The storytellers of today

Although some claim that no one tells stories anymore, that is not true. We have many storytellers among us today. Children continue to hear their parents tell them bedtime stories that teach them about perseverance (The Little Engine that Could) or honesty (Pinocchio). There are, however, storytellers for adults. Our doctors and nurses tell us stories so we can understand our problem and its treatment. Our prophets, priests, and  and rabbis tell stories to help us understand doctrine. Our professors and teachers, the ones whose lectures interest us the most, are storytellers. From them we can and do, painlessly, learn a great deal.  We hear stories in operas and radio broadcasts. We hear stories from salespeople trying to convince us that their products are best and those who build the most elaborate stories are trying to sell snake oil to naive buyers are selling snake. Perhaps surprisingly to some, our newscasters, lawyers, politicians and scientists all are or can be storytellers.

Lawyers, who are known to be articulate, do not refer to themselves as storytellers. All lawyers, however, realize that the lawyer who tells the most captivating story will win. Lawyers weave together lines of evidence with legal precedent and create interesting stories that will lead the jury to exonerate or convict.

Politicians, too, are storytellers and some are very good storytellers. Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln both recognized the power of Stories. Church, during the second world war used stories to remind the people of Great Britain of their heroic history, of the strength they had shown in time of crises, of the bravery of their soldiers and the moral value of the people. In doing so, he was successful in convincing them to persist in their battle with the Nazis. Lincoln, during America's Civil war energized his people and was able to preserve the Union by appealing to the best in each person. 

The ancestors of journalists were news carriers, or criers, who carried information from one geographic area to another and one people to another. They were trusted to provide, in a plainspoken manner, accurate information of use in decision making. Today, our journalists walk a fine line between two roles, news carrying and storytelling. They need to provide facts, but must do so in an intriguing way so that they can keep their jobs and can attract and keep an audience.At time,as Marchese (2020: 43) explains, they cross the line.

We used to have news and we had entertainment. Now these categories are totally intertwined – to the extent that it’s not far-fetched to say that we just have categories of entertainment.

Historically, few scientific discoveries were shared with the public; Darwin provided an interesting exception. He used a quasi-lyrical style to write the Origin of Species. His writing style was interesting and easy to understand and his theory came to convince many nonscientists. Today, science is advancing more rapidly than ever before and many of the discoveries scientists are making can have a serious impact on all our lives. To make sure that the public is aware of their discoveries, scientists have begun using a storytelling format, not only with the public, but with politicians and funding agencies. 

Most of the example we provided above are drawn from the "good" storytellers. However, as example of the the snake oil salesman makes clear, we can be duped, deluded, confused, or cheated by storytellers,not only snake oil salesmen, but even those who seem to be legitimate  journalists, scientists, politicians and teachers. Stories - those told not just to entertain - are mechanisms to convince us of some point - the little engine persevered and was successful, the ants taught the grasshopper an important lessons (though it isn't always clear why they were so altruistic), politicians can use stories to fill their own pockets and incite wars. Stories, when well told, draw and hold the attention of the listeners. We listen to stories differently than we listen to other forms of speech and it may be possible that hearing a story activates important sensory areas in the cortex of the brain, making it possible for listeners to actually visualize what they are hearing and the outcome of that visualization - the snake oil cures you! .