Showing results by narrator "Ryan Hall" in All Categories

The Best American Short Stories 2021 immerse the listener in powerfully imagined worlds and allowing them to bring some of that power into their own lives. From a stirring portrait of Rodney King’s final days to a surreal video game set in the Middle East, with real consequences, to an indigenous boy’s gripping escape from his captors, this collection renders profoundly empathetic depictions of the variety of human experience.

After twenty years, the cracks in Lauren Reed’s marriage are showing. She and her husband, Jack, feel more like roommates than a loving couple. What they have in common are two wonderful teenagers, Michael and Maddie, and the same wistful question: When did it all go wrong? Now that Lauren’s decided to get on with her life—alone—divorce is inevitable. Not to the kids. They aren’t giving up so easily.

Journey with Olympian Ryan Hall as he reflects on the joys and trials of the running life and, along the way, shows you how his faith has helped him win in his workouts, races, and overall mindset. Ryan Hall is an Olympic athlete and American record holder in the half marathon (59:43). But as a kid, Ryan hated running. He wanted nothing to do with the sport until one day, he felt compelled to run the 15 miles around his neighborhood lake. He was hooked.

I learned very young that love had the power to destroy us, and vowed never to lose myself to love another. I escaped Texas, and broke his heart to save myself. Five years later, my dreams shattered, and I’m on a bus back to the place I never wanted to be in. But, sometimes, the thing you’re most scared of has the power to save you in the end.

Children raised in a world of familial trauma and health scares can develop pretty deep defense and survival mechanisms to simply exist in a scary and ever-changing world. For Ryan Hall, his defense mechanism was that he became silent. On days when he didn’t have to go to school, he would spend upwards of 22 hours a day in his room behind a closed door. He would play video games and watch TV instead of sharing his voice and sharing himself.