Circle Round

In this Native American and First Nations tale, William Jackson Harper (The Good Place, Love Life) portrays a tiny creature who teaches the other animals and birds to appreciate what it means to be different.

Hannah Simone (New Girl; Mira, Royal Detective) stars alongside her real-life father Naren Simone in a South Asian tale about the power of self-reliance.

Richard Kind (Inside Out, American Dad!) stars in this Middle Eastern folktale about a clever man who teaches his village a thing or two about the dangers of judging a book by its cover.

Miles Brown and Marsai Martin (Black-ish) co-star with NPR veteran Ofeiba Quist-Arcton in this Ethiopian story about courage, collaboration, patience, and sibling love.

Recorded live at KCRW in Santa Monica, CA, this story with international roots shows how having a soft spot for hard work can pay off -- big time!

Recorded live at KCRW in Santa Monica, CA, this story from Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia gives a whole new meaning to "promising the moon"!

Recorded live at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD, this African tale explains how the guinea fowl got its distinctively speckled feathers.

Recorded live at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD, this tale from the Jewish tradition shows how misplacing our trust can put us in a sticky situation!

Willam Mapother (Lost, On Sacred Ground) headlines this Romanian tale about a story-less man who hopes his tale will end happily ever after!

Pablo Castelblanco (Alaska Daily, Ganymede) and Meredith Holzman (Alaska Daily, Inventing Anna) headline a story with Burmese and Indian roots about a humble peddler, a magic squirrel, and a golden opportunity.

Taylor Richardson (The Gilded Age) and Alison Wright (The Americans, Snowpiercer) co-star in this Irish tale about mischievous fairies and the power of music.

Stephanie Panisello (What If...?, Ba Da Bean) stars in a Filipino tale about the sweet role kindness can play in achieving your dreams.

Nazneen Contractor (Holidazed, Star Wars Resistance) plays a cunning barber whose wits are as sharp as her scissors in this clever Bengali tale.

Comedians Fortune Feimster (Good Fortune, FUBAR) and Tom Papa (What a Day!, You're Doing Great!) face off in a contest of brawn versus brains in this tale with roots across Europe, and Latin and North America.

Broadway performer Brittney Johnson (Wicked) stars in an Estonian story about being able to control the weather -- and the responsibility such power brings.

In this magical tale from Japan, Marc delaCruz (If/Then, Hamilton) plays a lowly cook whose kitchen scraps bring him a golden reward.

Mel Rodriguez (The Afterparty, CSI: Vegas) stars in this Ecuadorian tale about a talented architect who has a devil of a time meeting a seemingly impossible deadline.

Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon, Three Pines) and Jonathan Joss (King of the Hill, Tulsa King) star in this Wabanaki tale about how people first learned to tap maple trees.

Jackie Chung (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Coming Home Again) and Louis Ozawa (Hunters, Pachinko) star in this rollicking tale from Africa about how the zebra got its stripes and the baboon got its bare bottom.

We celebrate our 200th episode with two Circle Round alums -- Jon Jon Briones (Ratched, Class of ‘09) and Kathleen Chalfant (The Affair, House of Cards) -- starring in a Jewish tale about how revenge is a dish best served cold.