A podcast about all of the ways our minds make stories and stories make us. A combination of history, myths, psychology, society and stories, exploring what it means to be human.
Terry Pratchett's Jingo and Other War Stories: what they tell us about how we talk about conflicts
Jingo by Terry Pratchett is a story about lots of things, one being pointless wars, especially those fought in deserts. For some reason this has been on my mind. This Episode Melody joins me to discuss the book, the parallels with the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, by T. E. Lawrence and hint at some more modern similarities. We also talk about the stories we tell ourselves about war, battles and people from other cultures, and looking on mighty works with despair.
As mentioned in the opening more information about Canada’s budget and the prison library services https://silvacor.medium.com/funding-libraries-is-easy-lets-help-canada-do-it-93cca625cea3 (https://silvacor.medium.com/funding-libraries-is-easy-lets-help-canada-do-it-93cca625cea3)
Not much in the way of references for this one other than the books which can be found at all good booksellers or from my bookshop.org (http://bookshop.org) link https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves (https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves).
Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com (mailto:OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com) or @ourstories.bsky.social (http://ourstories.bsky.social)
Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ (https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/)
Cover image comes from https://pixabay.com/users/summerstock-79075/ (https://pixabay.com/users/summerstock-79075/)
3 Mar 2026
One Graph Two Stories: how statistics can be misused to tell stories, and what the numbers actually tell us about young peoples mental health
Statistics can be used, and abused to tell all sorts of stories. This episode I dig into some of the ways that statistics can be misrepresented and how the same graph can be used to tell different stories, depending on how someone looks at it. This is especially the case when it comes to young people, mental health and social media use.
Source list available at https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/ (https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/)
Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com (mailto:OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com) or @ourstories.bsky.social (http://ourstories.bsky.social)
Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ (https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/)
Support the show by buying a book from: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves (https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ourstoriesandourselves)
Or back the patreon patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves (http://patreon.com/OurStoriesandOurSelves)
Cover image created from https://pixabay.com/users/creapark-6555204 (https://pixabay.com/users/creapark-6555204) and https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis (https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis)
The article and graph which prompted me to write this episode:
Males, M. (2025, November 25). Today’s “teenage mental health crisis” and social media panic are founded in nostalgic myths [Substack newsletter]. Mike’s Substack. https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis (https://mikemales.substack.com/p/todays-teenage-mental-health-crisis)
17 Dec 2025
Hogfather and other Christmas Stories
Host speaks with Marissa, a hog historian, about Terry Pratchett's *Hogfather*, exploring its parodies of Christmas stories and their reflections on our world in this interview.
26 Nov 2025
The Psychology Replication Crisis
The host explores the replication crisis in psychology, examining the narratives surrounding research and science, and investigates self-fulfilling prophecies as stories we tell ourselves.
14 Oct 2025
Oral Storytelling and Memory
This episode explores how oral storytelling traditions enhance memory and transmit historical knowledge across generations, addressing the challenges of historical narratives.
16 Sept 2025
Ep 13: Stranger Danger and Other Scary Stories
This episode examines the pervasive societal narrative of stranger danger, contrasting the rare reality of stranger abduction with the enduring myths and stories surrounding it.
18 Aug 2025
Ep 11: Telling Stories - Joe Kassabian interview
Host interviews author and podcaster Joe Kassabian about memoir, fiction, and podcasting, exploring the publishing industry and creative process.
4 Aug 2025
Ep 11: The Hero's Journey
The hosts of "Our Stories and Our Selves" explore Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey theory and its potential influence on society and storytelling, examining its validity and implications.
21 Jul 2025
Ep 10: When life isn't fair
This episode explores the Just World Fallacy, revealing why people blame victims and how harmful narratives develop when life seems unfair.
24 Jun 2025
Ep 9: Crime Prevention "Common Sense"
This episode analyzes how seemingly intuitive crime prevention strategies can backfire, exploring the narratives that propel ineffective programs and their unintended consequences.
9 Jun 2025
Ep 8: Moon Stories
Podcast host speaks with Quinn, Chris, and Chris from the Failure to Launch Podcast about the cultural impact and enduring fascination with moon stories, including conspiracies, in this interview.
26 May 2025
Ep 7: Stories about Shakespeare
This episode delves into the stories surrounding William Shakespeare, examining their impact on our understanding of literature, language, and the Elizabethan era.
12 May 2025
Ep 6: Creative non-fiction isn't a contradiction
History can be pretty boring when it’s a series of dry facts, but fitting it to a narrative arc, while engaging, can also lead to problems. This week I speak to Kelly Gaumont from the Canuck is a Slur podcast about creative non-fiction, facts, storytelling and the opportunities of new media.
Kelly’s linktree:
https://linktr.ee/CanuckIsASlur (https://linktr.ee/CanuckIsASlur)
And Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/c/canuckisaslur/about (https://www.patreon.com/c/canuckisaslur/about)
If you have thoughts, drop me an email at ourstoriesandourselves@gmail.com (mailto:ourstoriesandourselves@gmail.com) or on Bluesky at ourstories.blusky.social (http://ourstories.blusky.social).
Blatantly stealing some of Kelly’s pre-show notes because they are great
Kate Beaton, creator of the history-heavy comic strip Hark! A Vagrant; was a major gateway for me to develop a newfound interest in Canadian history specifically (although the strip was not at all limited to that), because it was now trying to tell me the same information through a much more engaging medium
Here is an example (http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=294)
Here is another (http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=364)
Here is one that isn’t Canadian at all (http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=309)
Ryan North, creator of the heavily-constrained comic strip Dinosaur Comics taught me that format constraints (such as having the six-panel visual arrangement of your comic never change for decades on end) can actually allow your creativity to flourish as it pushes against those limitations, as well as allow your audience to have a familiar structure through which they can understand your message
Here is one about stories and literature (https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=362)
Here is one that refers to the Canadian phenomenon of bagged milk (https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=457)
Ryan North studied computational linguistics, so he wrote a lot of comics (https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=3749) about various aspects of language (https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1633) that you can learn a lot from (https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1081)
Some of the other things we mentioned:
Story Garden: https://youtu.be/YUfzr5tJlpo?si=5rEOPHZsyhH5aLjs (https://youtu.be/YUfzr5tJlpo?si=5rEOPHZsyhH5aLjs)
Beneath the skin: https://linktr.ee/beneaththeskinpod (https://linktr.ee/beneaththeskinpod)
Lions led by Donkeys: www.youtube.com/@lionsledbydonkeyspodcast7424 (http://www.youtube.com/@lionsledbydonkeyspodcast7424)
Revolutions Podcast by Mike Duncan: revolutionspodcast.com (http://revolutionspodcast.com)
28 Apr 2025
Ep 5: Fiction and Reality
Sometimes fiction depicts reality and sometimes it can change it. This episode I look at several fiction stories which have change the world. I also look at the way fiction can distill reality into a story which is even more true.
Quote Origin: Truth Is Stranger than Fiction, But It Is Because Fiction Is Obliged to Stick to Possibilities; Truth Isn’t – Quote Investigator®. (2015, July 15). https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/07/15/truth-stranger/ (https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/07/15/truth-stranger/)
Quote Origin: A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes – Quote Investigator®. (2014, July 13). https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/07/13/truth/ (https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/07/13/truth/)
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Lady Chatterley’s Lover D H Lawrence
Books that Changed the World: The 50 most influential books in human history, Andrew Taylor, Quercus
Full source list available at https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/ (https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/)
Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com (mailto:OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com) or @ourstories.bsky.social (http://ourstories.bsky.social)
Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ (https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/)
14 Apr 2025
Ep 4: How stories survive
Episode 4: How stories survive
There are so many reasons that some stories survive and others don't. In this episode I talk to Thomas O'Mahony, podcaster, podcast producer, and digital conservationist about DVD rot and the importance of preserving physical media.
Some of Tom’s podcasts are https://linktr.ee/beneaththeskinpod (https://linktr.ee/beneaththeskinpod) and https://www.patreon.com/c/ThisGuySucked/posts?redirect=true (https://www.patreon.com/c/ThisGuySucked/posts?redirect=true)
source list available at https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/ (https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/)
Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com (mailto:OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com) or @ourstories.bsky.social (http://ourstories.bsky.social)
Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ (https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/)
The article that prompted the conversation:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/they-curdle-like-milk-wb-dvds-from-2006-2008-are-rotting-away-in-their-cases/ (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/they-curdle-like-milk-wb-dvds-from-2006-2008-are-rotting-away-in-their-cases/)
The Pachiko album Tom mentioned including the ‘rot’ songs
https://open.spotify.com/album/2MASm01cgG0a0CgioQpe6Q?si=msVBNr5xSmyeMTHWLat5Bg (https://open.spotify.com/album/2MASm01cgG0a0CgioQpe6Q?si=msVBNr5xSmyeMTHWLat5Bg)
31 Mar 2025
Ep 3: Stories of Conformity and Compliance
Why do people commit atrocities? What stories do people tell themselves to make it acceptable, and how can we understand this? Some of the studies taught in psychology 101 try to understand this, but sometimes, the pervading social stories told at the time of the studies also get in the way. This episode explores the Stanford prison experiment, the Milgram compliance experiments and what they do and don't tell us about the holocaust and abuses at Abu Ghraib.
source list available at https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/ (https://www.ourstoriesandourselves.com/)
Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com (mailto:OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com) or @ourstories.bsky.social (http://ourstories.bsky.social)
Music from https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/ (https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/)
17 Mar 2025
Ep 2: Stories of Polio treatments and vaccines
This episode is about Polio, and the stories about it that led to panics, stories that led to changes in the way medicine was practiced and stories about the vaccines. This may sound like a bit of a jumble, but stories and they way they shape our lives is a thread that pulls it all together.
Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com (mailto:OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com) or @ourstories.bsky.social (http://ourstories.bsky.social)
Turns out my source list for this episode was too long for the episode notes section so you can find it at: https://ourstoriesandourse.wixsite.com/our-stories-and-our (https://ourstoriesandourse.wixsite.com/our-stories-and-our)
3 Mar 2025
Ep 1: The Power of Stories
Episode 1 The Power of Stories
Stories have been with us for as long as we’ve been human. We use them to entertain, to share information, to motivate and inspire. This episode is an introduction to the power of stories, and some of the ways they affect us. Get in touch on OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com (mailto:OurStoriesAndOurSelves@gmail.com) or @ourstories.bsky.social (http://ourstories.bsky.social)
Turns out my source list for this episode was too long for the episode notes section so you can find it at: https://ourstoriesandourse.wixsite.com/our-stories-and-our (https://ourstoriesandourse.wixsite.com/our-stories-and-our)
Who has been a guest on Our Stories and Our Selves
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Marissa
Joe Kassabian
Quinn
Chris
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
19
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 22 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
20
Social presence
0
YouTube
63
Engagement
0
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