Diaries We give people tape recorders and help them document their own lives in their own words
Melissa: 16 Years Later
As an 18 year old raised in the foster care system, Melissa took NPR listeners along when she gave birth to her son Issaiah. Sixteen years later she chronicles her life as a working single mother.
ListenSofia’s Choice: A Ukrainian Diary
Sofia’s mother Vita was living in Kharkiv, Ukraine when Russian forces invaded. The family is now faced with an difficult choice.
ListenPortraits Extraordinary stories from ordinary places
Living with Dying
On Valentine’s Day 2020, Peter Fodera’s heart broke. He nearly died. Peter sat down with his daughter who knows a thing or two about death.
ListenCentenarians in Lockdown
Winner of the 2020 Third Coast Festival Award! Joe Newman is 107 years old. He recorded himself and his fiancé, Anita Sampson on her 100th birthday.
ListenHistories Exploring the past to tell the History of Now.
The Drum Also Waltzes
At the age of 16, he played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He went on to make landmark recordings with …
ListenThe Rise and Fall of Black Swan Records
The story of the first major black-owned record label and the mystery behind the man who created it.
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