The hope holds strong in this second episode about people working for change on the Wind River Reservation. It is brought to you by Tink Media , Podcast The Newsletter , and our supporters on Patreon and Substack . Huge thanks to the visionaries of this episode: Jackie White, Kelly Pingree , and Erika Warren-Yarber. Please visit The Wind River Sage Fund , which was established by The Wind River Development Fund to manage their Recompete grant projects, and please check out and support the Sweetg...
May 20, 2026•39 min
This is Episode 4 of The Hopeful Locals (Episode 7 if you’re a paying subscriber and get bonus episodes!). You’re getting this episode ad-free because the people in it deserve not to be interrupted by ads, I feel. If you agree with that and would like to support my work , you can join us at 'STORIES by Lea Thau' on Patreon and Substack , where you’ll find all my new work and the entire Strangers archive. Big thanks this week to Art Lawson and Wilma Wagon of the Wind River Fish & Game and Jas...
May 12, 2026•48 min
This is Episode 3 of The Hopeful Locals for free subscribers (Episode 6 for paying subscribers). Our storyteller today is Erika Warren-Yarber . She’s the COO of the Wind River Development Fund and the Wind River Sage Fund . Please consider supporting their work. And please consider supporting my work by becoming a paying subscriber on Patreon or Substack . Thanks to the Just Transition Fund for connecting me with Erika. I directed a storytelling show for their partner convening, and Erika was on...
May 04, 2026•40 min
This is Episode 2 of my series, The Hopeful Locals . It’s a direct continuation of Episode 1, so if you haven’t heard that, I’d go start there. Huge thanks to my husband, Paul Dreux Smith , for making the music and mixing this episode, to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen , for her help with the story, the production, the logistics – all of it – and to my Project Editor, Christina Thyssen , for always making my early drafts better. Also big thanks to Avi Odenheimer for making the Hopeful Locals ...
Apr 24, 2026•22 min
This is the prologue to my new series, The Hopeful Locals , and I hope you’ll enjoy it. The story continues on Friday. Huge thanks to Dengue Fever , Paul’s band, for letting me use the recording from their live show at The Chapel. They have two very special shows coming up on May 15 and 16 at Gold Diggers in LA, a more intimate club than they normally play, and you can also find them in other cities this spring and summer. Big thanks to their drummer and my true love, Paul Dreux Smith , for maki...
Apr 22, 2026•27 min
Hi friends, I’m back! New episodes start dropping Tuesday! Also, heads-up: I’ll be changing the name of this podcast from Strangers to STORIES by Lea Thau on Monday. That hurts a little, I know – for me too – but I promise it’s not the end of Strangers. The plan is for STORIES by Lea Thau to be an umbrella for all my work , including Strangers , and I want to do a new season of that show next year . But first we’ll kick off next week with episodes from my latest series, The Hopeful Locals . If y...
Apr 17, 2026•4 min
Wilmot Collins is an interesting man with an interesting story. This is it. I hope you enjoy it. Find more Strangers content, new and old, at www.patreon.com/strangerspodcast - it's only $1 per month to join - or stay subscribed here for more free episodes, which will drop from time to time. However, if you want to receive regular episodes, and hear the continuation of my series called The Cape, and access our archive of more than 90 episodes, join us on Patreon! The entire back catalogue of Str...
Jul 24, 2020•27 min
It’s the time of year when skeletons come out of the closet. We honor the dead, as we get ready for holidays among the living, where secrets will be spilled, and secrets will be created that will haunt us for years to come. You might describe today’s story as a classic “noir,” if it wasn’t … Continue reading Do You Like My Little Lie? → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack...
Oct 12, 2017•33 min
Have you ever had the fantasy that a chance encounter with a stranger could tell you who to be? Karin Gutman was working as an assistant when a senior advisor to a US Senator came out of the blue with an offer to change her life… This story first aired on Strangers in April, 2012. The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so com...
Oct 03, 2016•21 min
Born in a coven of lesbian witches in a Haight-Ashbury commune after the fall of Saigon, young Joshua Safran soon hit the open road with his single mother, Claudia, and things only got stranger from there. A word of warning: this story contains some disturbing moments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-...
May 30, 2016•47 min
Would you give a kidney to a stranger? Inspired by a previous episode of Strangers, Elizabeth decided to do just that. This is Part 1 of the story that ensued. The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever y...
Jan 29, 2016•45 min
One day when Susan was five, her father came home and nailed her bunk bed shut. That was the beginning of a long strange journey. The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted o...
Oct 09, 2015•31 min
This is a story of mothers, love, regrets and redemption, and of secrets from many years passed that cast long shadows in our lives. It’s about how Deborah Jiang-Stein came to be pulled over by two highway patrolmen at 19 years-old, with a trunk load of dope, a .38 revolver and a 10” switch blade…and … Continue reading Unconditional → The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it...
May 15, 2015•34 min
Adrian is 25 and losing his eyesight. He’s in a race against time. He’s also in a battle between humility and pride. When is it stubborn, perhaps even foolhardy, not to make concessions to one’s disability? When is it the only way out? And where do you find wisdom to know the difference? Get the … Continue reading Adrian’s Race → The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-f...
Apr 17, 2015•38 min
To mark the three-year anniversary of Strangers we share with you the very first story ever featured on the show, about Stephen Rochelle and his son Matthew, and we return to Stephen to see how they’re doing now, three years later. In July 2011, Matthew Rochelle stood trial for murder. This is the story of … Continue reading A Father’s Story – Then and Now → The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in...
Jan 17, 2015•25 min
Strangers, at its core, is about the beauty and the struggle of human connection and what happens in those moments when we get closer to someone else, or, say, further removed from ourselves. Often that change is subtle and slow, but sometimes it is sudden and monumental. Here is Lyena Strelkoff. A version of this … Continue reading Falling Slowly → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon...
Oct 24, 2014•24 min
A waitress, a former bomber pilot and a retired railroad engineer embark on the adventure of a lifetime. A version of this story was previously featured on Season 1 of Strangers. Get the full story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my...
Oct 14, 2014•13 min
Two young men receive a surprise delivery. And it’s a newborn. Whaaa! Get the full story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you...
Jun 15, 2014•25 min
Imagine waking up every morning and seeing a stranger in the mirror… Get the full story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you ...
Mar 14, 2014•30 min
A story about the places we go and the people we find. (Sorry we don’t want to give it away, just listen, please.) The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See ac...
Aug 15, 2013•42 min
A 40-year-old stroke victim demonstrates that a sense of humor can be the last thing to go. The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
Jul 16, 2013•43 min
A man spends 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, but comes out ahead… Get the full story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack , where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find...
Apr 11, 2013•38 min
