StoryCorps.Me Has Already Preserved Over 50,000+ Stories of Our Elders
Sometimes we think that we’re the smartest generation out there, but deep down we know how those that came before us knew much of what we yet need to learn about life, love, business and other aspects of life. StoryCorps.Me is a TED Prize and Knight Prototype funded project that wants to archive the wisdom of generations – with your help! StoryCorps.Me has already managed to collect and archive over 50,000 interviews, emphasizing the message of project founder Dave Isay: ‘Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear’
How StoryCorps.Me Works?
As I mentioned, we often forget the wisdom that exists all around us. The stories and experience of ordinary people that prove extraordinary when you just take a bit of time to listen to them. To help keep these unique stories around for not just ours, but future generations – you just need to use StoryCorps.Me’s iPhone and Android app.
First of all, you choose someone you want to interview. It can be a family friend, a teacher or even – Barrack Obama – who StoryCorps.Me has in its archive. Each person that I’ve met over the years has always had at least one or more unbelievably interesting stories that delve deep into the human psyche and show us how humanity has changed (or stayed the same) over the years.
Unlike history books, these are the stories of real history, told from the perspective of those who have lived through both sweet and sour moments. While some will be stories of changes in times, others will be personal stories that show how one person can live a plentiful life – so be sure to pick great questions in order to make the most of the person you’re interviewing. Try to discover that one, truly unbelievable bit of wisdom the person in front of you has an then go deep into the rich details that you know others will cherish. Most of all: take your time! While it may take over one – or several – hours (StoryCorps.Me recommends 40 minutes) to record these unique stories, they will be listened over and over again thanks to StoryCorps.Me’s Archive.
100,000 Elders Have Shared Their Stories With The World
Founded by American radio producer David Avram ‘Dave’ Isay, StoryCorps.Me has collected over 50,000 interviews with 100,000 participants, as an ongoing oral history project. Isay founded StoryCorps.Me in 2013. and since then the project has not only resulted in thousands of recording but also four StoryCorps.Me bestseller books: Listening Is an Act of Love (2007), Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps, and All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps (2012).
While all the conversations are preserved at the US Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center, it’s even more interesting how thousands have also been broadcast and heard on NPR’s Morning Edition.
There’s An App For ‘That’ – Preserving Wisdom!
In his 2015 TED talk, Isay gave the framework for the possibilities of the StoryCorps.Me project, envisioning a world in which people could build trust through listening to stories of people on the other side of the world, border – or conflict. He goes even further, talking about a world in which every elder is honored with an interview on their 70th birthday as a tradition that builds an archive not just of the world’s wisdom but also encourages us to strive to be better people in our own corner of the world.
To make all this as simple and possible, StoryCorps.Me has released an iPhone and Android app that will make ‘recording wisdom’ as conversations with people that much easier, letting you both record and upload them to the official project archive to be preserved for current and future generations.
To be a part of the StoryCorps.Me project, make sure to take part in the Great Thanksgiving Listen in which you (a high school student, maybe?) record a 40-minute interview with an elder over Thanksgiving so that, in one weekend, an entire generations’ experiences are preserved – at StoryCorps.Me!
