A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, became a popular children's toy and has been celebrated in story, song, and film.
Elizabeth Ellis is an American storyteller and author known for her live performances of traditional tales, literature, Texas and Appalachian history and folklore, and personal memoir. She was awarded the Circle of Excellence in 1997 by the National Storytelling Network after being recognized by her peers as a master storyteller. She is a regular performer at the National Storytelling Festival. She was selected as a "Listener's Choice" at the 30th Anniversary National Storytelling Festival and a Storyteller-In-Residence at the International Storytelling Center. She was the first recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award from the Tejas Storytelling Association.
Br'er Rabbit is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African-Americans of the Southern United States and African descendants in the Caribbean, notably Afro-Bahamians and Turks and Caicos Islanders. He is a trickster who succeeds by his wits rather than by brawn, provoking authority figures and bending social mores as he sees fit. Popular adaptations of the character, originally recorded by Joel Chandler Harris in the 19th century, include Walt Disney Productions' Song of the South in 1946.
San Diego Magazine is a multi-platform media company covering food, arts and culture, travel, health and wellness, social progress, and life in San Diego County. Its flagship monthly magazine has won multiple regional and national awards. The media company also produces podcasts, large-scale events, custom publications, e-newsletters, and short- and long-form video. It is a member of the City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA).
Melcher Media is a book packager and publisher in New York City, New York, founded in 1994 by Charles Melcher. The company’s focuses include theater-, movie-, and TV-related books; environmental titles; pop-up books; and DuraBooks.
Charles Melcher is a creator, curator, and thought leader in the storytelling and technology space, as well as an early-stage investor in media and technology companies. He is the Founder and CEO of Melcher Media and the Founder and Director of Future of Storytelling.
Beth Lapides is a writer, comedian, producer and host, best known for creating Un-Cabaret.
Steven James is the author of more than forty books, including the critically acclaimed Bowers Files, an eleven-book series of psychological thrillers that consists of Opening Moves, Every Crooked Path, Every Deadly Kiss, Every Wicked Man, The Pawn, The Rook, The Knight, The Bishop, The Queen, The King, and Checkmate. The series has received four Christy Awards and numerous other honors.
The Story Collider is a US-based non-profit group dedicated to telling true, personal stories about science. Their mission is to empower both scientists and nonscientists alike with the skills they need to tell these stories and share them through their live shows and podcast, with the goal of exploring the human side of science.
SheThePeople.TV is an Indian digital media website that focuses on women related news and entertainment in video format, though "The Women's Channel" has a large amount of text based content as well. It was launched in 2015 by an Indian journalist, Shaili Chopra. Until 2016, SheThePeople.TV had written stories about over 10,000 women, and by 2019 the number of stories had crossed 50,000. It portrays itself as "India’s largest digital media platform for women stories". The name of the website, "she the people" is inspired by the first three words of the Indian constitution in the preamble "We the people".
Jesse Damiani is an American writer, producer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his association with virtual reality, augmented reality, and new media art. He is a Forbes Contributor covering emerging technologies.
Eric R. Williams is an American screenwriter, professor, cinematic virtual reality director, and new media storyteller. He is known for developing alternative narrative and documentary techniques that take advantage of digital technologies.
Edward Fitzpatrick O’Keefe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, and a former media executive. O’Keefe worked at ABC News, before serving as the founding Editor-in-Chief of media start-up NowThis. After working at NowThis for two years, O’Keefe moved to CNN to lead the strategy and growth of CNN businesses including CNNMoney, CNN Politics, and Travel. In 2019, O’Keefe was accepted as a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he researched the future of journalism and streaming news, publishing his findings in his paper “Streaming War Won.” During his time at Harvard, O’Keefe also conducted research on Theodore Roosevelt. After leaving Harvard, O’Keefe spent time consulting news organizations and continuing research before announcing his upcoming book and role as CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Emily St. James is an American critic, journalist, podcaster, and author. She primarily writes about television. She has written for Vox, The A.V. Club, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, Grantland, and Slant, among others.
Radio Ambulante is a Spanish-language podcast which publishes stories about Latin America. It is created primarily by the Peruvian writer Daniel Alarcón. The first three seasons were launched in 2012, and since 2016, Radio Ambulante has been distributed weekly by National Public Radio.
Laura "Polly" Lada-Mocarski was an American craftsperson, rare book scholar, bookbinder, book preservationist, educator, and the inventor of the PolyCase, an exhibition display for old and rare books. She served as faculty in the Graphic Arts Department at Yale University.
Martina Castro is an Uruguayan-American audio journalist, editor, producer, and educator. She is the CEO and founder of Adonde Media, a podcast production company and host of the Duolingo Spanish and The Vivo Songbook Podcasts. She co-founded and produced Radio Ambulante, the first Spanish-language podcast distributed by NPR.
Tilo Bonow is a German tech investor and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of the communications agency Piabo and a speaker at Startup and tech conferences. He is considered a digital pioneer in the Business and Startup world.
The Quest is an American fantasy-based reality television series that streams on the network Disney+, that premiered on May 11, 2022. A reboot of the 2014 fantasy-based reality competition series of the same name, The Quest features a group of players brought to a castle in the fictional world of Everealm on a fantasy quest to save the realm from an evil force, and reveal the One True Hero among them who will defeat the evil. Compared to the 2014 version, this version has a similar type of narrative/reality game structure, but focuses more heavily on the scripted narrative, differing from the previous iteration. Unlike the 2014 series, in which the contestants were all adults, the players in this series are all teenagers.
