Since its launch in 1973, the annual National Storytelling Festival, held every first week of October in Jonesborough, Tennessee, has been America’s foremost storytelling showcase, nurturing and nourishing the storytelling revival across the United States and around the world.

Since its first days, the Festival has featured a stunning array of world-class talent that share oral traditions from across history and all over the globe. Cultural representation has included performers from the African American, Jewish, Aboriginal, Egyptian, Asian, Celtic, Hispanic, Israeli, Liberian, French, African, Caribbean, Native American, and the deaf communities, among others.

Scientists and engineers at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University has developed an innovative wearable fabric that is flexible but can stiffen on demand through a combination of geometric design, 3D printing, and robotic control, the new technology, RoboFabric, can be adapted for applications such as medical devices, soft robotics, drone limbs, or control surfaces of advanced design craft for water and air.