The Reverend Nadia Bolz-Weber is the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. She is the author of Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People, and The New York Times Bestselling theological memoir, Pastrix: The Cranky Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint.
A Lutheran minister visits The Middle East and combats her intense fear of heights.
Joshua Wolf Shenk is author, most recently, of Powers of Two: How Relationships Drive Creativity. He is the executive director and writer-in-residence of the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
A son desperately seeks a connection with his father after a near deadly plane crash.
Maris Blechner is a licensed clinical social worker and educator who has spent the last thirty-eight years working for the improvement of adoption and the child welfare system. In addition to providing training and doing consulting, she also mentors for Children's Corps, and teaching at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.
A professional who works with adoption services details the personal reason she was drawn to her work.
Jama Jack is the University Communications Officer of University of The Gambia. She holds a degree in Communication Studies and Journalism and runs a personal blog where she raises awareness and promotes the various causes she supports -- especially issues related to women and girls.
Amir Baghdadchi is a writer and director. So far, he’s failed at nearly every other job he's put his hand to, including paper boy, oyster shucker, scholar of antiquity, parade leprechaun, personal chef, résumé fixer, and candidate for public office. His latest work is always at amirforamerica.com.
Amir has a "chat" with a government agent, in windowless room, at the airport.
North Carolinian. Syrian. Doctor. TSA magnet. Wife. Hugger. Accidental slam poet. SUZANNE BARAKAT is a Family Medicine Resident at San Francisco General Hospital. Believes in love and kindness, and works for social justice—for her patients at SFGH, for her family in Syria, for her fellow American Muslims, and for her brother, who is no longer with us today.
Suzanne Barakat explains how her brother, his wife and her sister were murdered by their neighbor.
Please note: This story contains descriptions of racial violence.
Jeff Simmermon is a storyteller, standup, and the producer/ performer behind 'And I Am Not Lying,' a variety show featuring stand-up, storytelling, burlesque, and sideshow that appears every month at UCB East. Jeff also teaches storytelling and hates text messaging as much as he loves talking to people directly. He is also looking for a job. You can find him online at www.jeffsimmermon.com.
Jeff Simmermon has a run in with a grouchy straphanger on the subway.
Colin Ryan calls himself a comedic financial author and speaker - in other words, he teaches financial literacy and makes it fun. He has worked with banks, credit unions, and even the Girl Scouts.
by Colin Ryan
Colin Ryan is outed in 6th grade as a member of a Bible clown group.
by Matt Day
A tourist gets a scare in London’s Highgate Cemetery.
Sofija Stefanovic is a Serbian-Australian writer in New York. Her memoir Miss Ex-Yugoslavia features warlords, beauty queens and everything in between. She hosts This Alien Nation – a monthly celebration of immigration (at Joe’s Pub), and the bestselling literary salon Women of Letters New York (at City Winery). Her upcoming anthology Alien Nation: 36 True Tales of Immigration hits the shelves Oct 12, 2021. More from Sofija: @sstefanovic
Sofija Stefanovic has a deep crush on a boy whose family is on the opposing side during the Yugoslavian wars.
Arthur Bradford is an award-winning author and documentary filmmaker. His films include Hows Your News and Six Days to Air. He's also the author of the book Dogwalker and Bennie's Brigade.