Created and produced by Mike Martinez and Tyler Wray, Everything is Stories is an ongoing survey of personal histories. Each episode is a first person narrative from someone who has lived through consequential changes to their notion of self and the world. Harry Crews said it best: “Nothing is allowed to die in a society of story telling people. It is all–the good and the bad–carted up and brought along from one generation to the next. And everything that is brought along is colored and shap ...
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Since the year 2000, more than 3,500 border-crossers have met a gruesome fate throughout the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. With over 1,000-and-counting still missing, the numbers have only continued to rise as more attempt the trek each year in pursuit of a better life. This is the story of Alvaro Encisco, an immigrant who found his own version of the…
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*This episode contains strong descriptions of sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised. Susan Pavlak is at work hospicing the Catholic Church, and after spending her youth in the crosshairs of a sexual predator, found solace in forgiveness and truth. Pavlak describes how she reconciles her history of abuse with her continued faith in the Cathol…
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Where do we go when we can’t make it in mainstream society? As someone who has often battled mental illness and rage, Del Hendrixson Jr. connects the dots between a violent mental breakdown and his struggle to find a sense of belonging as a child. In this episode, Del talks about a successful career in printing that would eventually turn criminal, …
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1
A White Noise in Your Head - Part 2
1:23:18
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By the time her boyfriend became violent, Kim Dadou Brown was confident she could handle it. It was just one of those things the women in her family dealt with. It wasn’t until Kim found herself in prison that she realized how seriously the years of abuse had skewed her reality – and what little support the system offered women like her. Kims' stor…
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Forty years ago, military-backed death squads descended on Dora Rodriguez’ hometown as a civil war spiraled out of control in El Salvador. Forced to flee as a teenager and leave her family behind, Rodriguez began what she thought would be the only journey north through Mexico and into the harsh Sonoran Desert. In this episode, Dora recounts her har…
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1
A White Noise in Your Head - Part 1
1:08:54
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By the time her boyfriend became violent, Kim Dadou Brown was confident she could handle it. It was just one of those things the women in her family dealt with. It wasn’t until Kim found herself in prison that she realized how seriously the years of abuse had skewed her reality – and what little support the system offered women like her. In Part 01…
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They say stealing cattle in Texas can get a man hung by the neck until dead. From a young age Roddy Pippin was ready to take that risk, as he and his crew would take home close to a million dollars rustling cattle over the course of 3 years. In this episode Pippin speaks of his idyllic childhood and love for the ways of the old west, the precarious…
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Death, life’s ultimate closure, often casts a long shadow over the funeral that follows. These ceremonies rarely spark protest or public outcry, but in the spring of 2013 Lonewolf Smith was thrust into a national dilemma when he and his colleagues at Graham, Putney, & Mahoney Funeral Parlors were asked to tend to the body of one of America’s most r…
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In part two of our episode we pick up with Jerry as he returns to New York City from Saudi Arabia. With money in his pocket he decides to indulge in a free lifestyle, immersing himself in the gay community at various bath houses and night clubs on a regular basis. After running a successful business and ultimately losing a loved one to the AIDS epi…
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Part one of this two-part episode follows Jerry Torre – well known for his appearance in the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens. As a child he ran from his home in Brooklyn and began working as a gardener for the wealthy in East Hampton, NY. While there he stumbles upon the now-famous Grey Gardens property and begins regularly staying with the Beales, h…
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At age 60, Jay Byrd lives by himself off the grid in northern Arizona where he often meditates and reads theology. However, his past tells a different story of biker clubs, violence, prison, and heroin addiction. In this episode, Jay Byrd recounts his experience with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and gun-toting girlfriends. Yet after escaping pe…
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Abraham Bolden was the first black Secret Service agent on the White House detail. Serving under John F. Kennedy, Bolden cracked counterfeiting cases and provided security for the President. However, the segregated 60s led Bolden from the White House to prison. In this story, EIS finds Bolden inside his Chicago home as he recounts his experiences o…
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Charles Farrell could be labeled a number of things: pianist, writer, boxing manager, and hustler. As a teenager, Farrell lived in the streets of Boston, playing piano in mafia-owned clubs. With a love for boxing, he started gambling on high-profile matches while also managing fighters. He fixed an array of professional fights by using code-talk wi…
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In the final part of La Retirada, Rocío Gómez and her family enter the United States Federal Witness Security Program. The family must create new identities, while moving from state to state. But they soon realize that fabricated identities do not change their personal history. La Retirada is a collaboration between Everything Is Stories and Love a…
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The story continues as Rocío Gómez divorces her husband Rodrigo, a master drug trafficker in Colombia. Rocío and her children move to Miami where she begins a relationship with a new man, Carlos, whose dangerous past with the mafia catches up with Rocío’s family La Retirada is a collaboration between Everything Is Stories and Love and Radio. Produc…
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In Colombia, Rocío Gómez marries into an empire of wealth and power. She is told the family operates a low-profile import/export business and finds comfort in her role as wife and mother. However, she soon learns the family business is not what it seems as Rocío becomes entangled with drugs, money, and mafioso. La Retirada is a collaboration betwee…
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Michelle Lyons witnessed over 270 executions carried out by the state of Texas. At age 22, Lyons started reporting for The Huntsville Item, which gave her the opportunity to see her first lethal injection. In 2001, she became the Director of Public Information for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), a spokesperson for 110 prisons acros…
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Convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault of a child, Greg Torti has spent the the last two decades in the shadow of a system that places a high priority on banishing sex offenders even after their release. Living in rural Texas with children of his own now, Torti would be the first to tell you he agrees with the s…
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In the Summer of 2016, members from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe began organizing demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), an underground pipeline that would stretch over 1,300 miles. If completed, it would carry oil through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. Many believed DAPL’s route would destroy sacred Sioux groun…
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For over two decades, Duane “Chili” Yazzie has been an activist for Native American rights. Of the Navajo tribe, Chili has spent his life on the reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, following tribal traditions and questioning the relationship between Native Peoples and Anglo-Americans. As a young man, he became a member of the influential Native Am…
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In the final part of this series, EIS visits the Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana. Commonly known as “The Bunker” by residents, the house hosts veterans released from the military and deported out of the United States. A number of veterans tell stories of hardships in Mexico, efforts to join military branches in other countries, and retai…
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At age seven, Hector Barajas crossed the Mexico border into United States as an illegal citizen. His family soon settled in Compton, California, where Hector encountered crime, gang violence, and racial division. Hector escaped the lifestyle by joining the United States Army as a non-citizen, becoming a medic for the 82nd Airborne Division. But per…
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After anti-war protests at Washington University in 1970, Howard Mechanic became the first person arrested and charged under the Civil Obedience Act. Claiming innocence, Mechanic jumped bail to avoid prison time. He moved out West and created a new identity. For 28 years, he lived as Gary Tredway while raising a family and starting his own business…
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Robin Baker dreamed of becoming a Hollywood starlet. As a teenager in the 60s, she became a Whisky a Go Go dancer, socializing with famous actors and musicians. After meeting and marrying Jim Baker, a World War II veteran, restaurant owner, and spiritual leader in Los Angeles, Robin’s life took a different path. With her husband, she established th…
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An anonymous couple live in an undisclosed part of northern California. Spearheading the back-to-the-land hippie movement, the Husband moved to the area in the early 70s while the Wife traveled the world as part of the Peace Corps. Now, the couple’s home rests off the grid where they grow a very special garden. This garden provides a peaceful and p…
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Jon Gerwitz’s son was born on April 20th, 1988 and kidnapped four hours later. In this story, Gerwitz describes the peculiar circumstances of the disappearance which includes his hometown, a lifelong friend, and the many corridors of Interstate 40. Gerwitz also explains his emotions at the time which ranged from paranoia to forgiveness. 20 years la…
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For the first seven years of her life, Sulome Anderson never met her father, journalist Terry Anderson. Three months before she was born, her father was kidnapped and imprisoned by Shiite Muslim militants in Lebanon. Through hostage videos and letters, Sulome began forming an image of a perfect parent. But after his release, she soon realized Terry…
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At age 15, novelist Vanessa Veselka ran away from home and began living life as a hitchhiker in the United States during the 1980s. From highway to highway, coast to coast, truck stop to truck stop, Veselka experienced poverty, perversion, and a showdown with a potential serial killer. She shares her story at the MacDowell Colony for Artists where …
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B.B. St. Roman is the only staff member for the New Orleans Police Department Homeless Assistant Unit. Before helping the homeless, she traveled the world, recording sound for documentaries involving shamans, Buddhist monks, and Mother Teresa. And at one point, she became the tour manager for Dr. John, Louisiana musician and legend. Now, she works …
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Scooter Tramp Scotty is a writer who’s lived on the road for over 20 years. Traveling across North America on an old Harley Davidson, Scotty never stays in a single place more than two months. In this episode, we find Scotty in New Orleans, Louisiana and Harlingen, Texas where he talks about becoming a drifter, finding places to stay, and the lonel…
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For over 30 years, Peter Willcox has been a sea captain for Greenpeace, an environmental organization based out of Amsterdam. Willcox helps international campaigns against whaling, anti-nuclear activities, and global warming. In this episode, he tells his experiences of growing up in an activist family, his first protest at sea, being attacked by t…
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As a young man growing up in the Dominican Republic, Miguel Vargas-Caba had an early interest in foreign language. With minimal resources in a country wrapped up in political turmoil and an eventual civil war, Cabas began writing to people overseas to request books and stamps for his collection. After teaching himself various languages from Latin t…
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Lois Gibson is considered by many to be the most successful forensic artist in the world. Using skills in art, witness interviewing, and facial reconstruction, Gibson has helped solve over 1,200 cases by sketching portraits of both victims and criminals all over the United States. In 2005, she was even placed in the Guinness Book of World Records b…
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Mat Fraser is a performance artist who starred on the FX television show American Horror Story: Freak Show. Born with phocomelia, a condition that results in malformation of the limbs, Fraser embraces his disability through activism, art, and the carnie-sideshow experience. In this episode, Fraser tells the stories of his condition, his relationshi…
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After surviving cancer, Forrest Fenn, a dealer of antique luxuries, hid a treasure chest filled with gold coins, gold dust, gold nuggets, rubies, and other valuable things. The treasure is said to be worth over one million dollars, and he’s only given clues to where it may be in his poetry, prose, and the occasional television appearance. In this s…
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Originally released in 1969, Dave Bixby’s Ode to Quetzacoatl is considered an underground classic in the psychedelic folk genre. With tracks such as “Drug Song” and “666″, the album remains dark, revelatory, and spiritual even in the 21st century. For years, rumors of Bixby’s disappearance and death spread amongst listeners. No one knew his story o…
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Diego Palma is a healer. Kush is a shaman. Both are located in Peru.Their methods for spiritual discovery include medicine songs, mantras, icaros, tobacco smoke, and ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is a brew made from the caapi vine and the chacruna shrub. Amazonas have used ayahuasca for centuries. When ingested, it opens the mind to cosmic possibilities. Pe…
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Tommy Cotter worked as a soundman for network television show COPS. For one year, Cotter experienced several forms of crime alongside officers in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Fort Wayne, Texas. He captured sound of prostitution stings, robberies, and domestic disputes. Ten years after leaving the job, Cotter reveals how this experience transformed hi…
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