Kristyana, April, and Twanna have been friends for over 25 years, and teddy bear Nathaniel Behr has been an integral part of their friend group. What started as a small purchase has morphed into decades of shared memories as the teddy bear has traveled with them on adventures around the world. The three friends live in different cities in the United States and Portugal, but their teddy bear gets sent between them periodically. They discuss how their friendship and joint ownership of Nathaniel Behr, whose travels and poses they document on a private social media account, have evolved over the years, and why even in midlife, their teddy bear is as active a part of their lives as he was in their twenties.
About our guests:
April Banks is based in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada, and works as a freelance proofreader, editor, and writer. She is also the owner of several stuffed animal friends. @april.is.not.just.a.month on Instagram
Twanna A. Hines, M.S. (she/her) is an award-winning sexual health educator, healthy relationships advocate, and entrepreneur. A Sundance Creative Change alum, she has written for many magazines and news outlets, including NBC News, HEALTH magazine, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Time Out, Mashable, Fast Company and The Huffington Post. She has been interviewed by outlets from coast to coast, from the San Francisco Chronicle to The New York Times. Founder and CEO of the social impact firm FUNKY BROWN CHICK, she has appeared on CNN, NPR, Sirius, CBC, Paris Première, and in documentary films.
@funkybrownchick on Instagram
Kristyana is based in NYC and is a sales and marketing director in the natural consumer packaged goods industry.
@flightsofphamcy and @brownbearinnyc on Instagram
Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Please rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers
For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com, where you can also submit your own essays.
