That Storytelling Podcast with Ashley Renders

Ashley Renders is a journalist who got interested less in the stories people tell and more in how they tell them, and That Storytelling Podcast is basically her working through that question with guests. It sits in an unusual spot for this genre. Part interview show, part craft deep-dive, part actual story hour. Each episode she'll talk with a writer, filmmaker, journalist, or professional storyteller about a specific project they worked on, and then the conversation pulls apart the decisions they made. Why did you open in that place? What got cut? How did you know when it was done? If you write or make anything, it's the kind of podcast where you'll want a notebook nearby. But it doesn't turn into inside baseball. Ashley keeps the focus on what the choices mean for the listener or reader on the other end, which keeps the conversations grounded. Episodes run roughly 45 minutes to an hour, and there are about 20 of them so far, so it's a quick show to get through. Ashley is a thoughtful interviewer, doesn't over-talk, and isn't afraid of silence when a guest is thinking. Recommended if you like Longform or Song Exploder but specifically want the focus on narrative nonfiction and storytelling craft. Newer show, still finding its rhythm, but already more substantive than most.