#215 The Power of Story (Revisited) w/ Donna Washington
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2021
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The stories we tell about ourselves help us make sense of the world. And while we all have stories as individuals, a set them within a shared narrative that is the foundation of our communities. In this episode, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) CEO Tim Storey hosts Ben and storyteller Donna Washington in a conversation about the ways that stories work, why they have the power to unite us, and how they can also be used to divide us. They also reflect on the "American Story" and how new perspectives on our past help us to better understand who we are as a people and a country.
A special thanks to Tim Storey and everyone at NCSL for inviting Ben and Donna to return to NCSL's Legislative Summit, and to Donna Washington for sharing her wisdom with us and the crowd. We're also grateful to all those who attended the panel and took the time to speak with us afterward. You can read Lesley Kennedy's writeup of the panel on NCSL's blog here.
You can follow Donna Washington on twitter at @DLWStoryTeller, like her page on facebook, and find out more about her upcoming performances and work (including her new book Boo Stew) at her website- DonnaWashington.com.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is a non-partisan organization that represents the legislatures in the states, territories and commonwealths of the U.S. Its mission is to advance the effectiveness, independence and integrity of legislatures and to foster interstate cooperation and facilitate the exchange of information among legislatures. To learn more about NCSL and access their incredible set of online resources covering a wide variety of topics relating to state legislatures and local governments, visit their website: NCSL.org.
You can hear our first NCSL panel, recorded in 2019, featuring Ben, Donna and Bob in episode #138 by clicking here. Our conversation with NCSL's experts on legislative redistricting past and present, is also available in episode #212 Redistricting: A Primer w/ Wendy Underhill and Ben Williams.
This episode was recorded at NCSL's Legislative Summit in Tampa, Florida on November 5th, 2021 and edited by Ben Sawyer.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Ben Sawyer and this is The Road to Now. |
| 0:07.7 | Today's episode is a conversation about storytelling and the power of story. |
| 0:12.5 | It's not a typical episode in that Bob and I aren't actually asking the questions. |
| 0:17.8 | This is part of a panel that I did at the National Conference of State Legislatures |
| 0:21.8 | Annual Summit in Tampa about a month ago, side by side with the always magnificent storyteller |
| 0:28.6 | Donna Washington. Tim Story and NCSL was kind enough to bring us back. If you remember, we spoke in |
| 0:34.9 | 2019, the two of us with Bob, actually, when the convention was in Nashville. |
| 0:39.8 | This conversation covers in general the same theme, but I'll say that there are a lot of new |
| 0:46.4 | ideas I've had and Donna has as well, you know, thinking more in this time of division and just ways |
| 0:53.0 | that story can mend that and the ways that in some way story |
| 0:56.2 | is responsible for that so i hope you guys enjoy this and again donna washington so fantastic |
| 1:02.4 | if you ever get a chance to hear or tell a story take it i just got my son her new book boo stew |
| 1:08.0 | it's beautiful so links to all that in the episode description and on the |
| 1:11.4 | website. Just a few things before we go into that conversation, though. First of all, |
| 1:16.6 | big shout out to Kim Burns, who kindly picked Road to Now our conversation earlier this year |
| 1:22.9 | with Annette Gordon-Reed as one of his favorite podcast moments of 2021. |
| 1:28.6 | Just absolutely, me and Bob were so happy about this. |
| 1:32.5 | I'm texting back and forth about it when we saw that it was posted. |
| 1:35.9 | So thank you to Kim Burns. |
| 1:37.5 | And I can't even say how much it means that a person who has really shaped the way that I |
| 1:42.5 | understand the past and Bob understands the past |
| 1:44.6 | has taken the time to listen to our show. So special thanks to him. And if you want to check it out, |
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