We have great news, High Plains! StoryCorps, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of people from all backgrounds and beliefs, will utilize a new virtual platform to record remote interviews across the High Plains Public Radio listener region from October 28th through November 25th as part of its Mobile Tour.
Now in its 15th anniversary year, the StoryCorps Mobile Tour has facilitated thousands of meaningful conversations between people who know and care about one another. To date, these face-to-face conversations have taken place in its MobileBooth: an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio. For the first time, to respond to the need for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic — while working towards its mission to help people feel more connected and less alone — StoryCorps is piloting a Virtual Mobile Tour and offering the opportunity for High Plains residents to participate online.
Reservations to record will be available at 10am CT on October 14th, 2020 and can be made by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406 or visiting storycorps.org.
In a StoryCorps interview, two people are able to record a meaningful conversation with one another about who they are, what they’ve learned in life, and how they want to be remembered. A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides them through the interview process. After each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a digital copy of their interview. With participant permission, a second copy is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear.
During StoryCorps’ remote visit, the interview process and experience will be maintained using remote video conference technology, which allows both participants to see and hear one another during their conversation, and to be joined by a facilitator remotely.
Founded in 2003 by award-winning documentary producer and MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay, StoryCorps has traveled to every corner of the country to record interviews in the organization’s effort to create a world where we listen closely to each other and recognize the beauty, grace and poetry in the lives and stories we find all around us.
“StoryCorps tells an authentic American story—that we are a people defined by small acts of courage, kindness and heroism. Each interview reminds people that their lives matter and will not be forgotten,” said Isay. “During this pandemic, the value of preserving these stories, and of strengthening connections between people who may feel physically isolated, is more important than ever.”
Across five states of the High Plains, StoryCorps will partner with NPR affiliate High Plains Public Radio (HPPR), which will air a selection of the local interviews and create special programs around the project. StoryCorps may also share excerpts of these stories with the world through the project’s popular weekly NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books.
StoryCorps is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
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About StoryCorps
Founded in 2003 by Dave Isay, StoryCorps has given over half a million Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs, in towns and cities in all 50 states, the chance to record interviews about their lives. The organization preserves the recordings in its archive at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ weekly podcast, NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, wisdom and values; engender empathy and connection; and remind us how much more we have in common than divides us. For more information visit storycorps.org, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube at @storycorps.
About High Plains Public Radio
High Plains Public Radio was founded in 1977 for the express purpose of enriching the educational, cultural, and community life of the High Plains region. It is also dedicated to developing the self-identity of the High Plains so the region might better appreciate its common heritage and build a sustainable future. It pursues this mission through public radio broadcasting, a medium freely accessible to nearly everyone, as well as digital web and mobile services. HPPR began broadcasting in 1980 with a single station, KANZ-FM, serving southwest Kansas and studios in the former Pierceville, KS grade school. Since then, HPPR has incrementally expanded its service area through local initiatives and capital campaigns. HPPR currently operates 19 FM stations and translators serving 78 counties across a five-state region of the High Plains.
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org, follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn and subscribe for other updates.
