when she tries to defend herself against a brutal attack from another guy in the bar. Jim Beyer has ridden motorcycles in Missoula for over 40 years. He says “I used to be cool, now I am  cliche”. Watch Jim’s story. Caroline Caldwell is a shepherd in The Falkland Islands when she is invited on a deba...

Our first story comes to us from Mignon Hess, who is is a boxer in Kalispell Montana when a horrific storm destroys the boxing club where she used to box. She calls her story “Boxing in the Floodplains”. Mignon Hess is a 46-yr-old retired engineer. She enjoys House Hunters international, hockey and Biga Pizza. She loves Missoula’s roundabouts and wishes she was two inches taller. Watch Mignon&#821...

In this week’s podcast you’ll learn about a man’s exploration of his family’s ancestry, you’ll hear a young woman’s struggle to keeping her young daughters safe while writing and promoting her first book and memoir while surviving domestic abuse at home, you’ll descend into addiction and come out on the other side, before finally making friends with a person with whom you once vehemently dis...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on October 2, 2018 to a sold-out crowd at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “It’s Complicated”. Our first story comes to us from Liz Boeheim who finds her birth parents and learns that expectations don’t always meet reality as she begins building a relationship with her newfound f...

Our podcast today was recorded in front of a live audience on June 13, 2018 at The Wilma in Missoula, MT. 8 storytellers shared their true personal story on the theme “Risk”. Audience members were invited to anonymously submit their stories on the night’s theme of “Risk”. Selected stories were chosen from a hat and read live on stage by Lauren Ciampa and her sister Johanna Ciampa.

Our first story comes to us from Joe Nickell, who shares his discovery story about the world of polyamory in this coming of age tale. Joe calls his story “Coming Out Poly”. Joe Nickell is a leftie writer and the creator and cohost of the first TV series ever broadcast on the Internet. He plays percussion in the Missoula Symphony and drums in the band Motorhome, which once wrote a song...

Delany Wascherol is 17 years old and on the precipice of womanhood as she contemplates jumping off a cliff in Utah with some badass women. She calls her story “Testing Gravity”. Delany Wascherol is an avid volunteer of many Missoula nonprofits, a backpacking enthusiast, an artist and a self-identified cool girl. A merit badge in canoeing doesn’t help John Schneeberger on the Lochsa River and he en...

Young entrepreneur Jerry Spencer and his partner are working the largest trade show of their careers: Macworld Expo, and they barely have time to take a break. Jerry stops for a quick bite to eat and shares a table with an unexpected guest. Jerry calls his story “A Surprise Lunch That I’ll Never Forget”. Jerry Spencer first came to Montana in 1979, when he got a summer job as Des...