My fascination with fog horns – yes, fog horns – emerged from other hidden artifacts and people that fill our landscape.

Fog horns and other industrial sounds create ambiance – they send messages of alarm or comfort along the water.

While spending a few months this year in the San Francisco Bay area, I heard the foghorns and found them both reassuring and contemplative with their rhythmic lulling, invisible, and visible presence.

Industrial sound is a topic I’ve been exploring lately as I work on one of my upcoming films: how the presence – and absence – of industrial sound played into our lives throughout history, and how modern-day sound (or lack thereof) plays into our lives today.

Read more about it all here: robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe

This month on Substack, I am sharing a fascinating story from my island camp in Maine… “Part 2” continued from last month’s essay on the “real” Green (and I’m not talking about the color).

Bob and I arrived on this island during the 1980s, not to escape the mainland or modern contemporary culture, but to explore, find some adventure, and to satisfy some irresistible curiosity that drew us to find out about islands in our view from our summer home on the mainland.

My curiosity took me through ages of captivating history about the very land our family steps foot on every summer. It’s a little eerie, and there is both uncovered evidence and unresolved mystery here.

Read the story here: robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe

Islands are both magical and mythical. Maine has almost 5,000 islands, if you include some that lean inland. (The rocky granite coastline was the subject of a documentary film I recently produced, The Long Coast.)

While the film didn’t dig deep into island life, it did portray the hard surfaces and intemperate weather that shaped a coastline populated by resilient, rugged, and imaginative individuals.

My latest Substack newsletter shows what it is like to camp along this rugged coastline, and shares some of my thoughts on what islands really are. 

Read it here: robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe

When was the last time you had permission to play, tossing out rules for a night?

I attended a magic show earlier this month, an intriguing dance of entertainment and storytelling.

I hadn’t thought much about magic until that night when the connection between magic and how technology is now able to fool us into believing we can live in multiple universes, or multiverses.

Sharing more about this topic, with a deep dive into a few other illusionist stories from the past, in my latest Substack newsletter.

Read it here: robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe

The voice asked me if I needed help. I was lost.

I had been watching astronauts emerge from the International Space Station to perform tasks in space as if I were somehow clinging to the exterior of the ISS enjoying a 360-degree view of outer space.

A new voice – not an astronaut’s voice – but a kind, concerned voice in another space (not outer space) informed me that I was about to be rebooted.

This wasn’t a sci-fi film, it was during a storytelling experience through a malfunctioning Oculus VR headset in Montreal.

Sharing more about this misadventure and some musings on the current state of AR and VR in addition to its role in storytelling in my latest Substack, newsletter, out now: robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe

How does one float like a butterfly, think like a bee? 

Leading with questions recently sparked my curiosity during my visit to the American Natural History Museum in NYC – some more serious than others. 🙂

Filled with truly fascinating dioramas, exhibits, and experiences (such as “Ant-o-vision,” where you “see” through the eyes as an ant would), all leading with questions.

This method of experience- and discussion-based learning is both fun and educational. As I continue my role as the Director at the UT Nutrition Institute, leading with questions to communicate science and stories will be a cornerstone for the projects and curriculum we create.

Sharing (much) more about the unique experiences in the museum we came across, plus some musings on AI,  in my latest Substack newsletter!

Read it here: robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe