Stories

we tell

I have always wanted to tell stories for as long as I can remember.

Growing up, my parents had small businesses such as VHS rental stores, video game rooms and others. I grew up watching, listening and playing stories.

Then I fell in love with books, devouring hundreds of stories from local libraries and imagined being in one, or even better, authoring them.

So I tried many different mediums. We played tabletop games such as D&D with friends, where you craft and play stories. We started a school newspaper, chasing and writing stories.

I've recorded home movies with my siblings and studied music - practising, writing and playing in bands.

We can tell stories about everything.

We can use spoken or written words. We can use paint, music, camera, architecture, and design.

Everything around us can be used to tell stories. In many books on human history and evolution, our language skills and the ability to articulate and pass stories between us make us unique. And so much developed in the technological sense than other species.

Storytelling is one of the most important skills we can have (and develop).

Storytelling can win (or lose) elections. It can motivate people. It can build love and relationships. It can make whole nations and start wars.

Everything we partake in is storytelling.

Our citizenship, work, finance systems, religions and politics. It all depends on how much people believe in these stories. And how confidently these are told.

One of my favourite authors Yuval Noah Harari, writes extensively about the power of storytelling and why they are so important. I highly recommend his books.

Why am I writing about it?

As we close our year with Casefile and Casefile presents, our shows were featured on many charts and lists from Apple, Spotify and others. It's our seventh year of running, and still, how we tell these stories resonates with many people worldwide.

The world is changing; it always is. As a result, podcasting is changing too.

However, what remains the same is that good storytelling will always find its audience.

You can have the best team, an enormous budget, and marketing spend. But if the storytelling is not there, then you have nothing, and people will see through it.

On the other hand, good stories can be told with very little and still find their place. They always do.

The internet made the place crowded, but the crowd is still at the bottom where rubbish sits. Once we put a little effort and move up a bit, we realise - no. It's not crowded, and quality will always rise to the top.

But it's not easy; it never was and will never be. 

We can be overshadowed by someone shouting a bit louder, taking our attention for a minute or two. But in the long run, only the best stories survive and are passed on.

I have the incredible privilege of being, what I believe, is one of the best storytelling teams in the podcasting space, and I'd like to thank all of them and our audience for giving me a chance to play a part in it.

PODCAST PRODUCER LATEST

The last Casefile episodes of the year are out!

Casefile is on a break until early February 2023. That does not mean the team is on holiday, though. 

We are already working on next year's schedule and other shows and projects. Of course, I'm always anxious when we have our break from publishing, but I also look forward to it as it allows us to step back, look over the past 12 months and learn from our mistakes and wins.

YOUTUBE

Last week we released a behind-the-scenes video of Pseudocide 2 - the latest podcast from Casefile Presents.

LEARNING

I uploaded my assignment on Friday. Yes, I could improve upon it, but as I told my tutor on last week's call - I'm pretty busy with work, plus I'm not that bothered about the grade.

I am most keen on feedback and learning from the assignments. I have progressed greatly in my composition approach and look forward to the next unit.

BOOKS

The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson. I've been reading this book any chance I got this past week, and it's over. It's done. I feel mixed emotions; on the one hand, it was a fantastic conclusion to the Wax & Wayne series (my favourite of the two Mistborn series). On the other hand, I'm sad it's finished, and I won't get to spend more time with these characters. Damn you, Sando, you did it again!

Arranging for Strings by Mimi Rabson. It's the first book I started reading from my recent purchases. The author (an accomplished string player) describes the string section's instruments, techniques, articulations and relationships. In addition, the book comes with links to audio previews.

Reinventing Your Life by Jeffrey Young and Janet Klosko. A different kind of a self-book. The authors are psychologists who developed Lifetraps, schemas that we tend to fall in our lives. They also present how we can deal with them through a combination of cognitive behavioural, Rogerian and other types of therapy.

FUN

Hania Rani & Dobrawa Czocher. Hania Rani is one of my two favourite pianists. We saw her playing in Bristol this year, and when she posted she would be playing with her friend, collaborator and cello player Dobrawa in December in London, I couldn't resist. The performance was spectacular but intense, leaving us emotionally drained after the musical journey. They also did like four encores, amazing!

Our Universe. A new documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman on Netflix. I usually enjoy natural and space documentaries, but this one did not capture my attention. I don't know what it is - the production, the connection they tried to make between our world and the universe, the storytelling? Something needs to be fixed even though all the elements of a 'good show' are ticked off. Pass after a couple of episodes.

Pepsi, Where is my Jet? We've been watching this highly entertaining documentary about an old legal case against Pepsi and its deceiving marketing. It's a good watch.

Andor. As we watched the last two episodes, I concluded that Andor is now my favourite Disney+ show. Dethroning Mandalorian, nonetheless. For some people, it could be a slow burn as it is a spy-thriller, but the tension and the payoff at the end were incredible. I cannot wait for season 2. For now, I cancelled my Disney+ subscription, though.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you (hopefully!) next week!

Mike

https://mikemigas.com/

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