You Tell My Story, I’ll Tell Yours: Colum McCann, Co-Founder, Narrative 4

Colum McCann came to America at 21 to write a novel. He failed miserably. So he got on a bicycle in Boston and rode 8,000 miles over 18 months, all the way to San Francisco. Everywhere he went, people asked if he was mad. They invited him into their homes and told him their stories. The failed novelist learned the power of listening. It’s a conviction that has carried him through 13 or 14 books since. He’s lost count, but he knows that the shortest distance between two people is a story. That conviction became Narrative 4, which Colum co-founded with Lisa Consiglio. The method is simple and strange. Two young people pair up, swap stories, and then each tells the other’s story in the first person. Hearing your own life in a stranger’s voice is where the magic happens. The organization now works in more than 30 countries. Colum insists this is not kumbaya. Stories are dangerous. They can take your house, your vote, or your country. That’s why Narrative 4 trains its teachers so carefully. He’s wary of what he calls the disease of certainty. At the Chamber, Charlotte reports from the Best Day Ever in Fremont, home of a troll so beloved the fire marshals attend its birthday. Aaron preps for a summit week that will be either really awesome or a great story. 00:00 Opening04:32 Minneapolis: Dinner at the Guthrie13:56 Colum McCann: 8,000 Miles by Bicycle17:59 Building Narrative 422:22 Inside a Story Exchange26:26 Youth, Loneliness, and Optimism29:24 Stories Are Tough: The Power and the Danger34:43 The Disease of Certainty40:09 Reflection44:01 Summit Week Ahead About the Chamber of ConnectionThe most creative artists in America right now aren’t in galleries. They’re in your neighborhood. How We Connected is a front-row seat to the social artists rebuilding human connection. Hear inspiring stories about roller skating crews, bad art clubs, jousting societies, city saunters, Georgian dinner parties, catch-playing challenges, midnight runners, and picnic societies. Hosted by Charlotte Massey and Aaron Hurst, co-founders of the US Chamber of Connection. Aaron Hurst is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection. He’s a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy. Charlotte Massey is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection and leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship. Learn more: www.chamberofconnection.org Colum McCann, Co-Founder, Narrative 4Colum was born in Dublin and came to America at 21 to write a novel. He failed, so he rode a bicycle across the country instead. The strangers who took him in taught him the power of listening. The novels came after, including Let the Great World Spin, which won the National Book Award. There’s Apeirogon, the story of an Israeli father and a Palestinian father united by loss. Twelve years ago he co-founded Narrative 4 with Lisa Consiglio. Its story exchange, where two young people each tell the other’s story in the first person, now reaches more than 30 countries. He teaches writing at Hunter College and lives in New York. His conviction, learned on the bike: the shortest distance between two people is a story. Learn more: https://www.forge.community HeyloHeylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms. Learn more: https://www.heylo.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.