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Hello and welcome. You’re listening to Nicki’s Wonder List, a podcast about exploring story in a time of collapse. I’m Nicki Youngsma.  

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I’m a writer and artist, although these are just two words I use to describe myself quickly. My life is certainly bigger than that. I find it hard to limit myself to an occupation or a title because my life is more vast than a few words.

I’ve been a retail worker, food service entrepreneur, interpreter, paralegal, editor, canvasser, nonprofit co-founder. I am a parent to young people. I believe that my knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep.

 Through my movements in the last decade I’ve been exploring how to be of service in the time I have in my life. And from where I sit during this time of collapse, I find myself drawn further into the realm of story and storytelling in its many forms.

 How can we think of storytelling not just as an art or craft, but as a practice? Do we know a story when we see it? When we feel it? What do we think stories do, and what do they actually do? How do we decide what stories are not serving us well and replace them with something that is different?

My exploration  of the power of storytelling began after reading this article a few years ago about failed fluoridation campaigns in my greater home of Portland, Oregon. It’s the only major city that doesn’t add fluoride to its municipal water supply, and voters have rejected doing it multiple times. So this article I was reading was like, why don’t people trust the science that fluoride is safe and worth it?  Fluoride does slow tooth decay, though as a side note, I will say from personal research and my own lived experience that supporting healthy teeth is a lot more complicated than adding things to the water or following what’s offered by conventional dentistry.

So this article was like, the people who voted no on this didn’t gravitate toward the arguments that were supported by dominant scientific literature, but instead found resonance with counterarguments, especially those that relied on anecdotes—or stories. And the concept that a lot of people are more receptive to information, even for decision-making, through stories has sat with me ever since. More recently I’ve thought about this in the context of COVID.

Another example I’ll share which speaks to my interest in storytelling happened recently. I have two young kids who are really into Pokemon, and the oldest one has a Pokemon book that he really likes. One day when we had a playdate scheduled my kiddo was really excited to tell his friend about his book. But last minute our friends had to cancel, so I texted another friend’s mom to see if they could meet up, but they couldn’t come that day either. So my kiddo got really sad, then he asked if we could go to a playground to find kids so he could tell somebody—like anybody—about his book. 

In that moment my heart just really ached for him, but later what I realized is that I’ve felt that way, so many times.

That I’ve felt the impulse to share something, and sometimes I could access space for that. And other times, I couldn’t. And there’s a kind of agony in that.

In this podcast I’ll be exploring areas that I find rich, or that I’m curious about, or that I find intriguing and want to spend some time clearing space for stories to emerge.

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 I’ll do this through conversations with guests who come from many walks of life, including but certainly not limited to activists, community organizers, educators, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, and creative people. I will also do solo episodes where I speak about my interest or response to other creative works. 

I’m doing this because, the way I see it, stories are foundational to our lives. They are integral to our survival, our wellbeing, and our capacity to be in community with each other. 

We need stories—and they need us. 

Thank you for being on this adventure. 

This is Nicki’s Wonder List. 

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