Everything Is Stories Mike Martinez & Tyler Wray

Death, life’s ultimate closure, often casts a long shadow over the funeral that follows. These ceremonies rarely spark protest or public outcry, but in the spring of 2013 Lonewolf Smith was thrust into a national dilemma when he and his colleagues at Graham, Putney, & Mahoney Funeral Parlors were asked to tend to the body of one of America’s most reviled terrorists.
In this story we hear from former mortician Lonewolf on his dedication to his often-misunderstood work, a personal moral dilemma following his own experience with a horrific act of terrorism, and how he answers the question of who deserves a proper burial.
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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.
Sound Design by George Drake Jr.
Music by Mike Etten.
Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder
For more about this story, including photos by Robert Johansson, visit everythingisstories.com.
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They say stealing cattle in Texas can get a man hung by the neck until dead. From a young age Roddy Pippin was ready to take that risk, as he and his crew would take home close to a million dollars rustling cattle over the course of 3 years.
In this episode Pippin speaks of his idyllic childhood and love for the ways of the old west, the precarious choices he made while chasing the steal that would lead to brushes with death, and how those few years on the run pushed him and his lifelong friendships to the limit. 
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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.
Sound Design by George Drake Jr.
Music by Mike Etten and Dominic Palermo
Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder
For more about this story, including photos by Justin Hollar, visit everythingisstories.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forty years ago, military-backed death squads descended on Dora Rodriguez’ hometown as a civil war spiraled out of control in El Salvador. Forced to flee as a teenager and leave her family behind, Rodriguez began what she thought would be the only journey north through Mexico and into the harsh Sonoran Desert. In this episode, Dora recounts her harrowing start-stop passage across the desert, predatory smugglers that nearly cost her life, and an unlikely relationship with a man from the other side of the wall.
*This episode has been edited from the original version for safety and editorial purposes.
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Produced by Clarke Tolton, Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.
Sound Design by George Drake Jr.
Music by Mike Etten
Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder
For more about this story, including photos by Clarke Tolton, visit everythingisstories.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time her boyfriend became violent, Kim Dadou Brown was confident she could handle it. It was just one of those things the women in her family dealt with. It wasn’t until Kim found herself in prison that she realized how seriously the years of abuse had skewed her reality – and what little support the system offered women like her.
In Part 01, Kim meets us in her home in Rochester, New York, where she shares what ultimately led to a final act of violence and how much work she’s had to do in order to free herself from the trauma.
*This episode contains strong descriptions of domestic violence, please listen with care.
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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.
Music by Mike Etten
Sound Design by Armen Bazarian
Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder
For more about this story, including photos by Casey Steffens, visit everythingisstories.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time her boyfriend became violent, Kim Dadou Brown was confident she could handle it. It was just one of those things the women in her family dealt with. It wasn’t until Kim found herself in prison that she realized how seriously the years of abuse had skewed her reality – and what little support the system offered women like her.
Kims' story continues in part 02, where she shares what transpired in the wake of her boyfriends' death and how she came out on the other side into a career as an activist for domestic violence victims.
*This episode contains strong descriptions of domestic violence, please listen with care.
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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.
Music by Mike Etten
Sound Design by Armen Bazarian
Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder
For more about this story, including photos by Casey Steffens, visit everythingisstories.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where do we go when we can’t make it in mainstream society? As someone who has often battled mental illness and rage, Del Hendrixson Jr. connects the dots between a violent mental breakdown and his struggle to find a sense of belonging as a child. In this episode, Del talks about a successful career in printing that would eventually turn criminal, hitting rock bottom, and fighting an insatiable urge to kill. Following a suicide attempt and a slow journey toward peace and acceptance of living outside the mainstream, life would eventually come full-circle to the place everything bottomed out - prison - where Del taught newly-released inmates creative skills in order to help them lead productive lives at his Bajito Onda Foundation.
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Produced by Mike Martinez, Tyler Wray, and Grace Heerman. Music by Mike Etten. Sound design by George Drake, Jr.
For more about this story, including photos by Clarke Tolton, visit everythingisstories.com.
 
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