Podcast
Press Kit
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Contact for press inquiries:
Eva Tenuto | eva@tmiproject.org
TMI Project | 65 Saint James Street, Kingston, NY 12401
Season 3: Stories for Choice
In Season 3 of The TMI Project Podcast: Stories for Choice, host Eva Tenuto profiles some of our favorite storytellers, all of whom share radically true stories to fight for reproductive justice. Choice and true reproductive justice is not just about abortion rights; it’s about comprehensive, safe, accessible reproductive healthcare for all, and the resources to support whatever choice they choose. We pair this body of work with a customized listening and discussion guide filled with writing prompts and post-listening action items you can take today. Join us as we take a deeper dive and share the stories behind the secrets, and what happened next.
Access social media graphics and the press release.
Podcast Host:
Eva Tenuto
TMI Project Co-founder & Executive Director
Pronoun: She/Her/Hers
“Silencing marginalized groups of people has long been a tool used by those in power to maintain their status, which is why true storytelling has been and remains a vital component of social justice movement building. Nothing gives me deeper satisfaction than knowing we’re using TMI Project’s methodology to break down systemic oppression by speaking truth to power.”
Eva Tenuto is the co-founder and executive director of TMI Project. Since 2010, she has brought TMI Project from her living room to a host of performance spaces, schools, detention centers, mental health facilities and the United Nations. Eva is the editor and director of multiple solo shows, one of which was awarded Best Comedic Script of 2014 in the United Solo Festival. In 2018, her directorial film debut, Vicarious Resilience, a docu short, celebrated its world premiere at The Woodstock Film Festival. Eva’s own true stories have been published on Longreads.com and in numerous anthologies including Drinking Diaries, Goodbye to All That and others. Eva studied acting at American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She received a BA in Fine Art and Women’s Studies and an MA in Elementary Education, both from Hunter College. More at www.evatenuto.com
Season 3 Podcast Producer:
Dacia Clay
Pronouns: She/They
Dacia Clay is an audio producer, host, writer, and interviewer. She began her career in public radio as a music librarian, where she started learning audio production by sneaking into the hall studio in between shelving CDs. Since then, she’s developed and worked on many digital audio series, podcasts and radio shows, in multiple capacities, most recently KUOW’s The Wild (adventures in ecology and conservation), Rice University’s Religion Unmuted (about women in religion), Fiber Nation (tales of textiles, crafts, and culture), and Northwest Focus Stories (stories from Seattle’s classical music community with a focus on diversity and inclusion). She’s currently in production with two upcoming series, the Dr. Kimcast (using art and science to teach you about your brain), and Tiny Histories (individual histories through the lens of personal objects). Since 2013, she’s hosted and co-produced the Classical Classroom (about how she knows very little about classical music, so has experts come on the show to teach her). She lives in Seattle where she writes, runs, hikes, hangs out with her partner and their giant kitten, and probably watches way too much TV.
Hayley Downs
Pronoun: She/Her/Hers
In addition to producing The TMI Project Podcast and leading TMI Project workshops, Hayley is a writer, storyteller and documentary filmmaker. She produced the documentary film Hidden Battles directed by Victoria Mills about the psychological effects of killing on soldiers. She also produced and broadcast edited Naturally Obsessed: the Making of a Scientist, a documentary about laboratory research by Richard and Carole Rifkind. Naturally Obsessed premiered on WNYC/Thirteen and is distributed by PBS International. Most recently she produced J.L. Sert: A Nomadic Dream, a Spanish/U.S. co-production directed by Pablo Bujosa. Her installations and experimental films: Move, Coleslaw Wrestling and Boar Hog, exploring multi-generational Florida folk culture, have shown at underground film festivals including NY, Chicago and SF, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Miami and Art Basel. Her angst-filled teen journal was included in Mortified: Real Words, Real People, Real Pathetic, published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment. Hayley moved to upstate New York from Brooklyn four years ago where she’s focused on writing and her work as a TMI Project Workshop Leader.
Some Voices of Season 3:
Alice Tenuto
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“Standing on the stage with TMI, telling my story in Bearsville, my entire family including my son, were seated in the first and second row. With the theater lights on, they were the only ones I could see. I felt as though I was speaking to only them. In a firm voice, I told my story. For the first time, I felt heard. I left the shame, sorrow and burdens I carried inside for fifty years on stage that night. I began the transformation from victim to survivor.”
Mourka
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“I shall never forget writing and performing my first stories for TMI. There were many. Writing for TMI stimulated my creative process and I have since written two books. One is a memoir entitled DP Displaced Person and the other is an anthology of short stories entitled Flipping the Bird. I am in deep gratitude to TMI for giving me the opportunity to write and to perform my stories. “
Rita Worthington
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“Telling my story gave me the opportunity to get in touch with some feelings that has been suppressed. It also allowed me to put away any negative feelings of guilt and shame that I has about things that I had done in past. One of the most positive things that came out of me telling my story was the feedback I received of it helping others. “
Ilyse Simon
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“Sharing my story with TMI was pivotal. To write and concretize the amorphous, and speak the unspoken, was Work and an amazing journey at that. It was an instrumental moment in helping me to realize I had suffered Trauma. And, it was incredible how so many women approached me and shared their stories. So my thoughts, alone in my head, now had a community to be shared amongst. It also helped me professionally as I felt that sharing our stories makes us stronger and builds self compassion. I created a workshop called If My Body Could Talk, and I host body image/disordered eating centered writing groups.
Sharing our stories is one of the most powerful things we can do. It bridges isolation, breeds compassion, and increases self love.”
Raine Grayson
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Storyteller
“Writing my story allowed me to publicly let go and announce an aspect of my life that, up until I had shared it, was very shameful for me. It allowed me to own my experience and understand that societal perceptions of my body, both as a fat person and as a trans person, do not define me. I learned to accept a part of myself I had been neglecting and fight righteousness in my anger about my own injustices, rather than wallow in fear and hopelessness.”
Brian Macaluso
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Storyteller
“I had been carrying a lot of guilt and anguish over a failed relationship and the part I played, having to do with my dying father and 9/11. Writing about it was the first time I saw in black and white and narrative, and actually held myself accountable.
Telling the story was the hardest because I was ashamed of myself from that time, but ultimately it allowed me to come to terms and forgive myself and ease some of the burden I carried.”
Deborah Gordon-Brown
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“Sharing my story helped me own my experience in a way that I never have before. I feel the story helped me become much more of my own Deborah, revealing a part of my life that I speak about openly. It also encouraged me to start looking for my daughter again.“
MacKenzie Kell
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“Each time I have written with/for TMI, I have had a profound experience. The stories I chose to write about were the ones that haunted me the most, the ones that needed sharing and healing. And every time a workshop was completed, and the performance landed, I would feel lighter. I truly believe that we experience all that we do: the trauma and the joy, so that we can share it with others. Story is the most basic level of connection, and so after I share a story, on stage, I feel more purpose in my life: more fulfilled and freer. ”
Tamika Dunkley
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“It was definitely a liberating experience sharing my story because up until that point I didn’t talk about my experience. It was beautiful to see how many lives I touched through my story. “
Stephanie Ellis
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“Writing and sharing my story helped me find more humor around topics I felt shame about.”
Antoinette Armocida
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“It gave me the experience to speak my truths with joy and conviction. It also helped me understand the value of laughter amidst tragedy.“
Betty Macdonald
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Storyteller
“Sharing my story liberated my writing and hopefully encourages others to come out of the shadows.”
EPISODES
Podcast Trailer
EPISODE #1 | Verna Gillis
EPISODE #3 | Sam Osterhout
EPISODE #2 | Dusty Childers
EPISODE #4 | Erin Baretto
EPISODE #5 | Erica Chase Salerno
EPISODE #6 | Margarita Meyendorff
EPISODE #7 | Maria Elena De Valle
EPISODE #8 | Markel Mosley
EPISODE #9 | Hayley Downs
