Listen to any of the hundreds of stories we’ve recorded, drawn from conversations between more than 50,000 participants in all 50 states. Just press the “play” button next to each image; if the story moves you, pass it along using the share link. Tune in to our weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition, and:
- Subscribe to our podcast
- Sign up for Listen Closely to receive the latest stories by weekly email
- Buy our book and CD, Listening Is an Act of Love
- Listen to an audio intro to StoryCorps
- Donate to help record even more stories
“We were working for what they would let us have and that was not a lot.”
Johnny Bradley tells his daughter Kathy about growing up in Georgia as the son of a sharecropper.
Recorded in Savannah, GA.
“The windows did not have window guards...”
Marvin Goldstein (L), who fell out of a window of his family's apartment when he was 3 years old, tells his son, Eric (R), how he survived.
Recorded in New York, NY.
“When the school blew up, the ink bottles on the desk flew clear to the ceiling.”
97-year-old Willis Cressman, who survived the Bath School disaster of 1927, with Johanna Cushman-Balzer, the daughter of his younger sister, Wilma, who was also at the school that day. For images from the disaster, click here.
Recorded in DeWitt, MI.
“Everybody was hard hit.”
91-year-old Donald Huffman talks about surviving the Bath School disaster of 1927. For images from the disaster, click here.
Recorded in Cedar Springs, MI.
“She was a formidable presence.”
Nancy Wright tells her son, JD, about her mother, Frances Ericksen.
Recorded in Gainesville, FL.
“I just needed a little bit of help...”
Gus Hernandez (R) talks about how he met Siddiqi Hansoti (L), owner of the El Dorado Motel in Salinas, CA, after losing his house to foreclosure.
Recorded in Salinas, CA.
“We had to do a good deed every day...”
John Hope Franklin, the late scholar of African American history, tells his son, John, about being a Boy Scout during the 1920s.
Recorded in Tulsa, OK, in partnership with National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).
“We used to put out a hurricane section...”
Retired newspaperman Ed Pierce talks to his grandson, Scott, and his daughter, Rebecca, about working as managing editor of the Miami News.
Recorded in Gainesville, FL.
“He did all his typing with his two fingers...”
George Edwardson tells his cousin, Doreen Simmonds, about watching his grandfather translate the New Testament into Iñupiaq, their native language.
Recorded in Anchorage, AK.
“I was eighteen years old, and I had a fake ID...”
PJ Goetz tells her son, Sam, about how she met his father.
Recorded in Tampa, FL.