178 episodes

Writing Class Radio is for people who love true, personal stories and want to learn how to write their own stories. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other than by writing and telling our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?

writing class radio andrea askowitz and allison langer

    • Education
    • 4.7 • 246 Ratings

Writing Class Radio is for people who love true, personal stories and want to learn how to write their own stories. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other than by writing and telling our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?

    How to Use Science to Create an Emotional Connection to Place.

    How to Use Science to Create an Emotional Connection to Place.

    Today on our show, we bring you a story by Keven Griffen, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story uses science to understand an emotional connection to place. She did it by having us fall in love with the place. She set the scene and raised the stakes. 

    Keven’s story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories. Keven was dialed in while telling her story on stage and her delivery was impeccable. 

    Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

    Keven Griffen is a PhD student at NAU in the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University. She is interested in how communities respond to disturbance in extreme environments, and her research is primarily focused on using biological soil crusts for restoration applications, their tolerances for extreme environments, and their responses to global change.

    A Transcription of the show is available here.

    Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

    There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

    If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

    Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

    A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

    There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 19 min
    Is it Rape if You Were Blackout Drunk?

    Is it Rape if You Were Blackout Drunk?

    Today on our show we bring you a story by Morgan Sutton that embodies everything a story should embody. The story uses no extra words; the narrator looks inside herself; and the story matters to the broader world.

    The story is so important because it explains a very dangerous and ugly assumption that is often made about women who’ve been raped. Morgan does it by examining her own situation and her own assumptions. There’s no preaching. And there’s nothing dogmatic. This is what writing and storytelling is all about. Getting to the truth. 

    Morgan workshopped this story at Writing Class Radio’s annual writing boot camp in Key Largo. She did the work to make the story great. Morgan Sutton is a hospice nurse who lives in Austin, Texas with her husband.

    Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

    There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

    If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

    Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

    A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

    There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?




    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 18 min
    How to See Beauty in Small Things

    How to See Beauty in Small Things

    Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jasmine Anenberg, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story is about losing a friend but gaining something he taught her, which is seeing the beauty in small things. She takes this lesson into her fieldwork as she studies mosses in dirt.

    Her story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories. Jasmine was totally present while telling her story on stage and her delivery was spot on. 

    Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

    Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

    There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

    If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

    Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

    A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

    There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 22 min
    Flying Home or Someplace Better

    Flying Home or Someplace Better

    Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Byrne, who conjures the courage to leave her husband after she's faced with removing a bird that flew into her house. Her story is an excellent example of using a book-end structure.

    Jennifer has been published in the New York Times (Tiny Love Stories), The Cut, Psychology Today, Good Housekeeping, Atlas Obscura, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The New Yorker Daily Shouts and The Guardian. She lives in New Jersey. 

    Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

    A transcription of this episode can be found here.

    There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

    If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

    Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

    A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

    There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 19 min
    Fighting Fire with Aspen and Birch

    Fighting Fire with Aspen and Birch

    Today on our show, we bring you a story by Nick Link, a PhD student in the Mack Lab and part of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. His story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.

    We worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

    Nick’s story takes a personal experience that has been burned into his memory. As an undergraduate student, he and his housemates almost burned down the neighborhood when they got rid of their Christmas trees. This experience led him to his work today, building natural fire breaks in the forest of Alaska. 

    A Transcription of this episode can be found here.

    Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

    There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

    If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

    Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

    A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

    There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 19 min
    For the Love of Science

    For the Love of Science

    Happy Valentine’s Day. Today on our show, we bring you a story that was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.

    We worked with our narrator of today’s story Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, a conservation ecologist and professor at NAU, who happens to be married to Bruce. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a live show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

    Bruce Hungate’s story is a love story. It’s about his love for his wife, Jane, as well as his love for science and nature. His story is a great lesson on how to sneak science into a story.

    Bruce Hungate is a professor and director of ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. Bruce conducts research on ecosystems and how they respond to and shape environmental change. He trains future scientists and communicates the relevance of science to people around the world.

    Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

    There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

    If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

    Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 24 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
246 Ratings

246 Ratings

AmyKZam ,

Wonderful and engaging content and hosts

I started listening to WCR for the prison series. The episodes are released one at a time and I find myself checking back to see if the next once has come out because I have been so captivated by the previous episodes. Allison, Andrea, and Zaire are fabulous as hosts when discussing these powerful and moving stories. This is a very compelling, moving, and entertaining podcast that I highly recommend!!

hair62 ,

thank you

I just found this podcast tonight I absolutely love it thank you! I will keep listening and maybe sign up for the class it sounds interesting.

Constance C. Luo ,

I’m unsubscribing

I recently listened to Episode 115, titled “What I Learned from Men in Prison”. The premise had so much potential to be good, highlighting the stories of men in the prison system (many of which are men of color). But this episode seriously came off as more ignorant than Piper was in Season 1 Episode 1 of Orange is the New Black. Even Piper knew better than you both. There was acknowledgement from Allison and Andrea about their privileged backgrounds and not personally knowing people in the justice system, which is fine.

I’m not too versed in the world of criminal justice reform but even I know that this episode came off so insensitive and ignorant that I have no option but to unsubscribe. There’s a LOT of pandering to what seems to be a wealthy, white, female audience in this episode. Allison and Andrea, instead of proclaiming that you’re not “defending criminals” here, please realize that there’s so much wrong with the current justice system that needs to be reformed! And when Xaire (poor Xaire) shares a bit about after a lot of inner reflection and turmoil as a young writer, he finally begins to write about his FATHER (don’t y’all know how difficult it is for young men to open up about things like this?), y’all interject and say, “That’s just like me, I opened up and wrote about my DOG!”.

THIS is why there’s so much tension between white women and men of color (and people of color in general). I encourage you all to carefully consider how your stories are being framed, because this episode clearly had overtones of power imbalance and ignorance.

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