0:00-25:26Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.Eager to flee a suffocating home life, my friend and I adventured abroad. When we were offered jobs as deckhands, we jumped at the chance, naïve to the risks of the open sea.May 16, 2026We like to make a pretty big deal out of our memoir prizes and the winning essays, so you might have noticed that not only have we recently published the grand prize–winning essay of our 2025 Memoir Prize, “My Absolutely Chaotic Adventures at Sea During the Summer of 1984,” by Andrew Printer, but we also hosted a party and live reading to celebrate this monumental win. (Paying subscribers can check out the video of the live event here.) We’re here now to keep the party going. We love nothing more than hearing writers read their work in their own voices, so in the latest episode of our podcast Naratively Out Loud, we have Andrew reading his winning essay himself. Listen while you head out for your morning walk, get ready for brunch or drive to meet a friend for coffee. Enjoy!