From Colorado to Angola, this podcaster helps communities tell stories for change

Catherine de Medici Jaffee thinks well-told stories can promote positive action. So she shares podcasting tools with people who work to better the planet.

She then turned storytelling into a career and at first considered creating documentaries. But something felt off, she says: “The camera would come out, and the people stopped smiling.” Jaffee wondered whether her subjects would feel more comfortable speaking into a microphone than being filmed.

Her solution: podcasts, both less intimidating and more accessible. In 2017 she founded House of Pod, a nonprofit that helps would-be podcasters tell stories centered on their communities, which often lack a platform. A National Geographic Explorer, Jaffee recently worked with Angolan biologist and environmental anthropologist Kerllen Costa on Guardians of the River, part of the National Geographic Society’s Okavango Wilderness Project, which surveys

DON'T MISS THE REST OF THIS STORY!
Create a free account to continue and get unlimited access to hundreds of Nat Geo articles, plus newsletters.

Create your free account to continue reading

No credit card required. Unlimited access to free content.
Or get a Premium Subscription to access the best of Nat Geo - just $19
SUBSCRIBE

Read This Next

AI can help you plan your next trip—if you know how to ask.
Did this mysterious human relative bury its dead?
This new birth control for cats doesn't require surgery

Go Further

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet