APAP Podcast Story Submissions

Submit your story idea to the ARTS. WORK. LIFE. podcast.

Season 4 arrives in Summer 2025.
INTRODUCTION

ARTS. WORK. LIFE. is an award-winning podcast from APAP that amplifies the bold, untold stories from performing arts workers like YOU.

The podcast is comprised of first-person narratives about a personal experience related to life working in the performing arts.

Launched in June 2022, AWL is produced by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals with the support of the Wallace Foundation. In January 2024, it won a bronze Anthem Award (A Webby), and in March 2023, it won Gold for Best Podcast at the Association Trends "Trendy" Awards.

You can listen to Season 1, 2, and 3 on your favorite podcast app.

Do you have a story to tell? We want to hear it! Our stories matter.

Submit your story idea below for Season 4!
HOW TO SUBMIT:

We're looking for story ideas that:
- Are personal and center your experience.
- Reflect an aspect of working in the performing arts.
- Have taken place in the past 3 years. (However, your story can reference earlier experiences).
- Provide a story or a perspective that we haven't heard before.
- Cover work-related topics in a performing arts context. For instance, your story may address, but is NOT limited to:
  - Balance, mental health and self-care
  - READI (race, equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion)
  - Compensation
  - Hiring and retention
  - Life on the road
  - Gig work
  - Being a [fill in the blank] in the arts workplace.
  - Any untold story of working in the arts!
We are not interested in stories that:
- Lack a personal story or don't connect to the work of the performing arts.
- Are overly self-promotional.
- Are submitted by a third party, unless done so as a matter of accessibility.
- Use language that can be interpreted as false or defamatory, profane or indecent, sacrilegious, a form of hate speech, directed at an individual or a group, or otherwise scandal provoking.
Need more ideas? The best stories are about a specific experience you had that shifted your perspective. For example, you can share a story about...
- How managing illness as a performing artist made you face the existential reality of practicing a physical art.
- How working nights as part of a crew for most of your career has shaped your experience of the world.
- How representing other people means that you put yourself last and how one particular encounter transformed you.
- How joining a performing arts organization as "the first [fill in the blank]" impacted your experience.
- How launching a career in the performing arts industry was different than you expected.
If your story is selected:
- A professional storyteller will interview you and help you find the best way to tell your story.
- A professional podcaster will help you record your story. (No audio equipment or audio experience necessary!)
- For your recorded and aired story, you will receive an honorarium of $200.
VERY IMPORTANT: Story ideas do NOT need to be fully-written pieces. We are looking for the seed of the story. Please help us understand your story and what might be compelling for listeners to hear by answering the questions below.

ALSO: Please send this form to other performing arts workers in your network! This is a great opportunity for colleagues to share stories of their unique, lived experiences about working in the arts.

We are currently accepting submissions for Season 4.

Have questions or need assistance submitting your story? Contact us at podcast@apap365.org.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST!

You can listen to and follow the podcast by searching "ARTS. WORK. LIFE." on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, or your favorite podcast app!

Season 1, 2, and 3 are out, and episodes are available to listen to forever!
SUBMIT YOUR STORY IDEA BELOW

Please complete the following form to make your submission.

* indicates a required field
Name**

First NameLast Name
Location**

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province/Country (if not U.S. or Canada)

Postal / Zip Code
Email**
example@example.com
Phone Number*
Please enter a valid phone number.
How would you describe your work or what you do in the performing arts?**
You can put a title here or briefly describe what you do.
Do you work for an organization? Do you work for yourself? Or something else?**
If you work for an organization, put their name here.
For the open-ended questions below, you may submit a written answer OR submit an audio or video file by including a link to that file under each question.

(Audio and video files are just to give you another option if you prefer to express yourself out loud rather than in writing. Audio and video will not be used for the podcast itself. You may be the same file for all questions. Please be sure to make sure the file is accessible to anyone with the link.)
Tell us a brief version of your story. (150-500 words OR 2 mins or less if providing audio/video) *
What happened? Was there a conflict? Was there a turning point? Was there a resolution? How did the events make you feel at that moment? How do you feel now?
When and where did this story take place?*
Give us a sense of the environment/scene where the main events and realizations took place.
What makes this story compelling?**
Tell us what you think is important for listeners to hear.
In a few words, what kind of workforce, workplace, work culture or other worker-related issue does this story involve?*
Anything else you want to share?
Are you a member of APAP?**

YesNoNot sure
Have you subscribed to "ARTS. WORK. LIFE." on your favorite podcast app?* (If not, do it now!)*

YesNoNot sure
How did you hear about ARTS. WORK. LIFE.?*

APAP emailA friend or colleagueFacebookLinkedInInstagramOther
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

Please provide the optional demographic information and submit your form below.
What best describes your current work status?*

Full-time employedPart-time employedGig workerSelf-employed or business ownerUnemployedRetiredPrefer not to answerOther
What is your age?*

18-2425-3435-4445-5455-6465+Prefer not to answer
What is your gender identity and orientation? (Select all that apply.)*

Agender/non-binaryCis-gender femaleCis-gender maleGender variant/non-conformingTransgender femaleTransgender maleStraight/HeterosexualGay or LesbianBisexualPansexualQueerPrefer not to answerI prefer to self-describe
What is your racial/ethnic identity? (Select all that apply.)*

AsianBlackLatinXNative/IndigenousPacific IslanderWhitePrefer not to answerOther
Do you have any of the following disabilities? (Select all that apply.)*

I am deaf or have difficulty hearing.I am blind or have serious difficulty seeing, even with corrective lenses.I use a wheelchair.I have another physical disability that limits my movement.I have a mental disability.I have none of the disabilities listed.Prefer not to answer.Other
In what disciplines do you work? (Select all that apply.)*

DanceMusicTheaterMultidisciplinaryOther
Describe the genre(s) in which you work. (Put N/A if doesn't apply.)*
Will you be attending the APAP|NYC 2025 conference (January 10-14, 2025)?*

YesNoOther
Should be Empty:

Submit your story idea to the ARTS. WORK. LIFE. podcast.