Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear
-
0:01 - 0:03Tonight, I'm going to try to make the case
-
0:03 - 0:08that inviting a loved one, a friend
or even a stranger -
0:08 - 0:10to record a meaningful interview with you
-
0:10 - 0:15just might turn out to be one of the most
important moments in that person's life, -
0:15 - 0:17and in yours.
-
0:17 - 0:21When I was 22 years old,
I was lucky enough to find my calling -
0:21 - 0:23when I fell into making radio stories.
-
0:23 - 0:26At almost the exact same time,
-
0:26 - 0:31I found out that my dad,
who I was very, very close to, was gay. -
0:31 - 0:33I was taken completely by surprise.
-
0:33 - 0:35We were a very tight-knit family,
-
0:35 - 0:38and I was crushed.
-
0:38 - 0:40At some point, in one
of our strained conversations, -
0:40 - 0:43my dad mentioned the Stonewall riots.
-
0:43 - 0:46He told me that one night in 1969,
-
0:46 - 0:49a group of young black
and Latino drag queens -
0:49 - 0:53fought back against the police
at a gay bar in Manhattan -
0:53 - 0:55called the Stonewall Inn,
-
0:55 - 0:58and how this sparked
the modern gay rights movement. -
0:58 - 1:01It was an amazing story,
and it piqued my interest. -
1:01 - 1:06So I decided to pick up my tape
recorder and find out more. -
1:06 - 1:10With the help of a young archivist
named Michael Shirker, -
1:10 - 1:12we tracked down all
of the people we could find -
1:12 - 1:16who had been at
the Stonewall Inn that night. -
1:16 - 1:18Recording these interviews,
-
1:18 - 1:20I saw how the microphone
gave me the license -
1:20 - 1:23to go places I otherwise
never would have gone -
1:23 - 1:27and talk to people I might not
otherwise ever have spoken to. -
1:27 - 1:29I had the privilege of getting to know
-
1:29 - 1:33some of the most amazing,
fierce and courageous human beings -
1:33 - 1:35I had ever met.
-
1:35 - 1:37It was the first time
the story of Stonewall -
1:37 - 1:39had been told to a national audience.
-
1:39 - 1:41I dedicated the program to my dad,
-
1:41 - 1:47it changed my relationship with him,
and it changed my life. -
1:48 - 1:52Over the next 15 years,
I made many more radio documentaries, -
1:52 - 1:56working to shine a light on people
who are rarely heard from in the media. -
1:56 - 1:57Over and over again,
-
1:57 - 2:00I'd see how this simple act
of being interviewed -
2:00 - 2:02could mean so much to people,
-
2:02 - 2:06particularly those who had been told
that their stories didn't matter. -
2:06 - 2:08I could literally see
people's back straighten -
2:08 - 2:11as they started to speak
into the microphone. -
2:11 - 2:15In 1998, I made a documentary
about the last flophouse hotels -
2:15 - 2:18on the Bowery in Manhattan.
-
2:18 - 2:20Guys stayed up in these
cheap hotels for decades. -
2:20 - 2:23They lived in cubicles
the size of prison cells -
2:23 - 2:24covered with chicken wire
-
2:24 - 2:27so you couldn't jump
from one room into the next. -
2:27 - 2:31Later, I wrote a book on the men
with the photographer Harvey Wang. -
2:31 - 2:35I remember walking into a flophouse
with an early version of the book -
2:35 - 2:38and showing one of the guys his page.
-
2:38 - 2:40He stood there staring at it in silence,
-
2:40 - 2:43then he grabbed the book out of my hand
-
2:43 - 2:46and started running down
the long, narrow hallway -
2:46 - 2:48holding it over his head
-
2:48 - 2:52shouting, "I exist! I exist."
-
2:52 - 2:57(Applause)
-
2:57 - 3:01In many ways, "I exist" became
the clarion call for StoryCorps, -
3:01 - 3:04this crazy idea that I had
a dozen years ago. -
3:04 - 3:06The thought was to take
documentary work -
3:06 - 3:08and turn it on its head.
-
3:08 - 3:11Traditionally, broadcast documentary
-
3:11 - 3:15has been about recording interviews
to create a work of art or entertainment -
3:15 - 3:19or education that is seen or heard
by a whole lot of people, -
3:19 - 3:20but I wanted to try something
-
3:20 - 3:23where the interview itself
was the purpose of this work, -
3:23 - 3:26and see if we could give many,
many, many people the chance -
3:26 - 3:29to be listened to in this way.
-
3:29 - 3:32So in Grand Central Terminal 11 years ago,
-
3:32 - 3:36we built a booth where anyone
can come to honor someone else -
3:36 - 3:40by interviewing them about their life.
-
3:40 - 3:43You come to this booth and you're met
by a facilitator who brings you inside. -
3:43 - 3:46You sit across from, say, your grandfather
-
3:46 - 3:49for close to an hour
and you listen and you talk. -
3:49 - 3:53Many people think of it as,
if this was to be our last conversation, -
3:53 - 3:56what would I want to ask of
and say to this person -
3:56 - 3:58who means so much to me?
-
3:58 - 4:01At the end of the session,
you walk away with a copy of the interview -
4:01 - 4:04and another copy goes
to the American Folklife Center -
4:04 - 4:06at the Library of Congress
-
4:06 - 4:10so that your great-great-great-grandkids
can someday get to know your grandfather -
4:10 - 4:12through his voice and story.
-
4:14 - 4:17So we open this booth
in one of the busiest places in the world -
4:17 - 4:20and invite people to have this
incredibly intimate conversation -
4:20 - 4:21with another human being.
-
4:21 - 4:26I had no idea if it would work,
but from the very beginning, it did. -
4:26 - 4:29People treated the experience
with incredible respect, -
4:29 - 4:32and amazing conversations happened inside.
-
4:32 - 4:35I want to play just one animated excerpt
-
4:35 - 4:39from an interview recorded
at that original Grand Central Booth. -
4:39 - 4:43This is 12-year-old Joshua Littman
interviewing his mother, Sarah. -
4:43 - 4:45Josh has Asperger's syndrome.
-
4:45 - 4:49As you may know, kids with Asperger's
are incredibly smart -
4:49 - 4:51but have a tough time socially.
-
4:51 - 4:52They usually have obsessions.
-
4:52 - 4:55In Josh's case, it's with animals,
-
4:55 - 4:57so this is Josh talking with his mom Sarah
-
4:57 - 5:00at Grand Central nine years ago.
-
5:00 - 5:03(Video) Josh Littman:
From a scale of one to 10, -
5:03 - 5:06do you think your life would be
different without animals? -
5:06 - 5:09Sarah Littman: I think it would be
an eight without animals, -
5:09 - 5:11because they add so much pleasure to life.
-
5:11 - 5:14JL: How else do you think your life
would be different without them? -
5:14 - 5:17SL: I could do without things
like cockroaches and snakes. -
5:17 - 5:20JL: Well, I'm okay with snakes
as long as they're not venomous -
5:20 - 5:21or constrict you or anything.
-
5:21 - 5:23SL: Yeah, I'm not a big snake person --
-
5:23 - 5:25JL: But cockroach is just
the insect we love to hate. -
5:25 - 5:27SL: Yeah, it really is.
-
5:27 - 5:30JL: Have you ever thought
you couldn't cope with having a child? -
5:30 - 5:33SL: I remember when you were a baby,
you had really bad colic, -
5:33 - 5:35so you would just cry and cry.
-
5:35 - 5:38JL: What's colic?
SL: It's when you get this stomach ache -
5:38 - 5:41and all you do is scream
for, like, four hours. -
5:41 - 5:43JL: Even louder than Amy does?
-
5:43 - 5:46SL: You were pretty loud,
but Amy's was more high-pitched. -
5:46 - 5:49JL: I think it feels like everyone
seems to like Amy more, -
5:49 - 5:52like she's the perfect little angel.
-
5:52 - 5:56SL: Well, I can understand
why you think that people like Amy more, -
5:56 - 5:58and I'm not saying it's because
of your Asperger's syndrome, -
5:58 - 6:01but being friendly comes easily to Amy,
-
6:01 - 6:04whereas I think for you
it's more difficult, -
6:04 - 6:08but the people who take the time
to get to know you love you so much. -
6:08 - 6:10JL: Like Ben or Eric or Carlos?
SL: Yeah -- -
6:10 - 6:15JL: Like I have better quality friends
but less quantity? (Laughter) -
6:15 - 6:17SL: I wouldn't judge
the quality, but I think -- -
6:17 - 6:21JL: I mean, first it was like, Amy
loved Claudia, then she hated Claudia, -
6:21 - 6:23she loved Claudia, then she hated Claudia.
-
6:23 - 6:25SL: Part of that's a girl thing, honey.
-
6:25 - 6:28The important thing for you
is that you have a few very good friends, -
6:28 - 6:30and really that's what you need in life.
-
6:30 - 6:34JL: Did I turn out to be the son
you wanted when I was born? -
6:34 - 6:37Did I meet your expectations?
-
6:37 - 6:40SL: You've exceeded
my expectations, sweetie, -
6:40 - 6:45because, sure, you have these fantasies
of what your child's going to be like, -
6:45 - 6:49but you have made me grow
so much as a parent, because you think -- -
6:49 - 6:51JL: Well, I was the one
who made you a parent. -
6:51 - 6:54SL: You were the one who made me a parent.
That's a good point. (Laughter) -
6:54 - 6:56But also because you think differently
-
6:56 - 6:59from what they tell you
in the parenting books, -
6:59 - 7:03I really had to learn to think
outside of the box with you, -
7:03 - 7:07and it's made me much more creative
as a parent and as a person, -
7:07 - 7:09and I'll always thank you for that.
-
7:09 - 7:11JL: And that helped when Amy was born?
-
7:11 - 7:16SL: And that helped when Amy was born,
but you are so incredibly special to me -
7:16 - 7:19and I'm so lucky to have you as my son.
-
7:19 - 7:26(Applause)
-
7:27 - 7:29David Isay: After this story
ran on public radio, -
7:29 - 7:31Josh received hundreds of letters
-
7:31 - 7:33telling him what an amazing kid he was.
-
7:33 - 7:36His mom, Sarah, bound them
together in a book, -
7:36 - 7:40and when Josh got picked on at school,
they would read the letters together. -
7:40 - 7:42I just want to acknowledge
that two of my heroes -
7:42 - 7:43are here with us tonight.
-
7:43 - 7:48Sarah Littman and her son Josh,
who is now an honors student in college. -
7:48 - 7:52(Applause)
-
7:52 - 7:56You know, a lot of people talk about
crying when they hear StoryCorps stories, -
7:56 - 7:58and it's not because they're sad.
-
7:58 - 7:59Most of them aren't.
-
7:59 - 8:02I think it's because you're hearing
something authentic and pure -
8:02 - 8:04at this moment,
when sometimes it's hard to tell -
8:04 - 8:07what's real and what's an advertisement.
-
8:07 - 8:10It's kind of the anti-reality TV.
-
8:10 - 8:12Nobody comes to StoryCorps to get rich.
-
8:12 - 8:14Nobody comes to get famous.
-
8:14 - 8:17It's simply an act of generosity and love.
-
8:17 - 8:19So many of these are just everyday people
-
8:19 - 8:24talking about lives lived with kindness,
courage, decency and dignity, -
8:24 - 8:26and when you hear that kind of story,
-
8:26 - 8:31it can sometimes feel
like you're walking on holy ground. -
8:31 - 8:33So this experiment
in Grand Central worked, -
8:33 - 8:36and we expanded across the country.
-
8:36 - 8:39Today, more than 100,000 people
in all 50 states -
8:39 - 8:42in thousands of cities
and towns across America -
8:42 - 8:44have recorded StoryCorps interviews.
-
8:44 - 8:49It's now the largest single collection
of human voices ever gathered. -
8:49 - 8:55(Applause)
-
8:55 - 8:57We've hired and trained
hundreds of facilitators -
8:57 - 9:00to help guide people
through the experience. -
9:00 - 9:02Most serve a year or two with StoryCorps
-
9:02 - 9:06traveling the country,
gathering the wisdom of humanity. -
9:06 - 9:08They call it bearing witness,
-
9:08 - 9:09and if you ask them,
-
9:09 - 9:13all of the facilitators will tell you
that the most important thing -
9:13 - 9:16they've learned from being present
during these interviews -
9:16 - 9:19is that people are basically good.
-
9:19 - 9:22And I think for the first years
of StoryCorps, you could argue -
9:22 - 9:25that there was some kind
of a selection bias happening, -
9:25 - 9:28but after tens of thousands of interviews
with every kind of person -
9:28 - 9:29in every part of the country --
-
9:29 - 9:33rich, poor, five years old to 105,
-
9:33 - 9:3680 different languages,
across the political spectrum -- -
9:37 - 9:41you have to think that maybe these guys
are actually onto something. -
9:41 - 9:45I've also learned so much
from these interviews. -
9:45 - 9:48I've learned about the poetry
and the wisdom and the grace -
9:48 - 9:51that can be found in the words
of people all around us -
9:51 - 9:54when we simply take the time to listen,
-
9:54 - 9:57like this interview
-
9:57 - 10:00between a betting clerk in Brooklyn
named Danny Perasa -
10:00 - 10:05who brought his wife Annie to StoryCorps
to talk about his love for her. -
10:07 - 10:09(Audio) Danny Perasa: You see,
the thing of it is, -
10:09 - 10:11I always feel guilty when I say
"I love you" to you. -
10:11 - 10:14And I say it so often.
I say it to remind you -
10:14 - 10:17that as dumpy as I am,
it's coming from me. -
10:17 - 10:21It's like hearing a beautiful song
from a busted old radio, -
10:21 - 10:23and it's nice of you to keep
the radio around the house. -
10:23 - 10:26Annie Perasa: If I don't have a note
on the kitchen table, -
10:26 - 10:28I think there's something wrong.
-
10:28 - 10:30You write a love letter
to me every morning. -
10:30 - 10:32DP: Well, the only thing
that could possibly be wrong -
10:32 - 10:34is I couldn't find a silly pen.
-
10:34 - 10:35AP: To my princess:
-
10:35 - 10:37The weather outside today
is extremely rainy. -
10:37 - 10:39I'll call you at 11:20 in the morning.
-
10:39 - 10:41DP: It's a romantic weather report.
-
10:41 - 10:44AP: And I love you.
I love you. I love you. -
10:44 - 10:47DP: When a guy is happily married,
no matter what happens at work, -
10:47 - 10:49no matter what happens
in the rest of the day, -
10:49 - 10:51there's a shelter when you get home,
-
10:51 - 10:53there's a knowledge knowing
that you can hug somebody -
10:53 - 10:57without them throwing you downstairs
and saying, "Get your hands off me." -
10:57 - 10:59Being married is like having
a color television set. -
10:59 - 11:01You never want to go back
to black and white. -
11:01 - 11:05(Laughter)
-
11:05 - 11:07DI: Danny was about five feet tall
-
11:07 - 11:10with crossed eyes
and one single snaggletooth, -
11:10 - 11:14but Danny Perasa had
more romance in his little pinky -
11:14 - 11:17than all of Hollywood's
leading men put together. -
11:17 - 11:19What else have I learned?
-
11:19 - 11:22I've learned about the almost
unimaginable capacity -
11:22 - 11:24for the human spirit to forgive.
-
11:24 - 11:28I've learned about resilience
and I've learned about strength. -
11:28 - 11:31Like an interview with Oshea Israel
and Mary Johnson. -
11:31 - 11:36When Oshea was a teenager,
he murdered Mary's only son, -
11:36 - 11:38Laramiun Byrd, in a gang fight.
-
11:38 - 11:41A dozen years later, Mary went to prison
-
11:41 - 11:44to meet Oshea and find out
who this person was -
11:44 - 11:46who had taken her son's life.
-
11:46 - 11:49Slowly and remarkably,
they became friends, -
11:49 - 11:52and when he was finally released
from the penitentiary, -
11:52 - 11:55Oshea actually moved in next door to Mary.
-
11:55 - 11:59This is just a short excerpt
of a conversation they had -
11:59 - 12:01soon after Oshea was freed.
-
12:02 - 12:05(Video) Mary Johnson: My natural son
is no longer here. -
12:05 - 12:09I didn't see him graduate,
and now you're going to college. -
12:09 - 12:12I'll have the opportunity
to see you graduate. -
12:12 - 12:15I didn't see him get married.
-
12:15 - 12:19Hopefully one day, I'll be able
to experience that with you. -
12:19 - 12:21Oshea Israel: Just to hear you
say those things and to be -
12:21 - 12:25in my life in the manner
in which you are is my motivation. -
12:25 - 12:30It motivates me to make sure
that I stay on the right path. -
12:30 - 12:32You still believe in me,
-
12:32 - 12:35and the fact that you can do it
despite how much pain I caused you, -
12:35 - 12:37it's amazing.
-
12:37 - 12:43MJ: I know it's not an easy thing
to be able to share our story together, -
12:43 - 12:46even with us sitting here
looking at each other right now. -
12:46 - 12:52I know it's not an easy thing,
so I admire that you can do this. -
12:52 - 12:57OI: I love you, lady.
MJ: I love you too, son. -
13:00 - 13:06(Applause)
-
13:06 - 13:12DI: And I've been reminded countless times
of the courage and goodness of people, -
13:12 - 13:17and how the arc of history
truly does bend towards justice. -
13:17 - 13:21Like the story of Alexis Martinez,
who was born Arthur Martinez -
13:21 - 13:24in the Harold Ickes projects in Chicago.
-
13:24 - 13:27In the interview, she talks
with her daughter Lesley -
13:27 - 13:29about joining a gang as a young man,
-
13:29 - 13:34and later in life transitioning
into the woman she was always meant to be. -
13:34 - 13:36This is Alexis and her daughter Lesley.
-
13:36 - 13:39(Audio) Alexis Martinez: One of the most
difficult things for me was -
13:39 - 13:42I was always afraid that
I wouldn't be allowed -
13:42 - 13:45to be in my granddaughters' lives,
-
13:45 - 13:48and you blew that completely
out of the water, -
13:48 - 13:49you and your husband.
-
13:49 - 13:52One of the fruits of that is,
in my relationship with my granddaughters, -
13:52 - 13:56they fight with each other sometimes
over whether I'm he or she. -
13:56 - 13:58Lesley Martinez: But they're free
to talk about it. -
13:58 - 14:01AM: They're free to talk about it,
but that, to me, is a miracle. -
14:01 - 14:05LM: You don't have to apologize.
You don't have to tiptoe. -
14:05 - 14:09We're not going to cut you off,
and that's something I've always -
14:09 - 14:12wanted to just know, that you're loved.
-
14:12 - 14:15AM: You know, I live this every day now.
-
14:15 - 14:20I walk down the streets as a woman,
and I really am at peace with who I am. -
14:20 - 14:22I mean, I wish I had a softer voice maybe,
-
14:22 - 14:28but now I walk in love
and I try to live that way every day. -
14:32 - 14:35DI: Now I walk in love.
-
14:35 - 14:38I'm going to tell you
a secret about StoryCorps. -
14:38 - 14:41It takes some courage
to have these conversations. -
14:41 - 14:44StoryCorps speaks to our mortality.
-
14:44 - 14:48Participants know this recording
will be heard long after they're gone. -
14:48 - 14:50There's a hospice doctor named Ira Byock
-
14:50 - 14:53who has worked closely with us
on recording interviews -
14:53 - 14:54with people who are dying.
-
14:54 - 14:57He wrote a book called
"The Four Things That Matter Most" -
14:57 - 15:01about the four things you want to say
to the most important people in your life -
15:01 - 15:04before they or you die:
-
15:04 - 15:06thank you, I love you,
-
15:06 - 15:10forgive me, I forgive you.
-
15:10 - 15:13They're just about the most powerful words
we can say to one another, -
15:13 - 15:17and often that's what happens
in a StoryCorps booth. -
15:17 - 15:20It's a chance to have a sense of closure
with someone you care about -- -
15:20 - 15:23no regrets, nothing left unsaid.
-
15:23 - 15:26And it's hard and it takes courage,
-
15:26 - 15:30but that's why we're alive, right?
-
15:31 - 15:34So, the TED Prize.
-
15:34 - 15:37When I first heard from TED
and Chris a few months ago -
15:37 - 15:41about the possibility of the Prize,
I was completely floored. -
15:41 - 15:44They asked me to come up
with a very brief wish for humanity, -
15:44 - 15:46no more than 50 words.
-
15:46 - 15:49So I thought about it,
I wrote my 50 words, -
15:49 - 15:53and a few weeks later,
Chris called and said, "Go for it." -
15:53 - 15:56So here is my wish:
-
15:56 - 15:59that you will help us
-
15:59 - 16:02take everything we've learned
through StoryCorps -
16:02 - 16:05and bring it to the world
-
16:05 - 16:09so that anyone anywhere
can easily record a meaningful interview -
16:09 - 16:14with another human being
which will then be archived for history. -
16:14 - 16:18How are we going to do that? With this.
-
16:18 - 16:22We're fast moving into a future
where everyone in the world -
16:22 - 16:24will have access to one of these,
-
16:24 - 16:28and it has powers I never
could have imagined 11 years ago -
16:28 - 16:30when I started StoryCorps.
-
16:30 - 16:31It has a microphone,
-
16:31 - 16:34it can tell you how to do things,
-
16:34 - 16:36and it can send audio files.
-
16:36 - 16:39Those are the key ingredients.
-
16:39 - 16:42So the first part of the wish
is already underway. -
16:42 - 16:43Over the past couple of months,
-
16:43 - 16:46the team at StoryCorps
has been working furiously -
16:46 - 16:50to create an app that will bring
StoryCorps out of our booths -
16:50 - 16:55so that it can be experienced
by anyone, anywhere, anytime. -
16:55 - 16:59Remember, StoryCorps has always
been two people and a facilitator -
16:59 - 17:03helping them record their conversation,
which is preserved forever, -
17:03 - 17:05but at this very moment,
-
17:05 - 17:09we're releasing a public beta version
of the StoryCorps app. -
17:09 - 17:12The app is a digital facilitator
that walks you through -
17:12 - 17:14the StoryCorps interview process,
-
17:14 - 17:16helps you pick questions,
-
17:16 - 17:18and gives you all the tips you need
-
17:18 - 17:21to record a meaningful
StoryCorps interview, -
17:21 - 17:26and then with one tap upload it
to our archive at the Library of Congress. -
17:26 - 17:29That's the easy part, the technology.
-
17:29 - 17:32The real challenge is up to you:
-
17:32 - 17:35to take this tool and figure out
how we can use it -
17:35 - 17:38all across America and around the world,
-
17:38 - 17:41so that instead of recording
thousands of StoryCorps interviews a year, -
17:41 - 17:44we could potentially record
tens of thousands -
17:44 - 17:46or hundreds of thousands
-
17:46 - 17:48or maybe even more.
-
17:49 - 17:53Imagine, for example,
a national homework assignment -
17:53 - 17:57where every high school student
studying U.S. history across the country -
17:57 - 18:00records an interview
with an elder over Thanksgiving, -
18:00 - 18:03so that in one single weekend
-
18:03 - 18:08an entire generation of American lives
and experiences are captured. -
18:08 - 18:14(Applause)
-
18:16 - 18:19Or imagine mothers on opposite
sides of a conflict somewhere in the world -
18:19 - 18:23sitting down not to talk
about that conflict -
18:23 - 18:25but to find out who they are as people,
-
18:25 - 18:29and in doing so,
begin to build bonds of trust; -
18:29 - 18:32or that someday it becomes
a tradition all over the world -
18:32 - 18:35that people are honored
with a StoryCorps interview -
18:35 - 18:37on their 75th birthday;
-
18:37 - 18:39or that people in your community
-
18:39 - 18:44go into retirement homes or hospitals
or homeless shelters or even prisons -
18:44 - 18:48armed with this app to honor the people
least heard in our society -
18:48 - 18:51and ask them who they are,
what they've learned in life, -
18:51 - 18:53and how they want to be remembered.
-
18:53 - 18:59(Applause)
-
19:01 - 19:04Ten years ago, I recorded
a StoryCorps interview with my dad -
19:04 - 19:09who was a psychiatrist,
and became a well-known gay activist. -
19:09 - 19:12This is the picture
of us at that interview. -
19:12 - 19:16I never thought about that recording
until a couple of years ago, -
19:16 - 19:19when my dad, who seemed
to be in perfect health -
19:19 - 19:21and was still seeing patients
40 hours a week, -
19:21 - 19:24was diagnosed with cancer.
-
19:24 - 19:27He passed away very suddenly
a few days later. -
19:27 - 19:30It was June 28, 2012,
-
19:30 - 19:34the anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
-
19:34 - 19:37I listened to that interview
for the first time at three in the morning -
19:37 - 19:39on the day that he died.
-
19:39 - 19:41I have a couple of young kids at home,
-
19:41 - 19:45and I knew that the only way
they were going to get to know this person -
19:45 - 19:49who was such a towering figure in my life
would be through that session. -
19:49 - 19:53I thought I couldn't believe in StoryCorps
any more deeply than I did, -
19:53 - 19:55but it was at that moment
-
19:55 - 20:00that I fully and viscerally grasped
the importance of making these recordings. -
20:00 - 20:02Every day, people come up to me
-
20:02 - 20:06and say, "I wish I had interviewed
my father or my grandmother or my brother, -
20:06 - 20:08but I waited too long."
-
20:08 - 20:10Now, no one has to wait anymore.
-
20:10 - 20:12At this moment,
-
20:12 - 20:16when so much of how we communicate
is fleeting and inconsequential, -
20:16 - 20:18join us in creating this digital archive
-
20:18 - 20:23of conversations that are
enduring and important. -
20:23 - 20:25Help us create this gift to our children,
-
20:25 - 20:29this testament to who
we are as human beings. -
20:29 - 20:33I hope you'll help us make
this wish come true. -
20:33 - 20:38Interview a family member, a friend
or even a stranger. -
20:38 - 20:44Together, we can create an archive
of the wisdom of humanity, -
20:44 - 20:46and maybe in doing so,
-
20:46 - 20:50we'll learn to listen a little more
and shout a little less. -
20:50 - 20:54Maybe these conversations will remind us
what's really important. -
20:54 - 20:57And maybe, just maybe,
-
20:57 - 21:00it will help us recognize
that simple truth -
21:00 - 21:04that every life, every single life,
-
21:04 - 21:07matters equally and infinitely.
-
21:07 - 21:09Thank you very much.
-
21:09 - 21:11(Applause)
-
21:11 - 21:15Thank you. Thank you.
-
21:15 - 21:17(Applause)
-
21:17 - 21:20Thank you.
-
21:20 - 21:25(Applause)
- Title:
- Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear
- Speaker:
- Dave Isay
- Description:
-
Dave Isay opened the first StoryCorps booth in New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003 with the intention of creating a quiet place where a person could honor someone who mattered to them by listening to their story. Since then, StoryCorps has evolved into the single largest collection of human voices ever recorded. His TED Prize wish: to grow this digital archive of the collective wisdom of humanity. Hear his vision to take StoryCorps global — and how you can be a part of it by interviewing someone with the StoryCorps app.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 21:38
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear |