Elizabeth Cayouette-Gluckman's Storytelling Blog

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-rio-summer-olympics/russian-doping-whistleblowers-fear-their-lives-after-cyber-attack-n638746

In our rush to anger at the Russian doping scandals riddling the 2016 Olympics, we are quick to forget the protection we owe the individuals who risked their lives to bring an element of equity to Rio.  The Stepanova’s were primary informants in the Russian doping scandal, as Yuliya submitted video evidence of Russian doping.  This has brought the couple and their 3 year old son into the Russian governments line of fire, and led to their WADA account being hacked.  The family is staying with a friend while fearing for their lives, but save for this brief NBC article they have been all but left out of the doping narrative.  Considering the Stepanova’s risked their careers, and even their lives, in order to make competition more honorable, they have not received the protection owed to them by all of the countries that benefited from their exposition.

http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2016/july/music-biology-tsimane.html

“So, what music do you like?” is a question commonly heard around campus, as new students get to know each other.  Having already run through major, home town, and residence hall, students turn to musical taste in their questioning, as it is a unifying experience.  But musical preferences could be a point of commonality because students have been raised to have similar preferences, according to research study in the journal “Nature” and analytical accompanying article by Brandeis contributor Lawrence Goodman.  Students may find musical taste draws them together because of their common exposure to Western music, which conditions them to prefer certain sound patterns.  So next time you’re amazed that the student in the neighboring room also loves pop music, take into account that this could be because of cultural conditioning to prefer consonance to dissonance, not because you’re musical soulmates.

This blog will be an exploration of multimedia storytelling, because telling people’s stories is what I aspire to do as a journalist.  I care deeply about people, and believe that everyone has a fascinating story worth telling.  I hope to collect engaging photographs of people (and some places!) that provide a glimpse into their personal story, both through visual and written or oral components.