StoryCorps is my favorite podcast. I’ve been listening to the program for years, and I’m thrilled it is now available as a podcast. The StoryCorps people travel around the country recording the stories of everyday people. Since 2003, they have interviewed tens of thousands of people. The storytellers get a free CD to take home and share. The stories are also archived at the Library of Congress for future generations.
Every time I hear StoryCorps podcast I am so grateful for this oral history project. The stories are marvelous, and provide such an insight into other people’s lives. So what are the stories? They vary so much. I’ve heard stories about falling in love over pancakes, a last Thanksgiving with a dying sister, a guy who collected over 10,000 Chinese take-out menus, adoptions, buying a first car, family members with Alzheimer’s, what it was like to survive a plane crash, and a 63 year old man who learned to read. Other stories are about our shared history, but individual experiences – befriending a German POW, desegregation, facing prejudice, returning from Vietnam, the wives and daughters of September 11, and a little brother who died in Iraq. There are stories about parents, grandparents, children, patients, kind words from strangers, and Sunday school teachers.
The podcasts vary from around three to five minutes. Getting to hear real stories from real people in their own voices is such a treat. I love to hear the different accents and expressions from around the country. I’m so glad these stories are being recorded and shared. I would hate for these special stories to be lost and forgotten.
StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. I say they accomplish that, and more.
Also See:
Children’s Book Radio – Podcast Review
The Writer’s Almanac – Podcast Review
Family History is Very Grounding – Families.com Forum