In his new book, Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery, neurosurgeon Dr. Theodore Schwartz delves into the history and practice of neuroscience. What he and his fellow scientists have discovered is that our lives are based on stories that our brains construct, and those stories are not fact, but fiction. Ted is certainly not the first guest on this podcast to talk about the relationship between brain science and storytelling— but as a neurosurgeon, he comes at it from a uniquely hands-on perspective.

To learn more, visit our website.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Ted Schwartz, Lauren Morrow, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, David Gray, and Megan Worman.

Immersive entertainment company Layered Reality's approach is, as the name suggests, layered: they combine components of immersive theater with new technologies to create productions that feel participatory, immersive, and alive. Today, their CEO Andrew McGuinness joins us to talk about how he’s built such a successful immersive entertainment company and where he plans to take it next.

To learn more, visit our website.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Andrew McGuinness, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, David Gray, and Megan Worman.

Today, we revisit an episode from 2020 with Jose Antonio Vargas, Founder of the nonprofit Define American. Drawing on his background as a journalist and his own experience as an undocumented immigrant, Jose created Define American to educate storytellers, challenge stereotypes, and ultimately change the narrative around immigration, one story at a time.

To learn more, visit our website.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Jose Antonio Vargas, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, David Gray, and Megan Worman.

In this revisited episode, we go back to a conversation with Vince Kadlubek of legendary immersive art collective Meow Wolf, whose installations give visitors agency to re-engage their imaginations and create their own stories—an experience that can be transformational.

To learn more, visit our website.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Vince Kadlubek, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, David Gray, and Megan Worman.

Legendary Disney veteran and Academy Award winner Glen Keane has made invaluable contributions to the art of animation. In this episode, we revisit a conversation from 2020 with Glen about his story, craft, and philosophy on creativity.

For additional links and more information, visit our website.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Glen Keane, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, David Gray, and Megan Worman.

Since this 2020 conversation with artist, educator, and AI practitioner Stephanie Dinkins, essential questions about artificial intelligence have only become more pressing. In turn, Stephanie's method of approaching AI—with a conscious eye towards breaking down bias, rather than perpetuating it— has only become more necessary.

For additional links and more information, visit our website.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Stephanie Dinkins, Bonnie Eldon, Michael Bass, David Gray, and Megan Worman.

Silo, the TV adaptation of Hugh Howey's acclaimed sci-fi novel Wool, has become one of Apple TV's hottest properties since it aired last May: it's earned a second season and several nominations in the forthcoming 2024 BAFTA Television Awards among other accolades. To celebrate the success of Silo, we're revisiting this episode with Hugh about how Wool took the world by storm.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Founder, Jason Oberholtzer

Executive Producer, Mike Rugnetta

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Hugh Howey, Bonnie Eldon, Meghal Janardan, Sarah Vitak, Elisabeth March, Michael Bass, and Megan Worman.

Today, we revisit a conversation from 2021 with immersive storytelling pioneers Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël of Felix & Paul Studios. For over ten years, these two have been carefully developing a unique experiential language— a language which they’ve deployed to incredible effect in the location-based VR experience Space Explorers: The Infinite. Felix and Paul discuss the elements of this language and how it came to be in this revisited episode.

For additional links, information, and more, visit our website.

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© 2024 Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp.

124 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher

Director, Carolyn Merriman

Assistant Producer, Madison Brown

in collaboration with Charts & Leisure

Executive Producer, Jason Oberholtzer

Producer, Meghal Janardan

Editor, Garrett Crowe

Mix, Music, and Final Assembly, Michael Simonelli

With special thanks to Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël, Bonnie Eldon, David Gray, Amy Snook, Michael Bass, Eitan Wolf, and Megan Worman.