The power of story -- even in Japanese (English below) -- transports us. Where do we go when we go off in our heads full of wonder, or bored, in search of the next story to learn from?
Story taught to monkey, Java (Mararie/flickr) |
This week’s show is about story and
narrative with Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Storytelling Animal. Although this is not about Obama or politics, Barry reveals the overwhelming importance of story in our lives:
In a July 2012 interview with Charlie Rose, Obama said
that “the mistake” of the early years of his presidency was his failure
to be a better storyteller:
The Buddha, master storyteller of Jataka Tales |
“The mistake of my first couple of years was thinking that this job
was just about getting the policy right. And that’s important. But the
nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people
that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially
during tough times.” If given a second term he says he will “spend more
time with the American people, listening to them, but also being in a
conversation with them about where do we go as a country?”
The late evolutionary biologist Steven Jay Gould called humans “the
primate who tells stories…” And it’s not just Gould. Anthropologists
have found societies that have existed for millennia without the wheel,
but they’ve never found one that doesn’t tell stories.
Siddhartha daydreaming about what it would be like to be free (Nitin_Paul/flickr.com) |
A World That Just Might Work, the website, leads with: “On the radio, I tell stories of a
world that just might work. As a consultant, I help you tell yours.”
Building on time as a teacher, two decades in the entertainment
industry, and 15 years of radio interviews, I help non-profits,
foundations, public agencies, and businesses tell better stories and
build better narratives.
What does Gottschall have to say about the latest science on the subject? Why is narrative so powerful? What is its evolutionary value? And
can what we’re learning help us get even better at tapping its power?
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