At some level, stories are about influencing people, but the results of our stories are not always tangible. That changes when it comes to vaccination and our ability to get individuals to take the shot, or not. I learned a lot on this subject from This American Life‘s episode “The Herd,” especially Act Two “The…
I’m teaching a class in climate storytelling at Georgetown University this week. I remember the day someone suggested I was avoiding climate change in my work, perhaps because I have rarely made it the main focus of my stories. I reflected on that feedback for a long time before I could articulate how personal stories…
Our first story about the French Polynesian island of Makatea came out on May 4, 2021 with Hakai Magazine. There’s also an audio edition, which was a lot of fun for me to read! Now the story is running again, this time in French, with Courrier International. This will make the story more accessible for…
Stories are made to be shared, and today I am proud to share my first series of documentary films with you. “Meet the Marquesas” is here! These four short episodes focus on people we met in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia in 2018 and 2019. Our three-person team used a method I have come…
National Geographic Education uses its global network to help Explorers from all over the world interact with students. Through live, hosted web events, we present on our work and then take questions. On April 27th, 2020, I was part of the first ever Explorer Classroom to be translated into American Sign Language (ASL). I learned…
I wrote my friend Poemoana Teri’inohora’i in Tahiti the other day. Because of Covid-19, I will not see her this year, and I was feeling sad. She replied: “What a sad illness, and I hope it won’t be a repeat of the diseases suffered by our islands in centuries past.” (see below for her original…
Since we first visited French Polynesia and the Marquesas Islands in 2018, we’ve been working on a series of films to share some of the personal stories that people shared with us. The series is taking shape, so here’s a summary of the episodes we are working on … Overview: This series delves into Marquesan…
I love telling stories on stage, to camera, or live for web-based events. Stories are made to be shared, and presenting is one of my favourite ways to bring them to life. I always make time for new bookings. I’ve presented at several live and web-based events with the National Geographic Society and National Geographic…
We first visited the community of Hapatoni, on the island of Tahuata, aboard a ship called the National Geographic Orion. The village has a population of about 100 people, and many people of all ages took part in welcoming our vessel. This place made an immediate impression on me, and I resolved to return later…
I saw the Marquesas for the first time from the deck of a ship. The hillsides, captured above by photographer Eric Guth, foretold the natural beauty we would experience in this archipelago. One of our first stops, from that ship, was in Hatihe’u, where a group of local performers welcomed us at one of their…
Teiki Pao gathers coconut from the hills of Nuku Hiva. Dried coconut, called copra, is sold to make coconut oil, and it is an important industry here. Teiki works with his horse, Légende, and when I asked Teiki about his tattoos, he told me some of them represent the horse that he spends so much…
Teiki Huukena has dedicated himself to the Marquesan art of tattoo, called Patutiki. He got his first tattoo, designed by his cousin, when he was 14 years old. Since then, his journey to reclaim the traditional symbols and their placement on the body has been written on his skin. The journey is also represented…
The final game of the 2018 FIFA world cup started very early in the Marquesas, whose time zone is 11.5 hours behind most of Europe. It was still dark when we arrived, but a mix of local residents and visiting yacht owners (mostly French) were already seated in the community hall. Despite the distance…
The 14th of July is a national holiday in France, often called la “fête nationale” or simply “le 14 juillet.” In English, we call in Bastille Day, and it is named for a major event during the French Revolution in 1789. As a French Overseas Territory, this holiday is also celebrated in French Polynesia. These…
Teamwork was key to our time in the Marquesas. While I was mostly finding people to talk to, like Nicolas Haiti and his son Naura inside their coconut oven in Taipivai, Nuku Hiva, Eric Guth (photographer) and Matt Mastrantuono (filmmaker) were never far away. I’ll admit it: I don’t like drones. From beeping…