StoryCorps

Want to interview a loved one, a friend, a relative, or someone who inspires you?

How often do we get to ask a loved one, "What was the happiest moment of your life?", "What are you most proud of?" or "How do you want to be remembered?" Occasions rarely arise for shared reflection in everyday life, but StoryCorps - the most ambitious oral history project in American history - is recording these meaningful conversations and ensuring that our stories live on for generations to come.

StoryCorps airs live on Mondays on KCRW and KCRW.com.

At the MobileBooth recording studio, people participate in pairs – oftentimes friends or loved ones – and one interviews the other. A trained facilitator guides the participants through the interview process and handles the technical aspects of the recording. At the end of a 40-minute session, participants receive a CD of their interview. With their permission, a second copy is sent to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, where it becomes part of a high-quality, digital archive that will eventually grow into an oral history of America.

StoryCorps opened its first StoryBooth, a freestanding soundproof recording studio, in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal in October 2003 and in June 2005, opened its second StoryBooth at the site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. In addition to the StoryBooths, MobileBooths have been criss-crossing the country since 2005, collecting the memories of people from all fifty states and every imaginable walk of life, identity group, age, and state of mind – in all, more than 13,000 interviews have been recorded. Select interviews are broadcast nationally on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.

StoryCorps was created by award-winning radio documentary producer and MacArthur Genius Award recipient David Isay.

“Over the past three years, we’ve seen the profound effect Story Corps has had on the lives of those who have participated in the project, and we’ve seen the power that these stories have had on the millions who have heard them on NPR and on the Web,” says Isay. “We believe that listening is an act of love, between friends, families and generations."

Ruth Seymour, KCRW’s General Manager, says, “We’re delighted to bring StoryCorps back to Downtown Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, where it was such a success last year. And for the first time, StoryCorps will directly engage with LA’s diverse urban communities for a full month at MacArthur Park. KCRW listeners will share in the joyous, tragic and poignant moments that make up their lives, the human dramas that StoryCorps captures so well.”

“We’re proud to participate for a second year in bringing this historic storytelling project to Santa Monica,” says Kathleen Rawson, Executive Director of the Bayside District Corporation. “Downtown Santa Monica and Third Street Promenade draw as many as 100,000 visitors throughout the week from across town and across the country. We think Santa Monica is a terrific location to collect a varied set of American stories.”

KCRW will broadcast exclusive excerpts from selected interviews on Mondays at 4:44pm.

Support for StoryCorps in Santa Monica comes from Environment Furniture in Culver City and South Coast Plaza, and City National Bank, with 45 locations serving Southern California.