StoryCorps

StoryCorps records, preserves, and shares the stories of people from all walks of life, backgrounds and beliefs. Couples, individuals, friends, relatives... people telling stories about... people.

These simple stories from everyday folk reveal a poetry of words, a poignancy. It started in New York City, but now there are StoryBooths in San Francisco and Atlanta, as well as MobileBooths, which travel to various cities. StoryCorps has animated some of them and put them on a YouTube channel, and they are just so touching and often delightful. I spent like an hour watching so many of them.

Here's one of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome interviewing his mother. Such candor and tenderness between the two of them.

Two cousins describing their neighbor/Sunday School teacher with brilliantly colorful splashes of detail.

Haunting memories from WWII.

A really sweet mother-daughter one. I could just go on and on.

Makes me want to record some of my family's stories. We always tell them at birthdays, but we don't have any actually recorded.