Stone and Signal – Episode 5: Storytelling as Resistance
Released in conjunction with Banned Books Week.

Not all resistance looks like protest. Sometimes, it looks like a story whispered in the margins—a banned book passed hand to hand, a truth spoken when the room falls quiet.

In this episode of Stone and Signal, author and hermit storyteller Lawrence Nault explores how storytelling becomes an act of defiance in a world that rewards silence and obedience. From oral traditions that survived colonization to independent authors pushing back against algorithmic erasure, this episode traces how words have always been more than art—they’re a way of remembering, resisting, and rebuilding.

Through reflection and soundscape, Nault considers:
• Why every story carries a worldview—and why silence is never neutral.
• How independent publishing keeps difficult, necessary voices alive.
• The new frontiers of censorship, from AI mimicry to algorithmic invisibility.
• The sacred work of holding space—for youth, for marginalized creators, for truth itself.

Released during Banned Books Week, this conversation asks what it really means to defend the freedom to read, write, and imagine. Not just by keeping books on shelves, but by refusing to let systems decide which stories are worth hearing.

Because stories don’t just entertain—they remember what the world tries to forget.

If you’ve ever felt your voice pushed to the edge, this episode is a reminder:
You don’t need permission to speak.
You don’t need a platform to begin.
Resistance doesn’t always roar—sometimes it whispers through the pages that survived the fire.

About the Series:
Stone and Signal is a quiet space for reflection at the intersection of storytelling, solitude, and resistance. Each episode blends narrative, ambient sound, and philosophical insight to explore how we stay human in an age of distraction and control. Created and narrated by Lawrence Nault, Canadian author of The Life of Phi, Fingerprints in the Water, and the Draconim and MacIver Kids series, the podcast stands as a form of creative resilience—proof that stories still matter, and still endure.

What if youth isn’t just a phase, but a frequency? A force that doesn’t ask for permission to rise?

In this episode of Stone and Signal, Lawrence Nault reflects on the power of youth as leaders—not future leaders, but leaders now. Through quiet storytelling, original writing, and personal insight, we explore how young people are not only resisting collapse, but reimagining what’s possible.

From climate strikes and land defense to art, memory, and digital movements, Generation Wild asks: What does it mean to truly empower youth—not with symbolic gestures, but with real space, trust, and power?

This episode is for those still brave enough to hope, still listening for change, and still willing to be shaped by the generation rising.

🎧 Transcript and companion essay available on the blog: https://mountainthermit.blogspot.com/
📚 Explore the Draconim YA series: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CYCRB867
💛 Support the podcast by sharing, subscribing, or buying a book.

In this quieter, slower episode of Stone and Signal, host Lawrence Nault steps away from narrative and into the elemental language of poetry. Against a backdrop of ambient sound, he shares original poems—fragments of memory, resistance, grief, and joy—that invite stillness in a world that moves too fast. From the dreamscapes of twilight to the stubborn battle between life and time, this episode is a meditation on what endures. A signal cast softly, for those who still know how to listen.