No, YOU Tell It!

For this show, produced in collaboration with Queens Memory and the Greater Astoria Historical Society, our “My Place” storytellers came together for a community writing workshop centered on the Queens Name Explorer. We all generated poems and personal stories on the page inspired by the historical significance behind the people’s names that grace Queens streets, […]

Give a listen to the second half of our first-ever student matinee, performed at the beautiful Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space on March 13, 2025. Listen to Part 1 here. The fantastic Najah Imani Muhammad hosted the show for a theater full of high school juniors from Global Learning Collaborative and Talent Unlimited High […]

Our spring “Before & After” show was our second time performing at the beautiful  Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space on March 13, 2025, but it was our very first student matinee!  Our storytellers and our special guest host, Najah Imani Muhammad, who are all No, YOU Tell It! alums, illustrated the power of […]

It is fitting that this heartfelt story swap, inspired by the life and music of Astoria legend Tony Bennett, includes our first live musical performance. Give a listen as story coach Tim Lindner gets to know a little bit more about our two storytellers before they step into each other true tales in the second […]

For the first time, our four storytellers participated in a Queens community “Art Heart” event about a month before the show, where all the participants generated and shared personal stories inspired by the life and music of Astoria legend Tony Bennet from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives. What started that day grew into this heartfelt story […]

After the main arch was completed, a writer for the New York Tribune said: “Perhaps never in human history has a mechanical triumph of such magnitude been launched with so little fanfare.” In the second half of our Hell Gate show (Listen to Part 1 here), founding member and story director Erika Iverson interviews the authors […]

“With a regular coat of paint that bridge can last as long as the pyramids.” – Bob Singleton, Executive Director, Greater Astoria Historical Society from Hell Gate Bridge, an Astoria icon, turns 100 years old in AMNY, March 27, 2017 Our September Hell Gate show at Grove 34 in Astoria was a Queens-based Bookend Event for […]

Kicking off part 2 of our “Fly By” show, host Ellie Dvorkin Dunn shares some fun facts about teenage pilot Elinor Smith before we hear the second set of true tales inspired by the story of “The Flying Flapper” from the archives of the Greater Astoria Historical Society. No, YOU Tell It! “Fly By” was […]

Have you ever heard of Elinor Smith? Our fall “Fly By” show was a fantastic way to learn about this teenage pilot who beat out Amelia Earhart for the title of “Best Woman Pilot in America” in 1930. For this special show, produced in partnership with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, we provided our storytellers […]

Did you know that two 16-foot-tall stainless-steel statues once stood atop the Astoria Pool locker rooms? Or that thousands of visitors to the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens signed a book that was included in the Westinghouse Time Capsule designed to endure for 5,000 years? Learn more about the storytellers and the Queens history from […]

In the first half of our show, story partners Lakshmi Gandhi and Dan Jessup swap stories about the culture of mutual agitation that bonds Mets fans and a mid-life move to Astoria blocks away from where inventor, Chester Carlson, created the world’s first photocopy. These stories were directed by show host, Ellie Dvorkin Dunn. For […]

Celebrating 10 years of No, YOU Tell It!, the second half of our “Punch Up” show starts with the story of a waitress getting a visit from a former co-worker who looks happier and healthier than seems possible. Trying to match her glow-up, she seeks out the same Shaman but finds the visit … less […]

Lose yourself in school-age nostalgia in our first story, “Confection Resolution,” written by Matt Storrs and performed by Maria Rubio, which finds our hero fighting the same childhood foe … three times. Switching it up, “The Great Unknowns,” written by Maria Rubio and performed by Matt Storrs, follows an exhausted nurse in the middle of […]

In anticipation of our forthcoming ten-year anthology from Palm Circle Press, we are flashing back to 2014 when we participated in The Brick’s Comic Book Theater Festival in Brooklyn. For this show, we tried something new. Usually, we give our storytellers a theme to inspire their true tales. This time, we only provided the theme […]

As we’re readying the release of our ten-year anthology this fall from Palm Circle Press, we’re rebooting some of the podcasts with improved audio so you can listen while you read. Here’s our first ever tri-flip at Fairleigh Dickinson’s MFA in Creative Writing summer residency, featuring stories by Letisia Cruz, Tazio Ruffilo, and Heather Lang-Cassera. […]

Our first story reminds us that a two-week middle school love is the equivalent of several lifetimes of adoration, and when our hero’s girlfriend slips him a break-up note, they all come crashing in. In celebration of 10 Years of No, YOU Tell It! enjoy this 2013 throwback swap of “You’ve Been Noted,” written by […]

Breakups can be confusing at times, especially when your heart parts ways with a city. Our first story takes us over the Hudson from New York City to New Jersey as our narrator reflects on what it means to move on from the place that she’s always loved. In celebration of our 10 Year Anniversary […]

This Sunday, May 8th, marks the 10-year anniversary of No, YOU Tell It! Help us celebrate by giving a listen to this original set of four switched-up stories from Erika Iverson, Jorge Cordova, Jeremy Holmes, and David Harrell. Support 10 more years by sharing our series with a friend! Big thanks to Mike Dressel and […]

This first story takes us on the painful and isolating journey of struggling with stubborn fibroids. Kicking off the second half of our “What I Know” show, our storyteller must find the strength to physically and mentally overcome the enemy inside. Here’s “Knowing is Half the Battle,” written by Sheria Mattis and performed by Michele […]

When the healthcare system fails to provide information and resources on how to handle perimenopause, the narrator of our first tale takes matters into her own hands. Give a listen to No One Told Me written by Julia Granacki, performed by Hannah Leland, and directed by Marcos Stafne Switching it up, our second story takes […]

We opened our ten-year anniversary season with a virtual tri-flip of stories from across the country. Listen now to hear about a picture-perfect day at Vacation Bible School gone wrong, a revealing trip down Death Road to the Amazon, and an evolving mother-daughter relationship. We also asked our authors to present their answer to this […]

The second half of our “Defiant” show drops us back into the peak of the pandemic, where our hero is taking Zoom calls and setting office policies from the solitude of his home. As he struggles to define what’s right and what’s wrong while navigating a breakup and suburban judgment, he finds someone he’s willing […]

This first “Defiant” story finds us, as described by the narrator, “on the precipice of Real Teen Shit.” In a small New York town, a teen explores his identity while working at the local Serenity Sweets Cafe developing friendships with the town rebels and navigating questionable adults in and around the shop. Balancing his good-boy […]

Ever Google, “What to do when an ex-boyfriend rejects your extended olive branch?” the first storyteller in our Valentine’s Day throwback podcast did, before peeling herself off the floor to attend a book signing in an attempt to get her groove back—or at least to get moving. First up from our alum on-the-spot story swap […]

Kicking off the second swap from our Precious show, our narrator time travels between Brooklyn and Oklahoma where she cares for her aging mother after her father’s death. Confronted with memories and physical artifacts from her past, she gains a new perspective on the hometown she had so desired to escape as her two worlds […]

The top five answers are on the board – name something that is Precious. Our first story delivers us right into the mind of its author. But this seemingly humorous daydream leads her to recollect lost lives and haunting memories that have shaped the way she lives and copes. Written by Heather Quinlan and read […]

The first story in our second “Coming and Going” swap places us in a New England suburb during the COVID-19 pandemic. A woman leaves her city life and is thrust into the role of caretaker for her elderly parents where, much like the pandemic, there is no end in sight. Experiencing a role reversal with […]

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? The opening story of “Coming & Going”— our second team-up show with Lambda Literary — follows Calvin…or as he’d like to be known, Craig, as he travels to Florida to become someone new. This journey to overcome grief caused by a death, a breakup, and an unforgiving […]

Our first story transports us to Lake Sunapee on a summer afternoon. Sounds peaceful enough, right? Except, once there, we find the narrator and his brother plotting over how to bait a porcupine (read: wild turkey hunter). The afternoon of googling best practices for said task leads to an examination of fear and how similar […]

Our first story finds a dyed-in-wool New Yorker facing unforeseen suburban horrors. Negotiating neighborly encounters that make her question whether to recalibrate her moral barometer to keep up with the Joneses. Or, in this case, the Weavers. Kicking off the second half of our special Brooklyn Book Festival event at The Astoria Bookshop, here is […]

First up, Pichchenda Bao’s “Speak, Muse” contemplates the roles we are assigned in life and the roles we adopt: refugee, American, daughter, mother, artist, citizen; the compromises we make for survival and the ways we interpret silence, and ultimately how we can expand, not contract, our relationship to each other and the world. Read for […]

In celebration of Pride and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, for this, our 50th podcast episode, we wanted to share some of our favorite LGBTQ stories from years past. First up, from our recent “Snapped!” show at Dixon Place, a drag queen offers handy advice about standing one’s ground in “Lessons from The […]

What begins as a simple cab ride to the airport becomes a shifting contest of power, imagination, and identity in Naomi Gordon-Loebl’s “Can I See It?” read by Kent D. Wolf in the first half of this special team-up show with Lambda Literary in celebration of Pride and the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. […]

 Restoring old chairs and cooking dinner may first appear to be common creative acts but stripped down resides a pair of stories about life, death, near death, and second chances. First up, celebrated author Rebecca Chace (Leaving Rock Harbor, June Sparrow and the Million Dollar Penny) revisits a true-life tale she previously thought of as [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2019/03/13/episo...

The stress of planning and executing a family vacation to Las Vegas leaves the narrator of Vaughn M. Watson’s story with a need to escape, resulting in a low-key cannabis caper. Here is Marianthy Karantzes reading “Getting Crafty at the Dispensary.” Directed by Erika Iverson. Switching it up, the familiar of rhythms of vacation life […]

Since our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons started No, YOU Tell It! six, WOW, yes, six years ago one of her favorite things has been going out to Fairleigh Dickinson University to switch-up stories with students, faculty, and alums from their Creative Writing MFA program. Earlier this summer, authors Tiffany L. Berryman, Andrew Condouris, and Eliot [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2018/08/14/ep...

Angela Cobb’s story is a romantic liaison set against the backdrop of Hurricane Sandy. After the storm subsides, she finds the attempt to recapture that intimacy fraught and even the best-laid plans might require a “Plan B.” Kicking off the second half of our “Mayday” show, recorded live at The Astoria Bookshop on May 10th, [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2018/05/22/episode-45-mayday-par...

In the first half of our “Mayday” show, recorded live at The Astoria Bookshop on May 10th, Allison Escoto is forced to listen to an unexpected SOS of the heart. Here is M. Skye Holly reading, “Vessel in Distress.” Switching it up, M. Skye Holly goes back to school to receive her MFA in Creative Writing from [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2018/05/15/episode-44-mayday-part-1/)

A young man’s obsessive quest to complete a set of Batman trading cards embroils his extended family in a hunt across the borough of Queens. First up, from our Wild Card show, Raquel Penzo presents Roger Nassar’s story “The Elusive Card #66” Switching it up, author Raquel Penzo’s mother once warned her that the second [more here…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/11/30/episode-43-wild-card-part...

Give a listen to this alternate No, YOU Guess It?! version of our show featuring switched-up stories from students, faculty, and alums of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s MFA in Creative Writing program. Plus, our own Kelly Jean talks about her inspiration behind creating No, YOU Tell It! These six stories, inspired by the theme “My First,” [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/09/18/epis...

After switching up stories at Jimmy’s No. 43 for the past five years, we were saddened to hear that influential East Village beer and cider bar has quietly closed its doors. In celebration of Jimmy’s No. 43, here is one of nights that has really stuck with us – even though it was [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/08/28/episode-41-outdated/)

When we asked No, YOU Tell It! alums to bring in stories for an impromptu switch-em-up as part of our four-year-anniversary celebration, Mike Dressel and Alexandra Gray – who also happen to be birthday twins – came through in a big way. Mike Dressel is an integral part of the No, YOU Tell It! creative [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/08/08/episode-40-on-the-spot-story-swap/)

We’re thrilled that No, YOU Tell It! is once again part of the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Our own Kelly Jean is in Madison, NJ right now working with the MFA students, alums, and faculty for a special No, YOU Tell It! “My First” show on Sunday, August 6th. [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/07/30/episode-39-no-regrets/)

A simple neighborly gesture plus an ill-advised night of drinking leads to stalking, harassment, and an ever-escalating sense of danger. Kicking off the second half of our “Blowback” show, here is Courtney Frances Fallon’s story “Wine Wednesday” read for us by Gabriel Berezin. After another failed coupling spawned in the dumpster fire commonly known as [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/201...

A superfan desperately wants to connect with the Wonderful Wizard of YouTube, Todrick Hall, in Ariel Mahler’s story “Under the Rainbow, Over the Sea” read for us here by Molly Touger. Switching it up, when Molly Touger spends the summer as an intern at a local newspaper, she has to figure out which words to [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/05/23/episode-37-blowback-part-1/)

After years of staying on the fringes, Erika Iverson finds community and comfort through the intricate act of folding paper cranes in Union Square. Kicking off the second half of our “Migration” show, Ken Crossland reads, “September 18, 2001 or How I Became a New Yorker.” They say breaking up is hard to do. But [more at...] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/04/13/episode-36-migration-part-2/)

After a devastating loss, an heiress comes to terms with the one thing that money can’t buy. First up from our “Migration” show, Leslie Malaika Lewis asks the big questions in “A Broader View” read for us by Elisa DeCarlo. What are the things we truly need in life? The things that we aren’t willing [more at...] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/04/12/episode-35-migration-part-1/)

What begins as a letter to a long-lost childhood friend leads to meditation on the fragments of memory that linger after a person passes through our lives at a crucial stage… Kicking off the second half of our special TLR team-up at the AWP conference in Washington D.C., Jessie Vail Aufiery reads “Unsilencing, Or, I [more at] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/03/09/episode-34-deleted-scenes-part...

We were excited to team up with the editors of The Literary Review to present a special switched-up storytelling panel at the 50th AWP Conference & Bookfair in Washington D.C. Our first true-life tale was written by No, YOU Tell It!’s own Mike Dressel who experiences the opposite of “ghosting” when an overseas fling takes a dark [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/02/21/episode-33-delet...

A gig playing the role of mystery woman at the bar – part of a scavenger hunt team building exercise – has the narrator of “Agent Hotpants” questioning what it means to play games. From our “Alter Egos” show, here is Katherine Barron performing “Agent Hotpants” written by Debra Disbrow. Do we carry ourselves throughout the day [more at…] (http://www.noyoutellit.com/2017/01/10/episode-32-alter-e...