In this new Mindworks in Conversation, Brendan Panke reflects on his path from environmental biology to teaching and storytelling inside prisons. Drawing on his background in conservation and social justice, he now works with the Odyssey Beyond Bars program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he helps incarcerated students find voice and community through narrative medicine practices.
Brendan describes how storytelling can “trouble the waters” — unsettling assumptions, sparking reflection, and opening space for agency. For individuals who have often only had their stories told about them, narrative medicine creates the possibility of telling their own stories and being heard.
Through his teaching and workshops, Brendan shows how narrative medicine can transform lives, restore dignity, and build collective belonging in one of society’s most rigid environments.
