Strangers

Last week we posted Sharon Houston's hilarious and beloved old Strangers story And Justice for All? and this week we're following up with Sharon to see what she's up to now....which turned out to be a lot of different things.If you’d like to see photos that go with today’s episode, you can find them in these free posts on Substack and Patreon, where you can also sign up for our free newsletter. If you’d like to access more than 100 exclusive episodes and join our community at a deeper level, consider becoming a paying subscriber on either of those platforms today. Or follow us on Instagram – we’ve gained more than 7,000 new followers there in the last month alone! – or on Facebook, or write to us at stories@leathau.com. This episode makes a brief reference to suicide and suicidal ideation. If anyone is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, you can find help by calling or texting 988 in the US. Big thanks to Sharon Houston for letting us rerun her original Strangers story last week, and for doi

Welcome back to our Summer of Strangers. Today's story is an old Strangers episode with Sharon Houston, and next week we'll do a follow-up with her. If you want to see photos that go with today’s episode, you can find them in these posts on Patreon or Substack, where you can also join our free community and sign up for our newsletter. If you’d like to support our work, consider becoming a paying subscriber on either platform. Sharon Houston is a comedian, actress, content creator, producer, and writer, who has experience across all aspects of web and TV production. She has numerous court shows under her belt, including "Judge Joe Brown", "Divorce Court", "Judge Alex", "The Hollywood Judge", "Judge Faith", and "Judge Jerry." Sharon has produced TV and digital programming for VH1, MTVTres, Mun2, FOX, Universal Music Group, E!,OWN, Oxygen, NBC, FX, and CBS. Her original concepts have garnered deals with The Gurin Company, Scout Productions, UnbelEVAble Productions, Wanda Sykes' Push It Productions, Liv

Thank you for all the love we’ve received about Joshua Safran’s story from last week. This episode is a follow-up with Joshua about his life now.It's quite different from the original episode, because it's more of a conversation and less of a story, and because a lot has changed in 10 years – in Joshua's life, and the U.S., and the world. Big thanks to Joshua Safran. He is the author of the memoir Free Spirit: Growing Up On the Road and Off the Grid, which formed the basis of last week’s story. Joshua, and his co-counsel, and their client, Deborah Peagler, were also the subjects of the multi-award-winning documentary Crime after Crime, about the long effort to free Deborah from prison. Joshua is the co-founder and general counsel of Medical Justice Alliance, a nonprofit that protects the right to medical care for the incarcerated. I’m deeply grateful for the help from my associate producer, Vix Jensen, and Heather Kitching, who’s been making promo reels for us, including the one about Joshua's story

Joshua Safran was born in a coven of lesbian witches in a Haight-Ashbury commune. After the fall of Saigon, young Joshua Safran hit the open road with his mother, and things only got stranger from there. This story is a rerun from 2016. Next week, we’ll run a follow-up with Joshua.A word of warning: This episode contains moments you may find disturbing. Please use discretion and avoid listening around kids.To see the photos that go with Joshua’s story, check out these free posts on Patreon or Substack, where you can also sign up for our free newsletter. To unlock another 80 Strangers episodes + new premium content, and to listen ad-free, consider becoming a paying subscriber. Joshua Safran is a nationally recognized advocate for the rights of women, survivors of domestic violence, and the wrongfully incarcerated. He has won many awards for his work in this field, and he’s the author of the memoir Free Spirit: Growing Up On the Road and Off the Grid. Joshua and his co-counsel, and their client, Deborah Pe

This is a story of mothers, love, regret, and redemption, and of secrets from many years past that cast long shadows into our lives. It’s about how Deborah Jiang-Stein came to be pulled over by two highway patrolmen at 19 years-old, with a trunkload of dope, a .38 revolver, and a 10” switch blade. That was only the beginning of her long journey towards what she was looking for. This story is a Strangers rerun from 2015, followed by a little catch-up with Deborah. It's the first installment of our Summer of Strangers where we revisit some of our favorite stories from that show. All the stories we’ve picked for the series relate in some way to the American experience, as we take a close look at the country that just turned 250, through the personal stories of some of its people. If you’d like to see pictures that go with this episode, you can find them in these free, public posts on Patreon or Substack where you can also sign up for our free newsletter. Thanks to our storyteller, Deborah Jiang-St

In this episode, we wrap up The Hopeful Locals and preview our SUMMER of STRANGERS with a Strangers story that has been offline since 2014.The SUMMER of STRANGERS officially kicks off July 15.Comment on Patreon, Substack,Facebook or Instagram as to which Strangers stories you most want us to rerun or follow up on!Or leave a review wherever you’re listening right now to let us know! To whet your appetites and tide you over until kick-off, we’re taking three episodes from the Strangers archive each week and making them available right here in your public feed. We’re NOT reposting these at the top of the feed, so they will be under their original publication dates, and each set of episodes will only be available for ONE WEEK, so make sure you’re subscribed and that you listen to or download the episodes while they’re unlocked.This week we’re featuring the series Two Men and a Baby, which ran from 2014 to 2017, and the episodes will be available until July 2nd. Start with the first one, Two Men and a Ba

This is Episode 7 of the Hopeful Locals, but this installment can also stand alone. Today you’re going to meet John Doyle, and I’m going to let him tell most of the story, because I like the way he tells it. John has had an interesting life, and he tells his story in the same warm, frank, meandering way that he seems to approach most things. He lives and works in the town of Crow Agency, and it’s small enough that the only directions he gave me to his office were to “drive through town and look for the pink house.” Inside, I found John, surrounded by machines and samples that related to his scientific research, and I found a story of hope, resilience, and reconciliation, beyond what I’d imagined – and beyond what I, myself, can muster, even on my best days. This episode is brought to you without commercial interruption by Tink Media, Podcast the Newsletter, and our paying subscribers on Patreon and Substack. Big thanks to John Doyle for sharing his story. He’s getting ready to retire from Littl

As L.A. burns behind me, I drive deeper into cowboy country through Wyoming to Montana, trying to untangle the many contradictions of the country I call home.This is Episode 6 of The Hopeful Locals, and it is in loving memory of Crawford White Eagle.This series is made with suppport from our sponsors Tink Media and Podcast The Newsletter, and from our paying subscribers on Patreon and Substack.Big thanks to Jackie White, for letting me visit with her. Jackie's husband, Crawford White Eagle was a ceremonial leader and one of the Northern Arapaho’s Four Old Men. He worked tirelessly for preservation of the tribe’s language and culture, and he helped establish the Northern Arapaho endowment for tribal students at the University of Wyoming, where he also received an honorary doctorate. Crawford served his country in the Vietnam War and was twice wounded in combat, receiving a Purple Heart and many other medals for his service. He was also a master jewelry maker and silversmith.Thanks to Paul Dreux Smith, for maki

The hope holds strong in this second episode about people working for change on the Wind River Reservation.It is brought to you by Tink Media, Podcast The Newsletter, and our supporters on Patreon and Substack. Huge thanks to the visionaries of this episode: Jackie White, Kelly Pingree, and Erika Warren-Yarber. Please visit The Wind River Sage Fund, which was established by The Wind River Development Fund to manage their Recompete grant projects, and please check out and support the Sweetgrass Food Lodge and the Wind River Food Sovereignty Project.We have a COMMUNITY HANGOUT, open to all FREE & PAID members, TOMORROW:Thursday, May 21: 11:30am PT – 12:30pm MT - 1:30pm CT – 2:30pm ET – 7:30pm GMT – 20:30 CET – 4:30am (Fri) AEST. Become a FREE member on Patreon or Substack to join, and to see photos from this episode.  Or become a paid member and join our IN-PERSON hangout in Copenhagen June 25th! INTERN WITH US:We’re looking for a summer intern. If you think that might be you email us at stor

This is Episode 4 of The Hopeful Locals (Episode 7 if you’re a paying subscriber and get bonus episodes!). You’re getting this episode ad-free because the people in it deserve not to be interrupted by ads, I feel. If you agree with that and would like to support my work, you can join us at 'STORIES by Lea Thau' on Patreon and Substack, where you’ll find all my new work and the entire Strangers archive. Big thanks this week to Art Lawson and Wilma Wagon of the Wind River Fish & Game and Jason Baldes of the Tribal Buffalo Initiative, as well as Paul Huberty and Erika Warren-Yarber, who run The Wind River Development Fund and The Wind River Sage Fund, where you can track the progress of their Recompete grant projects and support their work. I also want to thank the Just Transition Fund for introducing me to Erika. They’re the only philanthropic initiative focused on coal community transition in the U.S., working to create economic opportunities for the frontline workers and communities hardest hit

This is Episode 3 of The Hopeful Locals for free subscribers (Episode 6 for paying subscribers). Our storyteller today is Erika Warren-Yarber. She’s the COO of the Wind River Development Fund and the Wind River Sage Fund. Please consider supporting their work.And please consider supporting my work by becoming a paying subscriber on Patreon or Substack. Thanks to the Just Transition Fund for connecting me with Erika. I directed a storytelling show for their partner convening, and Erika was one of the storytellers. If you’d like to hire me to direct a storytelling show, or teach a storytelling workshop, or help you craft your story, email me at stories@leathau.com.The champion song that played when Erika got the big news was by Indian Hill at Sho-Ban Festival Powwow 2022. Thanks, as always, to Paul Dreux Smith for making the music and mixing. Also big thanks to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen, and my Project Editor, Christina Thyssen, and to Pernille Clifforth for illustrating the series, to Av

This is Episode 2 of my series, The Hopeful Locals. It’s a direct continuation of Episode 1, so if you haven’t heard that, I’d go start there.Huge thanks to my husband, Paul Dreux Smith, for making the music and mixing this episode, to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen, for her help with the story, the production, the logistics – all of it – and to my Project Editor, Christina Thyssen, for always making my early drafts better. Also big thanks to Avi Odenheimer for making the Hopeful Locals logo, and to Pernille Clifforth for making an original art piece for every installment in this series. One of the greatest things about coming back to podcasting is that I get to work with such brilliant people. The other great thing is that I get to connect with you. Endless gratitude to my paying subscribers for making my work possible. It means everything to me, and you can join us on Patreon or Substack. Prices go up May 1st, so join now to lock in maximum access at minimal cost and get a lot more content

This is the prologue to my new series, The Hopeful Locals, and I hope you’ll enjoy it. The story continues on Friday. Huge thanks to Dengue Fever, Paul’s band, for letting me use the recording from their live show at The Chapel. They have two very special shows coming up on May 15 and 16 at Gold Diggers in LA, a more intimate club than they normally play, and you can also find them in other cities this spring and summer. Big thanks to their drummer and my true love, Paul Dreux Smith, for making the music for this episode and mixing it. Enormous gratitude to my associate producer, Vix Jensen, who has been my rock editorially, practically, and emotionally over the last year; my project editor, Christina Thyssen, who has helped give the stories shape and make them better; and our resident artist, Pernille Clifforth, who has illustrated this episode and every episode in the series. Also big thanks to Avi Odenheimer for making The Hopeful Locals logo. And thanks to all my supporters on Patreon and S

Hi friends, I’m back! New episodes start dropping Tuesday! Also, heads-up: I’ll be changing the name of this podcast from Strangers to STORIES by Lea Thau on Monday. That hurts a little, I know – for me too – but I promise it’s not the end of Strangers. The plan is for STORIES by Lea Thau to be an umbrella for all my work, including Strangers, and I want to do a new season of that show next year. But first we’ll kick off next week with episodes from my latest series, The Hopeful Locals. If you can’t wait for the public release and would like to binge the first eight episodes of The Hopeful Locals right now, you can do so on Patreon, where you’ll also find 70 episodes of Strangers that are only available there, and much more.If you can’t afford to pay, you can also join my Patreon community for free and get access to some new and old episodes without ads – Episode 1 of The Hopeful Locals is already up there! If you have questions or comments, or perhaps a story you’d like to share, you