Description:In this episode of The Gift of Need Podcast, Jude DiMeglio Trang sits down with writer, poet, musician, and lifelong storyteller Charlie Hodges for a rich conversation on the art and necessity of storytelling. Drawing from Charlie’s upbringing in rural East Tennessee, his career as an engineer, and decades of writing and creative practice, the discussion explores how stories shape identity, preserve culture, and meet deep human needs. The episode concludes with Charlie sharing an original story that brings his philosophy of storytelling vividly to life.
We talk about:• Growing up in a culture of oral storytelling in rural East Tennessee• The influence of music, church, and front-porch conversations on narrative voice• Storytelling as practice, not just talent or “gift”• The difference between telling information and showing meaning• Authenticity in fiction and why stories must feel emotionally true• Writing to “find out what you know” versus writing to display knowledge• The importance of restraint—why not telling everything makes stories stronger• Oral tradition, Native American storytelling, and myth as shared human language• Storytelling as survival information and sense-making• How storytelling fills a need both for the listener and the storyteller• The relationship between poetry, music, and narrative memory• Charlie’s reflections on writing, rewriting, and creative discovery• A closing original story illustrating place, memory, and lived experience
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Charlie Hodges: cwhodges.com
Music Credit: Gabe Kubanda / Damn Plans (Instrumental) © 2021 Kubanda Music
Engineer: Ray Ingegneri, Third Street Productions, Tucson, AZ
