Podcast Goes Global

Stuttering Foundation Podcast kicked off in 2019 with weekly episodes, hosted by Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP.

Season One has 10 episodes and counting, with segments ranging from: “Research Updates” aimed at bringing current research to working - and busy – clinicians; “Stuttering in the Schools,” focused on targeting school-based service challenges, personal stories; and a monthly segment with long-time Stuttering Foundation friend, Dr. Ellen Kelly.

Ellen and Sara discuss a clinical topic or question each month and their episodes routinely garner the highest number of downloads with feedback coming in such as, “I love the episodes with you and Ellen, it feels like I’m hanging out sitting on the couch with friends discussing stuttering.”

We have had 3,293 total plays and counting with popular episodes accumulating 548+ downloads. We’re most typically listened to through Apple Podcast via a mobile device, with downloads on every continent. 84% of our listeners are in North America, and the most downloads by city is led by: Houston, Philadelphia, Nashville, Chicago, San Diego, Albuquerque, and — showing quite the geographical spread within the US alone! Internationally, the podcast has been downloaded in 66 different countries!

From the Winter 2020 Magazine

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Emily Blunt

Actress Emily Blunt struggled with stuttering early in her life. A teacher encouraged her to act in a school play at age 12 despite her stuttering.

Blunt’s name is prominently featured on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

John Stossel

John Stossel is one of the most recognized and articulate reporters today. However, he once considered giving up his broadcasting career because of his stuttering.

“Fear of stuttering can easily become worse than the stuttering itself,” observed Stossel. “The idea that I’m on television and making speeches is still a shock to me sometimes.”

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.