Breathing (full episode)

Breath and spirit have been closely related in human thought—for millennia. In a lot of human languages, we use the same word to mean both things. Yet it’s easy to take breathing for granted, in spite of the fact it is maybe the most common human experience. In this episode, we’re going to think about every inhale and every exhale, and speak to people who have to think about breathing in a lot of interesting ways: a biathlete, a beatboxer, a dancer. We’ll dive deep underwater to a dark and dangerous cave in the Bahamas, travel to China to think about collective breathing, and reflect on the role artificial breathing plays in the perception of what constitutes life and what constitutes death. Host: Jackson Roach Producers: Kate Nelson, Carissa Cirelli, Jenny March, Jake Warga, Jackson Roach, Melina Walling, Katie Lan, Jett Hayward, Claudia Heymach, Netta Wang, Jonah Willihnganz Featuring: Brad Ross, Joanne Reid, Tom Johnson, Jace Casey, Janice Ross, Andrew Todhunter, Paul Fisher Show Music: johnny_ripper, Breakmaster Cylinder (Links to this show's music and sound sources can be found at storytelling.stanford.edu) Image via Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaellawton/15618435499/ Intro Story: Beat Breathing Brad Ross shares how he learned how to harness the rhythm behind the rhythm—the rhythm of the breath—and what he’s discovered from “using [his] lungs to make art.” Producers: Kate Nelson, Carissa Cirelli, Jenny March, Jake Warga Featuring: Brad Ross Music: Brad’s sick beats Story 1: Shot Breathe Shot Breathe Shot Breathe After much trial and tribulation and many failed shots, Joanne Reid, biathlete of the U.S national team, learned that it’s all about the breath. Producers: Kate Nelson, Carissa Cirelli, Jenny March, Jake Warga Featuring: Joanne Reid Music and Sound: "Epiphany" by Podington Bear, “Women 15 km Individual Race 2017 Biathlon IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen HD” by HQ Sport Story 2: Running out of Breath This is a recorded performance about breath, exhaustion, and struggle, written by a choreographer named Tom Johnson in the 1970s. Writer: Tom Johnson Producers: Jackson Roach and Jenny March Featuring: Jace Casey, Janice Ross Story 3: Stargate Andrew Todhunter, a writer for National Geographic, explores the underwater cave of Stargate in the Bahamas. Producers: Jackson Roach, Melina Walling Featuring: Andrew Todhunter Music and sound: "Oceans Between Us" by Maritime, "Falling" by Kamikaze Deadboy, "waiting (in the wet alley" by lost-radio, "Moon Morning" by Aymeric de Tapol, "A Million Worlds" by Andrew Odd, additional sound effects from Freesound.org and Archive.org Story 4: Breathing to Resist What if breathing could be used as a collective tool of resistance? Citizens in China show us just how they used qi gong, a healing form of breathing to empower themselves during an era of uncertainty. Writers: Katie Lan and Jenny March Producers: Katie Lan, Jenny March, Jake Warga, and Jackson Roach Featuring: Nancy Chen Story 5: Still Breathing Doctor Paul Fisher reflects on the role that breathing plays in the perception what constitutes life and death. Producers: Jett Hayward, Kate Nelson, and Jenny March Featuring: Paul Fisher Music: "Stay" by Igor Khabarov, "Three kites circling" by Axletree, "Dead Waters" by Rest You Sleeping Giant, "Harbor" by Kai Engel, "Stanford Doctor to Examine Jahi McMath" by KRON 4, "Hospital Ventilator Sound Effect | Sfx |HD" by n Beats Sound Effects