StoryCorps founder Dave Isay has selected some of the most remarkable stories from the vast collection of interviews and arranges them thematically into a moving portrait of American life. Here are a few select stories featured in Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of Life from the StoryCorps Project. You can listen to them below by clicking the “play” button next to each image.
“She said, ‘I have to tell you some things…’”
William Jacobs tells his grandson, Seth, about an unexpected visit from his fiancee’s mother.
Recorded in New York, NY
“I said, ‘I love you.’ And he said, ‘Okay.’ I wasn’t satisfied with that answer.”
Hee-Sook Lee to her daughter, Joyce.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA
“Let’s talk about Miss Devine.”
James Ransom and Cherie Johnson remember their neighbor and Sunday school teacher.
Recorded in Sarasota, FL
“We were dirty, sweaty, sore muscles, crying. We must have been a sight to see.”
Monica Mayer to her friend Spencer Wilkinson, Jr.
Recorded in Fort Berthold, ND
“The mill was always in my life…”
Ken Kobus tells his friend Ron Barraf about his father, John Kobus, who worked at a steel mill for nearly 40 years.
Recorded in Pittsburgh, PA
“He said, ‘When the border patrol changes shifts, you’re going to run.’”
Blanca Alvarez tells her daughter, Connie, about illegally crossing the border from Mexico to the United States.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA
“The happiest and the worst day of my life were the same day.”
Shasti O’Leary-Soudant, who survived Hodgkin’s disease, talks with her husband, Jethro, about her illness.
Recorded in New York, NY
“I still see him in my dreams.”
World War II veteran Joseph Robertson tells his son-in-law, John Fish, Jr., about a soldier he killed in combat.
Recorded in Columbus, OH
“What was the saddest moment of your life?”
Ezra Awumey to his grandfather, Sam Harmon.
Recorded in Washington, D.C.
