SisterStory Podcasts

Client
National Catholic Sisters Week, SisterStory

Year
2015-2019

NCSW and its storytelling initiative, SisterStory, was a grant-funded non-profit charged with chronicling the lives of Catholic Women Religious. While working for NCSW, Arlo produced and served as lead editor on several SisterStory podcasts. In addition to producing and editing these podcasts, he was responsible for marketing and promotion.

Projects that Arlo was the primary creator of, completing writing, interviewing, production, and post-production:

Projects that Arlo served as Editor on:

  • Curve Riders

  • Here’s My Secret

NOTE: In these podcasts, Arlo is credited as “Rocky Pierson,” a nickname he no longer uses.

In 2014, Arlo started working for a non-profit storytelling initiative dedicated to capturing the stories of Catholic Women Religious, SisterStory. When he first started working on the project, he was partnered with Sr. Kathie, CSJ. Throughout the semester, Arlo worked with Sr. Kathie to get to know her and capture her story; he befriended her, sharing a love of the arts and finding mentorship in her as he began his college career. After the semester, Arlo asked her to join him in creating a podcast series centered around conversations in her living room. They would discuss various topics, and he'd cut up those conversations into shorter podcasts, each episode focused on a single topic that would help answer the question "What is sisterhood?"

Arlo illustrated the cover of Interpreting Sisterhood by referencing the photos and videos the project had collected of both of them. Wanting to match the organic flow of their podcast and playful tone, he chose to free-hand draw this illustration on sketchbook paper with pens and colored pencils. He then uploaded the scanned, unedited illustration to his podcast hosting platforms. This illustration was used for the duration of the podcast series.

Set Apart was another series that Arlo took full creative responsibility for. This project shared the stories of Catholic Women Religious who chose to live in communities dedicated to service. This series focused on the unique experiences of Sisters who wore habits, setting themselves visually apart from society, and those who opted not to wear habits after Vatican II. For all the women featured in this series, their vocations deeply connected them to their communities and those they served. Although they lived distinctly unique lives, they remained grounded in community. The cover art for the series reflects the diversity of the Sisters and those they serve, united in their mission.