The Non-Existent Story: A Storytelling Podcast

On the composition of songs and of elements, and on the decomposition of relationships. This week Hannah sets the interplay of flattering lies, inapplicable truths and incongruous seductions to the 12-count rhythm of the Flamenco Bolero--music of doomed love and del Amor Brujo. Which one do YOU think is the Non-Existent Story?

"What isn’t entertaining in the least, however, is the ever increasing number of people who come to my beauty parlor in order to die...." What is beauty? How do we experience it, what other (darker) elements does it enfold within itself, and what functions does it serve in human life? Do face masks really make you more beautiful? This week Casey and Hannah consider all these important questions as they talk about two notions of beauty cherished by two characters forced to navigate catastrophe. Which one do YOU think is the Non-Existent Story?

Hannah gets drunk on moonshine and Casey pretends to know something about classical music. Get ready for a night at the symphony! Don your best mink stole, chug down that glass of champagne because you can't bring it in with you, take a a seat, --for God's sake stop coughing!--open up your glossy program, and prepare to learn everything you need to know about the sordid family sagas of the musically ingenious. Which one do YOU think is the Non-Existent sonata?

Pour yourself a nice big glass of sweet tea, have a seat on the porch swing, and watch the neighbors (and if you're lucky, the local law enforcement) embarrass themselves right there in the middle of the magnolia-lined street. This episode, Hannah reads, in a most charming southern accent, two tales of scandal, shame, and public ignominy in the Old South. Which one do YOU think is the Non-Existent Story?

"It was then that I decided to organize my first really chaotic party..." Parties do lots of things in literature. They offer feasts for the senses. They suspend the rules governing everyday life. The lavish balls, weddings, soirees, fetes and banquets of literary classics like Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby are both events and pretexts for more events: challenging a rival, attracting a lover, revealing a secret, or playing cruel pranks on unsuspecting guests. In the thick of planning her own extravagant wedding party, Casey reads, with some attempts at regional accents, two tales of lavish and unusual Parties. Which one do YOU think is the Non-Existent story?