7 Minute Stories w/ Aaron Calafato

After Barack Obama recently clarified his comments about aliens, UFOs, UAPs, and Area 51, the question resurfaced: Are we alone in the universe?

In this episode replay, Aaron shares a strange midnight encounter under the stars that, for a moment, felt like a UFO. Or maybe a UAP? What he and his wife saw in the sky sparked thoughts of alien life, pop culture fascination, and the mathematics of the cosmos before revealing what it actually was.

👇

📬⁠⁠⁠ Join the 7 Minute Stories Newsletter⁠⁠⁠

Each month, Aaron shares a select edition of Stories in a Snap — a written short story adapted from this 7 Minute Stories podcast and thoughtfully reimagined for the page. Subscribers also receive storytelling insights, behind-the-scenes reflections, and exclusive bonus content. All delivered straight to their inbox.

📰 ⁠⁠Stories in a Snap (Weekly Edition)⁠⁠ is the weekly written adaptation of 7 Minute Stories. A distilled short story you can read in just a few quiet minutes, delivered straight to your inbox every week.

📻 If you like 7 Minute Stories, you’ll love⁠⁠⁠⁠ 7 Minute Stories Radio⁠⁠⁠⁠ — a 24/7 stream of Aaron’s stories you can tune into anytime. Let it run in the background while you walk, work, cook, or wind down. It’s not an episode feed. It’s a digital storytelling radio companion with an analog feel, built to keep you company.

🌙 If you like 7MS, make sure you follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Night Stories LIVE! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠— Aaron’s late-night radio show where he shares stories and talks with special guests in real time. Streamed live Thursdays at 9:30PM EST on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠ and delivered as ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠a podcast on-demand⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

The 7MS Team:

Story created & performed by: Aaron Calafato

Senior Audio Engineer:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ken Wendt ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Additional vocals: Cori Calafato

Artist in Residence: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pete Whitehead ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Original Theme Music: thomas j. duke

Additional Soundscape Design:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Isaac Gehring & Story Sounds Media LLC ⁠⁠

Brad Roberts, lead singer and songwriter of Crash Test Dummies, sits down with Aaron for a wide-ranging conversation about songwriting, philosophy, and the unexpected afterlife of a hit song. From the improvisational process behind “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” to the outsider themes that shaped his lyrics, Brad shares how studying philosophy and English literature influenced the questions embedded in his music. This bonus episode of 7MS Presents: The Storytelling University explores 90s alternative rock, lyrical storytelling, and the deeply personal stories fans have carried with them for decades.

*The Storytelling University is part of the 7 Minute Stories Universe
Created & Produced by Aaron Calafato & Brooks Borden

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This week on 7 Minute Stories, Aaron reflects on loss, legacy, and the fragile weight of being human.

From the passing of cultural icons like James Van Der Beek and Robert Duvall to the deeply personal grief of losing his uncle and cousin—both Cleveland firefighters who ran toward danger for a living—this episode explores the difference between distant loss and the kind that reshapes you.

Recorded on Ash Wednesday, “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust” wrestles with mortality, memory, and a question Aaron first asked at age 12: When the body stops, does everything stop? Or are we more like radios—receivers of something that continues beyond us?

👇

📬⁠⁠ Join the 7 Minute Stories Newsletter⁠⁠

Each month, Aaron shares a select edition of Stories in a Snap — a written short story adapted from this 7 Minute Stories podcast and thoughtfully reimagined for the page. Subscribers also receive storytelling insights, behind-the-scenes reflections, and exclusive bonus content. All delivered straight to their inbox.

📰 ⁠Stories in a Snap (Weekly Edition)⁠ is the weekly written adaptation of 7 Minute Stories. A distilled short story you can read in just a few quiet minutes, delivered straight to your inbox every week.

📻 If you like 7 Minute Stories, you’ll love⁠⁠⁠ 7 Minute Stories Radio⁠⁠⁠ — a 24/7 stream of Aaron’s stories you can tune into anytime. Let it run in the background while you walk, work, cook, or wind down. It’s not an episode feed. It’s a digital storytelling radio companion with an analog feel, built to keep you company.

🌙 If you like 7MS, make sure you follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Night Stories LIVE! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠— Aaron’s late-night radio show where he shares stories and talks with special guests in real time. Streamed live Thursdays at 9:30PM EST on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠ and delivered as ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠a podcast on-demand⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

The 7MS Team:

Story created & performed by: Aaron Calafato

Senior Audio Engineer:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ken Wendt ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Additional vocals: Cori Calafato

Artist in Residence: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pete Whitehead ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Original Theme Music: thomas j. duke

Additional Soundscape Design:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Isaac Gehring & Story Sounds Media LLC ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

*Image:
"Fleeing a dust storm". Farmer Arthur Coble and sons walking in the face of a dust storm, Cimmaron County, Oklahoma. Arthur Rothstein, photographer, April, 1936. (Library of Congress)

*Music:

Scotland the Brave
Roie Shpigler, Ziggy

Used under paid license via Artlist.io.

Special Thanks:
Shannon Baker

Rob Montague Jr

Kyle McCarthy

Dania Khalife

In a remote community along the Amazon River, a man lives for two years in quiet, crippling pain. The nearest hospital is not down the road. It is a journey away.

Then one day, something white appears on the water.

In this episode of 7MS Presents: Short Stories of Hope, Aaron tells the true story of a floating hospital that docks where roads do not reach, and of one Brazilian farmer whose life changed the morning he stood upright again.

This is a story about dignity, skilled hands arriving by water, and the kind of hope that does not announce itself. It simply docks.

*Look more about the Pope Francis Hospital Boat HERE

An American buffet leaves an impression on you. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad.

Maybe it was a Chinese Buffet with your high school friends. Maybe it was Ponderosa. Maybe it was a frozen yogurt flavor you’ve been chasing for decades.

But what happens when you go back?

In this 7 Minute Story, Aaron revisits a core memory from the 90s and begins to question something deeper: Can you trust nostalgia? Does memory tell the truth? Or does time change the taste of everything?

This is a story about abundance, aging, perspective, and the strange moment when the past doesn’t feel the way you remembered it.

And the uncomfortable question that follows...

Which version of the memory do you trust?

👇

📬⁠ Join the 7 Minute Stories Newsletter⁠

Each month, Aaron shares a select edition of Stories in a Snap — a written short story adapted from this 7 Minute Stories podcast and thoughtfully reimagined for the page. Subscribers also receive storytelling insights, behind-the-scenes reflections, and exclusive bonus content. All delivered straight to their inbox.

📰 Stories in a Snap (Weekly Edition) is the weekly written adaptation of 7 Minute Stories. A distilled short story you can read in just a few quiet minutes, delivered straight to your inbox every week.

📻 If you like 7 Minute Stories, you’ll love⁠⁠ 7 Minute Stories Radio⁠⁠ — a 24/7 stream of Aaron’s stories you can tune into anytime. Let it run in the background while you walk, work, cook, or wind down. It’s not an episode feed. It’s a digital storytelling radio companion with an analog feel, built to keep you company.

🌙 If you like 7MS, make sure you follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Night Stories LIVE! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠— Aaron’s late-night radio show where he shares stories and talks with special guests in real time. Streamed live Thursdays at 9:30PM EST on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠ and delivered as ⁠⁠⁠⁠a podcast on-demand⁠⁠⁠⁠!

The 7MS Team:

Story created & performed by: Aaron Calafato

Senior Audio Engineer:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ken Wendt ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Additional vocals: Cori Calafato

Artist in Residence: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pete Whitehead ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Original Theme Music: thomas j. duke

Additional Soundscape Design:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Isaac Gehring & Story Sounds Media LLC ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Special Thanks:
Shannon Baker

Rob Montague Jr

Kyle McCarthy

Dania Khalife