12 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
G.J. Meyer's 2006 narrative history of World War I — covering the entire conflict from Sarajevo to Versailles — one of the most accessible single-volume narrative accounts of the Great War for general audiences.
Legendary ancient Greek storyteller credited with a body of fables that use animal characters to convey moral lessons, though his historical existence is debated.
American storytelling editor and Artistic Director at The Moth — who has shaped thousands of personal narratives — editor of All These Wonders and Occasional Magic — the primary architect of The Moth's story development methodology.
The Moth's 2022 guide to personal storytelling — distilling 25 years of live storytelling expertise into practical guidance for crafting and performing personal narratives.
American storytelling director and executive at The Moth — who directs storytellers and helped develop The Moth's story coaching methodology — co-author of How to Tell a Story.
Michael Lewis's 2010 account of the handful of investors who saw the 2008 financial crisis coming and bet against mortgage-backed securities — told through the eccentric characters who understood what most of Wall Street missed.
Joseph Campbell's 1949 synthesis of world mythology — arguing that all myths share a common structure (the monomyth or Hero's Journey) derived from Jungian archetypes — the foundational text for narrative theory and screenwriting.
Tamim Ansary's 2019 world history arguing that history is the story of competing 'worlds' (communities with shared narratives about their past) that occasionally collide — making history fundamentally a question of narrative identity rather than political events.
George Dawes Green's nonprofit storytelling organization — which presents live unscripted personal stories on stage — whose podcast distributes these performances — the most influential live storytelling organization.
David Brooks's 2011 synthesis of social science research — told through the fictional lives of Harold and Erica — arguing that unconscious processes, relationships, and social context are more important than individual rationality in determining human success.
Michael Lewis's 2016 account of the intellectual partnership between Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky — the most complete narrative of how behavioral economics was created and what the friendship's unequal fame cost both men.
Hernan Diaz's 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — told in four parts, each rewriting the story of a Gilded Age financial titan and his wife from a different perspective — examining how wealth controls narrative and how women's stories are erased from official history.