Founder’s Welcome
I founded the Greats Story Lab™ because I believe in the power of stories to shape and form who we are and how we look at the world. I also believe there’s no more powerful antidote to our age of distraction.
Om a world that so often tells us that the humanities, sciences, and technology live in separate spheres, it may seem strange or even innovative to bring them together. But here at the lab, we believe that this combination allows us to harness the power of storytelling to reclaim attention and form character.
At the end of the day, everything we do is about asking the big questions about what it means to be human.
“A civilization that forgets how to tell its story crumbles and dies.”
In 2024, as the lab was little more than an idea, Courtney Becker joined me as Co-Founder and Imagineer to explore how storytelling and technology could provide new avenues for bringing the wisdom of the past to life for modern audiences. That year, we launched Dante Minutes, our first vertical shorts series on YouTube, and began work on The Boethius Project.
Fast forward to 2026, and we’ve just completed our second series, Homer Minutes, and developed a free online course on Homer’s Odyssey in collaboration with Caleb Simone.
With over 22 Million views and visitors from 101 countries, The Greats Story Lab™ has come a long way since we started as a project of StoryRhetoric, LLC, and recorded our first prototypes in my bedroom closet.
We hope you’ll enjoy the journey. As Walt Disney used to say, “We’re just getting started.”
SJ Murray, July 2026.
Contact SJ
Your message will go straight to my personal email. To contact the Greats Story Lab™, use this page.
Beyond the Lab, you can find me at Baylor University, where I’m Professor of Great Texts & Creative Writing, and also teach in Film & Digital Media.