The Bed/Do Not Disturb (feat. Alison Pill)

Story Pirates

In this episode of Story Pirates, the team celebrates their upcoming journey to StorytellerCon while addressing financial challenges facing

Key takeaways

• Story Pirates is facing financial difficulties due to the decline of kids' media funding, prompting a unique fundraising campaign with personalized videos.

Main topics

• Storytelling as education and emotional expression
• Financial challenges in children's media

Notable quotes

We've been invited to be the keynote speakers at StorytellerCon!

Conclusion

This episode blends heartfelt storytelling with a call to action, reminding listeners of the

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Lemonada. Speaker 1 (0:34) thrilled for their support. We're also grateful for all of you listening that are members of Creator Club. Your support means the world to us, especially right now. And if you're not a member yet, we're so grateful that you're here listening, welcoming us into your homes. And we're especially grateful for the tens of thousands of original kids stories that you send us every year. Now the not so great news. We want to be honest with our listeners that It is a really challenging time right now for educational media providers, including kids and family podcasts like Story Pirates. Over the past few years, the podcast industry has turned almost entirely away from kids and family programming, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of listeners rely on it. And we know you rely on it because you tell us. You tell us how story pirates helped make driving to school every day more fun, a long road trip more bearable, or bedtime more peaceful. And all of it is screen free. If you've ever listened to the credits for our show, you know that a lot of people work on it. There's the music team who scores every episode and writes the songs and produces the songs. There's, of course, the amazing actors, singers, writers, editors, and so many more people that work so hard to put this show out at least once a week. But unless we're able to raise more funds, this season could unfortunately be a short one. And right now, we need your help in a new way. So we're offering, for the first time, personalized videos. from us to you. That's right. For your donation, we'll send you, your kids, whoever in your life that you think will appreciate it, probably your kids, a personalized video saying hello, happy birthday, happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, whatever. You can choose a video from me or Peter or Megan or Nimany or Eric or even Rolo. This is the only time we've ever offered this, and we're not going to be offering it again anytime soon. So this is your chance. Get a video for that special imaginative kid in your life and help the story pirates finish our season. And if you're hearing all of this and you happen to have more significant resources to spare. We're looking for one or two larger patrons who may want to have a conversation with us about becoming credited producers on the show. If that sounds like you, drop us a line. You can do that and get your own personalized video today at storypirates.com slash support. That link is also in the show notes for today's episode. Okay. Thanks for listening. And thanks again for all your support. It really does mean the world to us. On to the show after a few more words for the grown-ups. Back-to-school season is here. Packed backpacks, packed lunches, and packed schedules are officially back. Luckily, this episode is sponsored by Oli, your back-to-school wellness partner. If you're like me, getting sleep is a top priority, both for the kids in my life and for me, especially in the days leading up to a new, exciting school year. Ollie Kids Sleep helps little dreamers wind down with a gentle blend of melatonin, L-theanine, and botanicals for restful sleep. Translation, an easy way to put those school night negotiations to bed. And for grown-ups, Ollie Sleep helps you fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed. Because as you know, the morning mayhem comes early. Visit ollie.com and stock up on back-to-school must-haves today. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Speaker 5 (4:55) Nemone, I got a triple half-calf macchiato with a side of pinto beans for Nemone. Right here, Rolo. Sorry for the wait. I'm a little swamped today. Yeah, the bean emporium is hopping. I've never seen it so busy. Well, you know what they say about sailing on the open ocean and having a strong desire to eat and drink beans? No. Me neither. I was hoping you did. Anyway, I'm having real staffing issues running a business on a pirate ship. All of my employees keep not showing up for their shifts. By all your employees, do you mean us, the rest of the story pirates? I do. Yeah. Sorry. Hey, Niminy. Hey, Rolo. Whoa, Lee. What's that humongous stack of papers you're carrying? Speaker 1 (5:41) Oh, this? It's just our mail. We get a lot of it. Going through it all is a big part of my morning routine, which I can't do until I've had my morning coffee. The usual? Yes, Rolo. One large coffee kefir. Hold the coffee. All right, let's see. Bills, bills, bills, bills, bills. Tens of thousands of incredible stories written by kids. Bills, bills, bills. Hey, what's this? Speaker 5 (6:04) That's a fancy envelope. Here's your coffee, Lee. Thank Speaker 1 (6:08) you, Rolo. Speaker 5 (6:09) Hey, Lee, weren't you on schedule to work today at the Bean Import? All of that went directly in my face. Speaker 1 (6:22) Look! What is it? We've been invited to be the keynote speakers at StorytellerCon! At Speaker 3 (6:27) what? Speaker 1 (6:28) StorytellerCon! It's only the most prestigious event for storytellers in the history of stories. It's where all the biggest moments in storytelling have happened. Homer first unveiled his alternate ending to the Odyssey. The Brothers Grimm defeated Hans Christian Andersen in a freestyle rap battle. And where the Winds of Winter was secretly released four years ago. Oh, man. Speaker 3 (6:52) Lee, that sounds great! Why do you seem so sad about it? Speaker 1 (6:56) Because I've always wanted to go to StorytellerCon, but of course, we never can. Why Speaker 3 (7:02) not? Speaker 1 (7:02) Because, Nimminy, while we've explored the ocean, the sky, even space and beyond, this event is in the one place in the entire universe that we can't drive our ship, land. Gah! I always thought I had some strong Jack Kerouac energy. My greatest dream is to tackle the open road, but it's impossible. Speaker 3 (7:23) What? I installed wheels on the ship all the way back in season two, right? You Speaker 1 (7:28) did what? Speaker 3 (7:29) All I have to do is switch the ship to the right mode. What's the right mode? It's called... Yes! Speaker 8 (7:49) It just filled me up with joy. My mom loves the jokes. Yo, yo, my joke. It made me very proud about my writing. Speaker 6 (7:59) Yeah, we're just getting, like, really deep into, like, I want to say Speaker 2 (8:02) philosophy. Speaker 6 (8:03) I Speaker 8 (8:04) definitely think Speaker 6 (8:05) I can be more creative now. Speaker 8 (8:07) I'm the champion. The Story Pirates. Speaker 1 (8:15) Welcome back to the Story Pirates podcast, everyone, where we take stories written by kids and Speaker 3 (8:20) turn them into sketch comedy and Speaker 1 (8:22) songs. All right, pirates, listen up. You all know why I've gathered you here. I Speaker 3 (8:27) thought this was a Bean Emporium staff meeting. Speaker 1 (8:29) It was before Lee took it over. And I thank you for that, sweet Rolo. Now, as you know, we've been to a lot of places on our journeys. We've explored the high seas, the skies, outer space, the ocean depths, the Earth's core. We've even been to New York City. But we're about to embark on our strangest journey yet, a road trip. Speaker 3 (8:54) But Speaker 1 (8:54) StorytellerCon is a classy event, and our ship is a mess. We can't drive up to the convention center looking like this. So I think a little spring cleaning is in order. Speaker 3 (9:06) Ah, do we gotta? Speaker 1 (9:07) Yes, Rachel, we do gotta. We literally haven't taken the trash out in eight years. Hmm, Speaker 3 (9:13) fair point. Speaker 1 (9:14) Let's get to it. And while that's happening, let's do our first story. And listeners, I have something very exciting to share about this first story. This season, some of the stories we are adapting are from our StoryQuest program, which is our brand new, completely digital creative writing program for schools. But here's the cool part. Our non-profit arm, Story Pirates Changemakers, helps make StoryQuest affordable to schools anywhere. And some Title I schools even get the program for free. And guess what? Today's first story... comes from an incredible author at one of those schools. Here they are to introduce their story. Speaker 8 (9:58) Hi, my name is Bentley. I'm nine years old and I live in New York. This is my story, The Bed. Speaker 6 (10:08) A bed for the doctor. A bed for the doctor. A bed for the doctor. The doctor is sleepy. Speaker 6 (10:20) Dr. Bentley's a pediatrician. Helping kids feel better is my mission. At the office clinic or through telehealth. Speaker 1 (10:27) With Speaker 6 (10:28) patients coming more and more, last week the line went out the door. The doctor started yawning and said to himself, I'm feeling really beat. Gotta get off both my feet. I need to rest my head. So I said, this doctor needs a bed. Where's the bed? A bed for the doctor. Kind of bad. A bed. Where's the bed? A bed for the doctor. The doctor is sleepy. Hey, Speaker 3 (10:52) doc, x-ray machine. Speaker 6 (10:54) It's cozy and it's very clean. But doctor, we can see your bones. That's not a good bed. Speaker 3 (10:59) It's Speaker 6 (11:02) quiet here and so serene. Never mind. That's not a good bed. Where's Speaker 8 (11:08) the Speaker 6 (11:08) bed? A bed for the doctor. Find a bed. A bed. Where's Speaker 8 (11:12) the Speaker 6 (11:12) bed? A bed for the doctor. The doctor's still sleepy. Speaker 6 (11:23) The couch that's in the doctor's lounge is way too small. And wheelchairs roll so that won't work at all. There's no bed here and so I'll disappear. I guess I'll just go home. Ah, home sweet home. But still no sign of a... Wait a second. I have a bed here in my room! Speaker 1 (11:47) A Speaker 6 (11:48) bed that's perfect for a... Speaker 6 (11:56) A queen-size bed That's right for the doctor And on that bed The bed Speaker 1 (11:59) of the doctor The Speaker 6 (12:00) doctor is sleeping There's Speaker 1 (12:03) a Speaker 6 (12:03) bed A bed for the doctor A queen-size bed That's right for the doctor And on that bed The bed of the doctor But we'll lose our heads We switched the office out But there was one place he could go The doctor was sleeping Speaker 6 (12:36) Hey, Lee, Speaker 1