Just Stories

About Just Stories

Just Stories invites faith and justice into the same room. Through honest and wide-ranging conversations, we bring lived religion and spirituality into contact with the justice system, its promises and its failures. We define justice broadly, as Cornel West put it, "justice is what love looks like in public," but most of our guests speak from the criminal justice system in particular: some working to humanize it, others who've felt its blunt end, whether formerly incarcerated or denied justice in other ways. Our roots are in the Anabaptist Christian tradition, but guests of all backgrounds are welcome.

Publisher

More Than Just Stories

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Sept 2026

Latest episode

5 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

5 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Nov 2026

   Repair in the Middle of Everything

   Derek Miodownik works for Vermont’s Department of Corrections as the Community and Restorative Justice Executive. He joins Just Stories to trace how improv theater led him to mediation and a youth court experiment in Red Hook, Brooklyn; how Vermont wrote restorative justice into state policy; and what reparative boards and Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) actually look like in practice. He then sits with the hardest question: what do you do with harms that can’t be undone? Guest Derek Miodownik Community & Restorative Justice Executive for the Vermont Department of Corrections (https://doc.vermont.gov/). Credits Host: Rob Brenneman Senior Producer: Yebu Ji Sound Engineering: Alex Dugger Background Research: Alaina Wolfe Marketing Manager: Melissa Troyer Audience Engagement Manager: Courtney Dobrzykowski Directed by: Duane Stoltzfus Music Theme Music: Umbilical Moonrise by Lotus (https://www.lotusvibes.com/) Suzanne by Leonard_Cohen Deep Krawlen (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=404946) from Blue Dot Sessions Dolomite (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=404947) from Blue Dot Sessions Strickland (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=404948) from Blue Dot Sessions Burham Street (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=404949) from Blue Dot Sessions A Palace of Cedar (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=404951) from Blue Dot Sessions Links Red Hook Community Justice Center (https://www.innovatingjustice.org/program/red-hook-community-justice-center/) Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) and Restorative Justice (https://humanservices.vermont.gov/highlighting-promising-practice/circles-support-and-accountability-cosa-and-restorative-justice) Inside Vermont’s Radical Approach to Helping the Formerly Incarcerated Succeed (https://theappeal.org/vermont-radical-approach-to-helping-the-formerly-incarcerated/) These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home by Bayo Akomolafe (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34355617-these-wilds-beyond-our-fences) Coming Home Directed by Bess O’Brien (https://kingdomcounty.org/shop/coming-home-dvd) Social media Website: juststoriespodcast.org (http://juststoriespodcast.org) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podcastjuststories/ (https://www.instagram.com/podcastjuststories/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastjuststories (https://www.facebook.com/podcastjuststories) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/just-stories-podcast (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/just-stories-podcast)

2. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Doing Justice, Doing Life: A Conversation with Howard Zehr

   What if justice meant sitting in a room with the person who harmed you? Howard Zehr has spent five decades asking that question. Howard Zehr has been called the grandfather of restorative justice, a title he accepts with some amusement. In this conversation, he traces a path that began with a single year at Goshen College in 1962, a dining-table conversation with a civil rights leader who had worked alongside Dr. King, and a lecture that gave him what he came to call the gap principle: do the work no one else is doing. That principle took him to Morehouse College, to Talladega, and eventually back to Elkhart, Indiana, where he reluctantly joined an experiment bringing burglary victims face to face with the people who had broken into their homes. He talks about where the term restorative justice actually came from, what he learned about justice from traveling across the globe. Also his decades photographing people serving life sentences, why trauma destroys a person’s story, and why recovery means building a new one. Access more episodes: juststoriespodcast.org (http://juststoriespodcast.org) Guest Howard Zehr Bio Howard Zehr is widely known as the grandfather of restorative justice. He began as a practitioner and theorist in the late 1970s, at the field’s foundational stage, and has since led events in more than 25 countries and 35 states, with particular impact in New Zealand, whose juvenile justice system was restructured around a family-focused, restorative approach. A writer, educator, and photojournalist, he was an early advocate for placing victims’needs at the center of restorative practice. He has taught more than a thousand practitioners, many now leading their own organizations, and in 2013 co-founded the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice. Credits Host: Regina Shands Stoltzfus Senior Producer: Yebu Ji Sound Engineering: Alex Dugger Background Research: Alaina Wolfe Marketing Manager: Melissa Troyer Audience Engagement Manager: Courtney Dobrzykowski Directed by: Duane Stoltzfus Tape Sync: Tobias Tate Music Theme Music: Umbilical Moonrise by Lotus (https://www.lotusvibes.com/) Capocollo Theme (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=401873) from Dot Sessions Eleven Count (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=401874) from Blue Dot Sessions Liptis (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=401875) from Blue Dot Sessions Cheap Red (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=401876) by Blue Dot Sessions Just Stories is a collaboration of the Religion, Justice and Society Department and the Communications Department at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, part of the More Than Just Stories project, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.

3. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Justice Meets Grace at the Bench

   We live in a messy world where relationships go south, and people hurt each other, sometimes violently. The criminal justice system is meant to answer that harm. But what happens inside the mind and heart of the person handing down the sentences? Judge Kristine Osterday took an unlikely road to the bench: a first-generation college student from a blue-collar family, who followed what she calls “a call she was smart enough not to get in the way of." In this conversation with host Rob Brenneman, she speaks candidly about faith and vocation, why she's passionate about presiding over one of the hardest dockets: domestic violence, and where she believes the justice system, faith communities, and the rest of us are still falling short. Access more episodes: juststoriespodcast.org (http://juststoriespodcast.org) Guest Kristine A. Osterday: Judge of Elkhart County’s Superior Court 1. Since 2018, Hon. Kristine A. Osterday (B.S. ’01) has served as a judge for the Elkhart County Superior Court. Born in Valparaiso, she grew up in Elkhart County and attended Northridge High School. She is a graduate of IU South Bend and Valparaiso School of Law. Timecode 00:00 Intro 02:00 An unlikely path to the bench 06:00 Amish country, RVs, and the 80/90 corridor 08:30 Inside the domestic violence docket 13:00 Plea deals and the limits of the system 17:00 The complicated reality for survivors 20:30 Restorative justice and power imbalance 24:30 When faith communities look away 27:00 A magic wand and the Ten Commandments 31:30 Don't make us feel like Sisyphus Credits Host: Rob Brenneman Senior Producer: Yebu Ji Sound Engineering: Grant Bachman & Alex Dugger Background Research: Alaina Wolfe Illustrator: Senna Duan Marketing Manager: Melissa Troyer Audience Engagement Manager: Courtney Dobrzykowski Directed by: Duane Stoltzfus Music Theme: Umbilical Moonrise by Lotus (https://www.lotusvibes.com/) Big River Run (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=390340) from Blue Dot Sessions Eleven Count (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=390341) from Blue Dot Sessions Just Stories is a collaboration of the Religion, Justice and Society Department and the Communications Department at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, part of the More Than Just Stories project, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. Links Elkhart Superior Court No. 1: https://elkhartcounty.com/en/government/courts/ (https://elkhartcounty.com/en/government/courts/) National Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org (https://www.thehotline.org) · 1-800-799-7233 Social media Website: juststoriespodcast.org (http://juststoriespodcast.org) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podcastjuststories/ (https://www.instagram.com/podcastjuststories/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastjuststories (https://www.facebook.com/podcastjuststories) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/just-stories-podcast (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/just-stories-podcast)

4. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Why Just Stories? Why Now?

   What does justice really mean, and how does faith shape our response to injustice? In this debut episode of Just Stories, hosts Rob Brenneman and Regina Shands Stoltzfus share the experiences that shaped their work, from Central America and refugee camps to classrooms and local jails. Through honest stories about faith, dignity, and our shared humanity, they explore how listening can become the first step toward justice. Learn more at: juststoriespodcast.org (http://juststoriespodcast.org) Credits Host: Rob Brenneman & Regina Shands Stoltzfus Senior Producer: Yebu Ji Sound Engineering: Alex Dugger Research Assistance: Alaina Wolfe Illustrator: Senna Duan Marketing Manager: Melissa Troyer Audience Engagement Manager: Courtney Dobrzykowski Directed by: Duane Stoltzfus Music Theme Music: Umbilical Moonrise by Lotus (https://www.lotusvibes.com/) Mint Martini by Blue Dot Sessions (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=396838) Liptis by Blue Dot Sessions (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=396839) Basic Curiosity by Blue Dot Sessions (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=396840) Driptape by Blue Dot Sessions (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=396841) Cheap Red by Blue Dot Sessions (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=396842) Cloud Cannon by Blue Dot Sessions (https://app.sessions.blue/browse?trackId=396843) Just Stories is a collaboration of the Religion, Justice and Society Department and the Communication Department at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, part of the More Than Just Stories project, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. Links Regina’s Published Works: Resistance, Resilience, and Radical Love: Reflections on Blackness and Teaching Peace, Tehom Center Publishing, 2025. (https://www.amazon.com/Resistance-Resilience-Radical-Love-Reflections/dp/1966655401) Been in the Struggle: Pursuing an Antiracist Spirituality, Herald Press, 2021. (co-authored with Tobin Miller Shearer) (https://heraldpress.com/9781513809434/been-in-the-struggle/) Rob’s Published Works: Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199753903?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback) "Organized Crime, Disorganized Responses: New Research on Gangs and Organized Crime in Latin America (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-research-review/article/organized-crime-disorganized-responses-new-research-on-gangs-and-organized-crime-in-latin-america/5708DCE3A031F3733D055FE39FBADF82)," Building Faith: A Sociology of Religious Structures (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B8TTD5G?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback) Rob’s Personal Website (https://homiesandhermanosbook.org/)

5. 

   22 Sept 2026

   Just Stories Season 1 Trailer

   Just Stories is a podcast about the places where justice and faith intersect, and sometimes collide. Season 1 launches September 24th, with new episodes every other Thursday. Follow now so you don't miss the first one.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact Just Stories

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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