Narratively Out Loud

I was a wide-eyed scholarship kid among daughters of the rich and famous. I expected academic rigor and supportive sisterhood—not humiliating midnight raids. But the most shocking thing to everyone else was when I stood up for myself. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

A Florida funeral escort who took his road-safety duties a little too seriously became a widely ridiculed Internet sensation—and landed in hot water with actual law enforcement. But that’s only the start of the strange and twisted ballad of Jeremy Dewitte. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

David and Jeannie Smith gave up their day jobs for a life of daredevil stunts —with six children in tow. Five decades, thousands of cannon shots and multiple Guinness World Records later, this stupendous family business is still defying gravity and all other expectations. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

Nicholas McCarthy was born in the 1990s without a right hand. Paul Wittgenstein lost his in World War I—and then left behind a musical treasure trove that would change Nicholas’ life. Listen to our collaboration with the hit podcast Snap Judgement. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

As an Indonesian adoptee in Sweden, I was alarmed when my new stepbrother started dabbling in white supremacy. I didn’t realize how far it had gone until I was lying in a dark field, getting kicked in the chest with a steel-toed boot. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

I have learned all the stories my father was too protective of me to share, parsed the conflicting histories and studied the maps. Now I can finally recreate our family’s lost home, in a once small village in Palestine. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

In opulent seaside Newport, a wealthy and beloved Black businessman turns up dead. The prime suspect is his son-in-law, a dashing medical student set to become one of the country’s first Black surgeons. The resulting trial will tear the town in two. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

It was the era when video killed the radio star, when glitz and glamor and bubblegum pop dominated the airwaves. Meanwhile, a handful of musicians and misfits were subverting the pop culture narrative forever. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

I was 13 when my father was killed right before my eyes. Two weeks later, while everyone in our small town obsessed over his grizzly death, I embarked on a new horror: 8th grade. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

As a disillusioned cub reporter, I jumped at the bizarro job of a lifetime: editor-in-chief of Playboy Russia when nouveau riche Moscow was a hedonistic playground of sex, drugs, and early-stage capitalism — until Putin’s rise brought my reign to a screeching halt. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

Riding the emotional rollercoaster with “Loogy,” “Barefoot” and the most dedicated family of Mets superfans as they root, root, root for the hardest-luck team in sports. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

Students say the University of Michigan’s Sigma Phi chapter is a vital, lifesaving space, and that going all-gender was the obvious thing to do. The national organization responded by suing them. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

I woke up one morning in my mid-thirties and suddenly couldn’t see. I vowed if I ever got my vision back I would live life differently — I had no idea that would mean flying down highways twice the speed limit with a colorful crew in the dead of night. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

In a Bible-belt state where sex toys stores are illegal, a church-going grandma, enterprising mom and sassy granddaughter build a booming business hawking penis pumps and butt plugs—and helping every person find their path to pleasure. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe

For two centuries, an extreme protectionist policy barred foreigners from setting foot inside Japan — except for one tiny island, a cramped cultural crossroads where anything could, and did, happen. Get full access to Narratively at www.narratively.com/subscribe