Narativ

When we choose who to remember with our obituaries, what cultural landscape do we create? In “Letters to the Dead,” we explore the New York Times Obituary Desk, Iceland’s obsession with death, and a renegade obituarist who finds the extraordinary in the ordinary. Listen on iTunes. Featuring: Vanessa Gould, Director of Obit; Nanna Arnadottir, columnist for Reykjavik Grapevine; Karl Blöndal, Vice Editor of Morgunblaðið; Kay Powell, retired obit writer and editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more. Full show notes here.

We'll be releasing a bonus episode tomorrow (5/12/16), continuing our exploration of memory and psychedelics that began in "Glass Bottom Boat." This is a short clip of our interview with Jeffrey Guss, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, at NYU, describing the four levels of the psychedelic experience. More details at MemoryMotel.audio.

We'll be releasing a bonus episode this week, continuing our exploration of memory and psychedelics that began in "Glass Bottom Boat." This is a short clip of our interview with Amanda Feilding, Founder and Director of the Beckley Foundation. Full episode coming soon! More info at MemoryMotel.audio.

Imagine if you dropped acid and ended up on a movie set about hippies. Episode no. 3 of Memory Motel has the full story. Art by Calum McGhee.

In “Glass-Bottom Boat,” we explore how going back in the context of a psychedelic experience impacts how we might move forward. We start our journey with James Fadiman, a transpersonal psychologist and author of “The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide,” who sheds light on the various ways one can go back during a psychedelic experience. And then we follow Jim McDermott as he returns to the memory of his first psychedelic experience in which he found himself back in an era he thought he’d missed – the sixties – and what he carried forward with him from the impossible encounter. Listen on iTunes.

"We were surrounded by all these objects that had special meaning for us because there were events, moments, people behind them." -- Olinka Vistica, co-founder of the Museum of Broken Relationships. Learn more in the new Memory Motel podcast episode: Everything In Its Right Place.

With the help of memories, whether joyful or heartbreaking, an ordinary object can become a time machine. Since objects hold our memories how do we decide what to throw out and what to keep? “Everything In Its Right Place,” examines the power of mementos. Listen on iTunes. Full show notes here.

Listen to "Eyes of Another," the premiere episode of Memory Motel.

Artist Kate Gavino (of Last Night's Reading) captures the Memory Motel podcast launch party scene in our office in Industry City. Listen to the premiere episode: memorymotel.audio | iTunes.

Kate Gavino (of Last Night's Reading) draws Memory Motel podcast host Terence Mickey at our launch event in Industry City. Listen to the premiere episode: memorymotel.audio | iTunes.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Memory Motel podcast launch party — so wonderful to celebrate with such an amazing group of people. Listen to the premiere episode: memorymotel.audio | iTunes

This is the launch episode of Memory Motel — "Eyes of Another."

The Memory Motel podcast has officially launched! Autobiographical memories are the stories we tell ourselves, but they’re also a window into other people’s experiences. They’re one of the best ways we have to connect to one another, which is why they’re critical to the bonding process within relationships, families and communities. But what if one person desperately wants to forget, and the other person desperately wants to remember? That’s Rachel Stephenson’s story. Listen now: memorymotel.audio | iTunes

Memory Motel launches on March 15, and this new trailer gives you all the vital details to follow our inquiry into memory. We’ll be exploring this slippery and expansive subject from all angles, and it begins with our imminent first episode, which delves into the importance of sharing memories. Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes (or the podcast app of your choice) now, so you get the premiere episode as soon as it’s released.

Memory Motel is a sonic love letter to memory and what's revealed about ourselves, our wants and desires, when we go back to find meaning in what's been lived. Podcast launch: 3/15/16.