1 00:00:00,996 --> 00:00:02,993 Tonight, I'm going to try to make the case 2 00:00:02,993 --> 00:00:05,849 that inviting a loved one, a friend, 3 00:00:05,849 --> 00:00:07,613 or even a stranger 4 00:00:07,613 --> 00:00:10,260 to record a meaningful interview with you 5 00:00:10,260 --> 00:00:12,884 just might turn out be one of the most important moments 6 00:00:12,884 --> 00:00:15,136 in that person's life, 7 00:00:15,136 --> 00:00:17,481 and in yours. 8 00:00:17,481 --> 00:00:20,825 When I was 22 years old, I was lucky enough to find my calling 9 00:00:20,825 --> 00:00:23,565 when I fell into making radio stories. 10 00:00:23,565 --> 00:00:25,719 At almost the exact same time, 11 00:00:25,719 --> 00:00:30,688 I found out that my dad, who I was very, very close to, was gay. 12 00:00:30,688 --> 00:00:32,990 I was taken completely by surprise. 13 00:00:32,990 --> 00:00:35,498 We were a very tight-knit family, 14 00:00:35,498 --> 00:00:37,889 and I was crushed. 15 00:00:37,889 --> 00:00:40,234 At some point, in one of our strained conversations, 16 00:00:40,234 --> 00:00:42,904 my dad mentioned the Stonewall riots. 17 00:00:42,904 --> 00:00:46,178 He told me that one night in 1969, 18 00:00:46,178 --> 00:00:48,883 a group of young black and Latino drag queens 19 00:00:48,883 --> 00:00:52,529 fought back against the police at a gay bar in Manhattan 20 00:00:52,529 --> 00:00:54,549 called the Stonewall Inn, 21 00:00:54,549 --> 00:00:58,078 and how this sparked the modern gay rights movement. 22 00:00:58,078 --> 00:00:59,657 It was an amazing story, 23 00:00:59,657 --> 00:01:01,816 and it piqued my interest. 24 00:01:01,816 --> 00:01:04,068 So I decided to pick up my tape recorder 25 00:01:04,068 --> 00:01:06,205 and find out more. 26 00:01:06,205 --> 00:01:09,804 With the help of a young archivist named Michael Shirker, 27 00:01:09,804 --> 00:01:12,381 we tracked down all of the people we could find 28 00:01:12,381 --> 00:01:15,817 who had been at the Stonewall Inn that night. 29 00:01:15,817 --> 00:01:17,814 Recording these interviews, 30 00:01:17,814 --> 00:01:20,043 I saw how the microphone gave me the license 31 00:01:20,043 --> 00:01:22,779 to go places I otherwise never would have gone 32 00:01:22,779 --> 00:01:26,912 and talk to people I might not otherwise ever have spoken to. 33 00:01:26,912 --> 00:01:28,654 I had the privilege of getting to know 34 00:01:28,654 --> 00:01:32,648 some of the most amazing, fierce, and courage human beings 35 00:01:32,648 --> 00:01:34,830 I had ever met. 36 00:01:34,830 --> 00:01:36,664 It was the first time the story of Stonewall 37 00:01:36,664 --> 00:01:38,986 had been told to a national audience. 38 00:01:38,986 --> 00:01:41,239 I dedicated the program to my dad, 39 00:01:41,239 --> 00:01:43,955 it changed my relationship with him, 40 00:01:43,955 --> 00:01:48,181 and it changed my life. 41 00:01:48,181 --> 00:01:51,617 Over the next 15 years, I made many more radio documentaries, 42 00:01:51,617 --> 00:01:55,681 working to shine a light on people who are rarely heard from in the media. 43 00:01:55,681 --> 00:01:57,260 Over and over again, 44 00:01:57,260 --> 00:01:59,860 I'd see how this simple act of being interviewed 45 00:01:59,860 --> 00:02:02,020 could mean so much to people, 46 00:02:02,020 --> 00:02:05,711 particularly those who had been told that their stories didn't matter. 47 00:02:05,711 --> 00:02:08,080 I could literally see peoples' back straighten 48 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,866 as they started to speak into the microphone. 49 00:02:10,866 --> 00:02:15,371 In 1998, I made a documentary about the last flophouse hotels 50 00:02:15,371 --> 00:02:17,762 on the Bowery in Manhattan. 51 00:02:17,762 --> 00:02:20,432 Guys stayed up in these cheap hotels for decades. 52 00:02:20,432 --> 00:02:22,824 They lived in cubicles the size of prison cells 53 00:02:22,824 --> 00:02:24,774 covered with chicken wire so you couldn't jump 54 00:02:24,774 --> 00:02:27,468 from one room into the next. 55 00:02:27,468 --> 00:02:31,067 Later, I wrote a book on the men with the photographer Harvey Wang. 56 00:02:31,067 --> 00:02:33,481 I remember walking into a flophouse 57 00:02:33,481 --> 00:02:35,432 with an early version of the book 58 00:02:35,432 --> 00:02:38,079 and showing one of the guys his page. 59 00:02:38,079 --> 00:02:40,354 He stood there staring at it in silence, 60 00:02:40,354 --> 00:02:42,653 then he grabbed the book out of my hand 61 00:02:42,653 --> 00:02:46,136 and started running down the long narrow hallway 62 00:02:46,136 --> 00:02:47,645 holding it over his head 63 00:02:47,645 --> 00:02:52,010 shouting, "I exist! I exist." 64 00:02:52,010 --> 00:02:56,863 (Applause) 65 00:02:56,863 --> 00:03:00,694 In many ways, "I exist" became the clarion call for StoryCorps, 66 00:03:00,694 --> 00:03:04,270 this crazy idea that I had a dozen years ago. 67 00:03:04,270 --> 00:03:06,499 The thought was to take documentary work 68 00:03:06,499 --> 00:03:08,356 and turn it on its head. 69 00:03:08,356 --> 00:03:10,610 Traditionally, broadcast documentary 70 00:03:10,610 --> 00:03:14,696 has been about recording interviews to create a work of art or entertainment 71 00:03:14,696 --> 00:03:17,134 or education that is seen or heard by a whole lot of people, 72 00:03:17,134 --> 00:03:21,755 but I wanted to try something where the interview itself 73 00:03:21,755 --> 00:03:23,473 was the purpose of this work, 74 00:03:23,473 --> 00:03:26,445 and see if we could give many, many, many people the chance 75 00:03:26,445 --> 00:03:29,069 to be listened to in this way. 76 00:03:29,069 --> 00:03:32,119 So in Grand Central Terminal 11 years ago, 77 00:03:32,119 --> 00:03:33,652 we built a booth 78 00:03:33,652 --> 00:03:36,020 where anyone can come to honor someone else 79 00:03:36,020 --> 00:03:39,503 by interviewing them about their life. 80 00:03:39,503 --> 00:03:43,334 You come to this booth and you're met by a facilitator who brings you inside. 81 00:03:43,334 --> 00:03:45,911 You sit across from, say, your grandfather 82 00:03:45,911 --> 00:03:48,953 for close to an hour and you listen and you talk. 83 00:03:48,953 --> 00:03:52,645 Many people think of it as, if this was to be our last conversation, 84 00:03:52,645 --> 00:03:55,640 what would I want to ask of and say to this person 85 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,916 who means so much to me? 86 00:03:57,916 --> 00:03:59,251 At the end of the session, 87 00:03:59,251 --> 00:04:01,433 you walk away with a copy of the interview 88 00:04:01,433 --> 00:04:05,961 and another copy goes to the American Folklife Center 89 00:04:05,961 --> 00:04:07,812 at the Library of Congress 90 00:04:07,812 --> 00:04:09,995 so that your great-great-great-grandkids can someday get to know your grandfather 91 00:04:09,995 --> 00:04:12,828 through his voice and story. 92 00:04:12,828 --> 00:04:16,705 So we open this booth in one of the busiest places in the world 93 00:04:16,705 --> 00:04:20,188 and invite people to have this incredibly intimate conversation 94 00:04:20,188 --> 00:04:21,419 with another human being. 95 00:04:21,419 --> 00:04:26,225 I had no idea if it would work, but from the very beginning, it did. 96 00:04:26,225 --> 00:04:29,104 People treated the experience with incredible respect, 97 00:04:29,104 --> 00:04:32,471 and amazing conversations happened inside. 98 00:04:32,471 --> 00:04:35,002 I want to play just one animated excerpt 99 00:04:35,002 --> 00:04:38,763 from an interview recorded at that original Grand Central Booth. 100 00:04:38,763 --> 00:04:43,291 This is 12-year old Joshua Littman interviewing his mother, Sarah. 101 00:04:43,291 --> 00:04:45,497 Josh has Asperger's syndrome. 102 00:04:45,497 --> 00:04:48,562 As you may know, kids with Asperger's are incredibly smart 103 00:04:48,562 --> 00:04:50,721 but have a tough time socially. 104 00:04:50,721 --> 00:04:52,370 They usually have obsessions. 105 00:04:52,370 --> 00:04:54,576 In Josh's case, it's with animals, 106 00:04:54,576 --> 00:04:57,199 so this is Josh talking with his mom Sarah 107 00:04:57,199 --> 00:05:01,379 at Grand Central nine years ago. 108 00:05:01,379 --> 00:05:03,956 (Video) Josh Littman: From a scale of one to 10, do you think your life 109 00:05:03,956 --> 00:05:05,848 would be different without animals? 110 00:05:05,848 --> 00:05:08,565 Sarah Littman: I think it would be an eight without animals, 111 00:05:08,565 --> 00:05:11,629 because they add so much pleasure to life. 112 00:05:11,629 --> 00:05:13,928 JL: How else do you think your life would be different without them? 113 00:05:13,928 --> 00:05:16,697 SL: I could do without things like cockroaches and snakes. 114 00:05:16,697 --> 00:05:19,368 JL: Well, I'm okay with snakes as long as they're not venomous 115 00:05:19,368 --> 00:05:21,109 or constrict you or anything. 116 00:05:21,109 --> 00:05:22,618 SL: Yeah, I'm not a big snake person, but— 117 00:05:22,618 --> 00:05:25,288 JL: Cockroaches is just the insect we love to hate. 118 00:05:25,288 --> 00:05:26,821 SL: Yeah, it really is. 119 00:05:26,821 --> 00:05:29,955 JL: Have you ever thought you couldn't cope with having a child? 120 00:05:29,955 --> 00:05:33,345 SL: I remember when you were a baby, you had really bad colic, 121 00:05:33,345 --> 00:05:34,948 so you would just cry and cry. 122 00:05:34,948 --> 00:05:38,105 JL: What's colic? SL: It's when you get this stomachache 123 00:05:38,105 --> 00:05:40,590 and all you do is scream for, like, four hours. 124 00:05:40,590 --> 00:05:42,563 JL: Even louder than Amy does? 125 00:05:42,563 --> 00:05:45,907 SL: You were pretty loud, but Amy's was more high-pitched. 126 00:05:45,907 --> 00:05:49,111 JL: I think it feels like everyone seems to like Amy more. 127 00:05:49,111 --> 00:05:51,781 Like, she's, like, the perfect little angel. 128 00:05:51,781 --> 00:05:55,914 SL: Well, I can understand why you think that people like Amy more, 129 00:05:55,914 --> 00:05:58,283 and I'm not saying it's because of your Asperger's syndrome, 130 00:05:58,283 --> 00:06:01,487 but being friendly comes easily to Amy, 131 00:06:01,487 --> 00:06:03,902 whereas I think for you it's more difficult, 132 00:06:03,902 --> 00:06:07,942 but the people who take the time to get to know you love you so much. 133 00:06:07,942 --> 00:06:10,357 JL: Like, Ben or Eric or Carlos? SL: Yeah— 134 00:06:10,357 --> 00:06:14,838 JL: Like I have better quality friends but less quantity? 135 00:06:14,838 --> 00:06:17,879 SL: I wouldn't judge the quality, but I think— 136 00:06:17,879 --> 00:06:20,547 JL: I mean, like, first it was, like, Amy loved Claudia, Then she hated Claudia. 137 00:06:20,547 --> 00:06:22,474 She loved Claudia, then she hated Claudia. 138 00:06:22,474 --> 00:06:24,262 SL: Part of that's a girl thing, honey. 139 00:06:24,262 --> 00:06:27,884 The important thing for you is that you have a few very good friends, 140 00:06:27,884 --> 00:06:30,160 and really that's what you need in life. 141 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:34,409 JL: Did I turn out to be the son you wanted when I was born? 142 00:06:34,409 --> 00:06:37,311 Did I meet your expectations? 143 00:06:37,311 --> 00:06:40,074 SL: You've exceeded my expectations, sweetie, 144 00:06:40,074 --> 00:06:44,834 because sure you have these fantasies of what your child's going to be like, 145 00:06:44,834 --> 00:06:49,257 but you have made me grow so much as a parent, because you think— 146 00:06:49,257 --> 00:06:51,068 JL: Well, I was the one who made you a parent. 147 00:06:51,068 --> 00:06:53,645 SL: You were the one who made me a parent. That's a good point. 148 00:06:53,645 --> 00:06:55,619 But also because you think differently 149 00:06:55,619 --> 00:06:59,102 from what they tell you in the parenting books, 150 00:06:59,102 --> 00:07:02,562 I really had to learn to think outside of the box with you, 151 00:07:02,562 --> 00:07:07,368 and it's made me much more creative as a parent and as a person, 152 00:07:07,368 --> 00:07:09,086 and I'll always thank you for that. 153 00:07:09,086 --> 00:07:10,386 JL: And that helped when Amy was born? 154 00:07:10,386 --> 00:07:15,170 SL: And that helped when Amy was born, but you are just so incredibly special to me 155 00:07:15,170 --> 00:07:19,163 and I'm so lucky to have you as my son. 156 00:07:19,163 --> 00:07:27,220 (Applause) 157 00:07:27,220 --> 00:07:29,287 David Isay: After this story ran on public radio, 158 00:07:29,287 --> 00:07:31,051 Josh received hundreds of letters 159 00:07:31,051 --> 00:07:33,373 telling him what an amazing kid he was. 160 00:07:33,373 --> 00:07:35,602 His mom, Sarah, bound them together in a book, 161 00:07:35,602 --> 00:07:39,828 and when Josh got picked on at school, they would read the letters together. 162 00:07:39,828 --> 00:07:41,825 I just want to acknowledge that two of my heroes 163 00:07:41,825 --> 00:07:43,218 are here with us tonight. 164 00:07:43,218 --> 00:07:46,724 Sarah Littman and her son Josh, who is now an honors student in college. 165 00:07:51,559 --> 00:07:51,809 (Applause) 166 00:07:52,356 --> 00:07:55,688 You know, a lot of people talk about crying when they hear StoryCorps stories, 167 00:07:55,688 --> 00:07:57,638 and it's not because they're sad. 168 00:07:57,638 --> 00:07:58,962 Most of them aren't. 169 00:07:58,962 --> 00:08:02,015 I think it's because you're hearing something authentic and pure 170 00:08:02,015 --> 00:08:04,406 at this moment, when sometimes it's hard to tell 171 00:08:04,406 --> 00:08:07,402 what's real and what's an advertisement. 172 00:08:07,402 --> 00:08:09,793 It's kind of the anti-reality TV. 173 00:08:09,793 --> 00:08:11,906 Nobody comes to StoryCorps to get rich. 174 00:08:11,906 --> 00:08:13,787 Nobody comes to get famous. 175 00:08:13,787 --> 00:08:16,991 It's simply an act of generosity and love. 176 00:08:16,991 --> 00:08:19,243 So many of these are just everyday people 177 00:08:19,243 --> 00:08:24,375 talking about lives lived with kindness, courage, decency, and dignity, 178 00:08:24,375 --> 00:08:26,372 and when you hear that kind of story, 179 00:08:26,372 --> 00:08:31,085 it can sometimes feel like you're walking on holy ground. 180 00:08:31,085 --> 00:08:33,430 So this experiment in Grand Central worked, 181 00:08:33,430 --> 00:08:33,680 and we expanded it across the country. 182 00:08:35,798 --> 00:08:38,863 Today, more than 100,000 people in all 50 states 183 00:08:38,863 --> 00:08:41,719 in thousands of cities and towns across America 184 00:08:41,719 --> 00:08:44,064 have recorded StoryCorps interviews. 185 00:08:44,064 --> 00:08:48,987 It's now the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. 186 00:08:48,987 --> 00:08:54,815 (Applause) 187 00:08:54,815 --> 00:08:57,253 We've hired and trained hundreds of facilitators 188 00:08:57,253 --> 00:08:59,969 to help guide people through the experience. 189 00:08:59,969 --> 00:09:02,384 Most serve a year or two with StoryCorps 190 00:09:02,384 --> 00:09:05,821 traveling the country, gathering the wisdom of humanity. 191 00:09:05,821 --> 00:09:07,980 They call it bearing witness, 192 00:09:07,980 --> 00:09:09,385 and if you ask them, 193 00:09:09,385 --> 00:09:12,659 all of the facilitators will tell you that the most important thing 194 00:09:12,659 --> 00:09:15,527 they've learned from being present during these interviews 195 00:09:15,527 --> 00:09:18,963 is that people are basically good. 196 00:09:18,963 --> 00:09:21,471 And I think for the first years of StoryCorps, you could argue 197 00:09:21,471 --> 00:09:24,257 that there was some kind of a selection bias happening, 198 00:09:24,257 --> 00:09:26,463 but after tens of thousands of interviews with every kind of person 199 00:09:26,463 --> 00:09:29,482 in every part of the country 200 00:09:29,482 --> 00:09:32,918 -- rich, poor, five years old to 105, 201 00:09:32,918 --> 00:09:35,983 80 different languages, across the political spectrum -- 202 00:09:35,983 --> 00:09:41,277 you have to think that maybe these guys are actually on to something. 203 00:09:41,277 --> 00:09:44,568 I've also learned so much from these interviews. 204 00:09:44,568 --> 00:09:47,772 I've learned about the poetry and the wisdom and the grace 205 00:09:47,772 --> 00:09:50,512 that can be found in the words of people all around us 206 00:09:50,512 --> 00:09:53,809 when we simply take the time to listen, 207 00:09:53,809 --> 00:09:55,922 like this interview 208 00:09:55,922 --> 00:10:00,380 between a betting clerk in Brooklyn named Danny Perasa 209 00:10:00,380 --> 00:10:03,027 who brought his wife Annie to StoryCorps 210 00:10:03,027 --> 00:10:05,512 to talk about his love for her. 211 00:10:05,512 --> 00:10:08,414 (Audio) Danny Perasa: You see, the thing of it is, 212 00:10:08,414 --> 00:10:10,260 I always feel guilty when I say "I love you" to you. 213 00:10:10,968 --> 00:10:14,358 And I say it so often. I say it to remind you 214 00:10:14,358 --> 00:10:17,214 that don't be as I am, it's coming from me. 215 00:10:17,214 --> 00:10:21,208 It's like hearing a beautiful song from a busted old radio, 216 00:10:21,208 --> 00:10:23,855 and it's nice of you to keep the radio around the house. 217 00:10:23,855 --> 00:10:26,061 Annie Perasa: If I don't have a note on the kitchen table, 218 00:10:26,061 --> 00:10:27,268 I think there's something wrong. 219 00:10:27,268 --> 00:10:28,552 You write a love letter to me every morning. 220 00:10:28,552 --> 00:10:30,061 DP: Well, the only thing that could possibly be wrong 221 00:10:30,061 --> 00:10:32,104 is I couldn't find a silly pen. 222 00:10:32,104 --> 00:10:33,451 AP: To my princess: 223 00:10:33,451 --> 00:10:36,818 the weather outside today is extremely rainy. 224 00:10:36,818 --> 00:10:39,001 I'll call you at 11:20 in the morning. 225 00:10:39,001 --> 00:10:40,487 DP: It's a romantic weather report. 226 00:10:40,487 --> 00:10:43,737 AP: And I love you. I love you. I love you. 227 00:10:43,737 --> 00:10:46,686 DP: When a guy is happily married, no matter what happens at work, 228 00:10:46,686 --> 00:10:48,753 no matter what happens in the rest of the day, 229 00:10:48,753 --> 00:10:50,424 there's a shelter when you get home, 230 00:10:50,424 --> 00:10:52,607 there's a knowledge knowing that you can hug somebody 231 00:10:52,607 --> 00:10:55,834 without them throwing you downstairs and saying, "Get your hands off me." 232 00:10:55,834 --> 00:10:59,271 Being married is like having a color television set. 233 00:10:59,271 --> 00:11:01,128 You never want to go back to black and white. 234 00:11:01,128 --> 00:11:04,820 (Laughter) 235 00:11:04,820 --> 00:11:06,956 DI: Danny was about five feet tall 236 00:11:06,956 --> 00:11:10,369 with crossed eyes and one single snaggled tooth, 237 00:11:10,369 --> 00:11:14,061 but Danny Perasa had more romance in his little pinky 238 00:11:14,061 --> 00:11:17,474 than all of Hollywood's leading men put together. 239 00:11:17,474 --> 00:11:19,077 What else have I learned? 240 00:11:19,077 --> 00:11:21,979 I've learned about the almost unimaginable capacity 241 00:11:21,979 --> 00:11:24,162 for the human spirit to forgive. 242 00:11:24,162 --> 00:11:27,807 I've learned about resilience and I've learned about strength. 243 00:11:27,807 --> 00:11:31,150 Like an interview with Oshea Israel and Mary Johnson. 244 00:11:31,150 --> 00:11:35,701 When Oshea was a teenager, he murdered Mary's only son, 245 00:11:35,701 --> 00:11:38,186 Laramiun Byrd, in a gang fight. 246 00:11:38,186 --> 00:11:40,786 A dozen years later, Mary went to prison 247 00:11:40,786 --> 00:11:43,526 to meet Oshea and find out who this person was 248 00:11:43,526 --> 00:11:46,475 who had taken her son's life. 249 00:11:46,475 --> 00:11:49,261 Slowly and remarkably, they became friends, 250 00:11:49,261 --> 00:11:51,955 and when he was finally released from the penitentiary, 251 00:11:51,955 --> 00:11:55,321 Oshea actually moved in next door to Mary. 252 00:11:55,321 --> 00:11:58,526 This is just a short excerpt of a conversation they had 253 00:11:58,526 --> 00:12:02,079 soon after Oshea was freed. 254 00:12:02,079 --> 00:12:05,051 (Video) Mary Johnson: My natural son is no longer here. 255 00:12:05,051 --> 00:12:08,835 I didn't see him graduate, and now you're going to college. 256 00:12:08,835 --> 00:12:12,132 I'll have an opportunity to see you graduate. 257 00:12:12,132 --> 00:12:14,593 I didn't see him get married. 258 00:12:14,593 --> 00:12:18,912 Hopefully one day, I'll be able to experience that with you. 259 00:12:18,912 --> 00:12:21,489 Oshea Israel: Just to hear you say those things and to be 260 00:12:21,489 --> 00:12:23,579 in my life in the manner in which you are is my motivation. 261 00:12:23,579 --> 00:12:29,036 It motivates me to make sure that I stay on the right path. 262 00:12:29,036 --> 00:12:31,543 You still believe in me, 263 00:12:31,543 --> 00:12:35,119 and the fact that you can do it despite how much pain I caused you, 264 00:12:35,119 --> 00:12:37,209 it's amazing. 265 00:12:37,209 --> 00:12:43,106 MJ: I know it's not an easy thing to be able to share our story together, 266 00:12:43,106 --> 00:12:45,869 even with us sitting here looking at each other right now. 267 00:12:45,869 --> 00:12:48,214 I know it's not an easy thing, 268 00:12:48,214 --> 00:12:51,976 so I admire that you can do this. 269 00:12:51,976 --> 00:12:56,666 OI: I love you, lady. MJ: I love you too, son. 270 00:12:56,666 --> 00:13:06,372 (Applause) 271 00:13:06,372 --> 00:13:11,526 DI: And I've been reminded countless times of the courage and goodness of people, 272 00:13:11,526 --> 00:13:16,588 and how the arc of history truly does bend towards justice. 273 00:13:16,588 --> 00:13:21,069 Like the story of Alexis Martinez, who was born Arthur Martinez 274 00:13:21,069 --> 00:13:23,693 in the Harold Ickes projects in Chicago. 275 00:13:23,693 --> 00:13:26,526 In the interview, she talks with her daughter Lesley 276 00:13:26,526 --> 00:13:28,894 about joining a gang as a young man, 277 00:13:28,894 --> 00:13:33,724 and later in life transitioning into the woman she was always meant to be. 278 00:13:33,724 --> 00:13:37,323 This is Alexis and her daughter Lesley. 279 00:13:37,323 --> 00:13:39,482 (Audio) Alexis Martinez: One of the most difficult things for me was 280 00:13:39,482 --> 00:13:42,408 I was always afraid that I wouldn't be allowed 281 00:13:42,408 --> 00:13:45,287 to be in my granddaughter's lives, 282 00:13:45,287 --> 00:13:47,585 and you blew that completely out of the water, 283 00:13:47,585 --> 00:13:48,909 you and your husband. 284 00:13:48,909 --> 00:13:52,369 One of the fruits of that is my relationship with my granddaughters. 285 00:13:52,369 --> 00:13:56,316 They fight with each other sometimes over whether I'm he or she. 286 00:13:56,316 --> 00:13:58,313 Lesley Martinez: But they're free to talk about it. 287 00:13:58,313 --> 00:14:00,309 AM: They're free to talk about it, but that, to me, is a miracle. 288 00:14:00,309 --> 00:14:04,791 LM: You don't have to apologize. You don't have to tiptoe. 289 00:14:04,791 --> 00:14:07,322 We're not going to cut you off, and that's something I've always 290 00:14:07,322 --> 00:14:12,337 wanted to just know, that you're loved. 291 00:14:12,337 --> 00:14:14,682 AM: You know, I live this every day now. 292 00:14:14,682 --> 00:14:17,097 I walk down the streets as a woman, 293 00:14:17,097 --> 00:14:19,976 and I really am at peace with who I am. 294 00:14:19,976 --> 00:14:22,460 I mean, I wish I had a softer voice maybe, 295 00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:31,562 but now I walk in love and I try to live that way every day. 296 00:14:31,562 --> 00:14:34,906 DI: Now I walk in love. 297 00:14:34,906 --> 00:14:37,808 I'm going to tell you a secret about StoryCorps. 298 00:14:37,808 --> 00:14:41,193 It takes some courage to have these conversations. 299 00:14:41,193 --> 00:14:43,584 StoryCorps speaks to our mortality. 300 00:14:43,584 --> 00:14:47,601 Participants know this recording will be heard long after they're gone. 301 00:14:47,601 --> 00:14:50,805 There's a hospice doctor named Ira Byock 302 00:14:50,805 --> 00:14:52,849 who has worked closely with us on recording interviews 303 00:14:52,849 --> 00:14:54,706 with people who are dying. 304 00:14:54,706 --> 00:14:57,051 He wrote a book called "The Four Things That Matter Most" 305 00:14:57,051 --> 00:15:00,302 about the four things you want to say to the most important people in your life 306 00:15:00,302 --> 00:15:03,924 before they or you die: 307 00:15:03,924 --> 00:15:06,455 thank you, I love you, 308 00:15:06,455 --> 00:15:09,682 forgive me, I forgive you. 309 00:15:09,682 --> 00:15:13,212 They're just about the most powerful words we can to one another, 310 00:15:13,212 --> 00:15:16,718 and often that's what happens in a StoryCorps booth. 311 00:15:16,718 --> 00:15:20,015 It's a chance to have a sense of closure with someone you care about, 312 00:15:20,015 --> 00:15:22,917 no regrets, nothing left unsaid, 313 00:15:22,917 --> 00:15:26,354 and it's hard and it takes courage, 314 00:15:26,354 --> 00:15:31,299 but that's why we're alive, right? 315 00:15:31,299 --> 00:15:34,202 So, the TED Prize. 316 00:15:34,202 --> 00:15:36,779 When I first heard from TED and Chris a few months ago 317 00:15:36,779 --> 00:15:38,613 about the possibility of the prize, 318 00:15:38,613 --> 00:15:40,865 I was completely floored. 319 00:15:40,865 --> 00:15:44,186 They asked me to come up with a very brief wish for humanity, 320 00:15:44,186 --> 00:15:45,950 no more than 50 words. 321 00:15:45,950 --> 00:15:47,924 So I thought about it, I wrote my 50 words, 322 00:15:47,924 --> 00:15:52,011 and a few weeks later, Chris called and said, "Go for it." 323 00:15:52,011 --> 00:15:56,329 So here is my wish: 324 00:15:56,329 --> 00:15:59,278 that you will help us 325 00:15:59,278 --> 00:16:02,018 take everything we've learned through StoryCorps 326 00:16:02,018 --> 00:16:04,781 and bring it to the world 327 00:16:04,781 --> 00:16:08,798 so that anyone anywhere can easily record a meaningful interview 328 00:16:08,798 --> 00:16:10,415 with another human being 329 00:16:10,415 --> 00:16:13,897 which will then be archived for history. 330 00:16:13,897 --> 00:16:18,913 How are we going to do that? With this. 331 00:16:18,913 --> 00:16:22,071 We're fast moving into a future where everyone in the world 332 00:16:22,071 --> 00:16:24,114 will have access to one of these, 333 00:16:24,114 --> 00:16:27,945 and it has powers I never could have imagined 11 years ago 334 00:16:27,945 --> 00:16:29,895 when I started StoryCorps. 335 00:16:29,895 --> 00:16:31,358 It has a microphone, 336 00:16:31,358 --> 00:16:33,669 it can tell you how to do things, 337 00:16:33,669 --> 00:16:36,200 and I can send audio files. 338 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,522 Those are the key ingredients. 339 00:16:38,522 --> 00:16:41,726 So the first part of the wish is already underway. 340 00:16:41,726 --> 00:16:43,305 Over the past couple of months, 341 00:16:43,305 --> 00:16:46,300 the team at StoryCorps has been working furiously 342 00:16:46,300 --> 00:16:49,760 to create an app that will bring StoryCorps out of our booths 343 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:55,193 so that it can be experienced by anyone, anywhere, anytime. 344 00:16:55,193 --> 00:16:58,874 Remember, StoryCorps has always been two people and a facilitator 345 00:16:58,874 --> 00:17:01,149 helping them record their conversation, 346 00:17:01,149 --> 00:17:03,239 which is preserved forever, 347 00:17:03,239 --> 00:17:04,887 but at this very moment, 348 00:17:04,887 --> 00:17:08,533 we're releasing a public beta version of the StoryCorps app. 349 00:17:08,533 --> 00:17:11,110 The app is a digital facilitator that walks you through 350 00:17:11,110 --> 00:17:14,105 the StoryCorps interview process, 351 00:17:14,105 --> 00:17:15,777 helps you pick questions, 352 00:17:15,777 --> 00:17:17,867 and gives you all the tips you need 353 00:17:17,867 --> 00:17:20,676 to record a meaningful StoryCorps interview, 354 00:17:20,676 --> 00:17:23,857 and then with one tap upload it to our archive 355 00:17:23,857 --> 00:17:26,458 at the Library of Congress. 356 00:17:26,458 --> 00:17:29,337 That's the easy part, the technology. 357 00:17:29,337 --> 00:17:31,715 The real challenge is up to you: 358 00:17:31,715 --> 00:17:34,913 to take this tool and figure out how we can use it 359 00:17:34,913 --> 00:17:37,908 all across America and around the world, 360 00:17:37,908 --> 00:17:41,182 so that instead of recording thousands of StoryCorps interviews a year, 361 00:17:41,182 --> 00:17:45,942 we could potentially record tens of thousands 362 00:17:45,942 --> 00:17:48,148 or hundreds of thousands 363 00:17:48,148 --> 00:17:49,355 or maybe even more. 364 00:17:49,355 --> 00:17:53,093 Imagine, for example, a national homework assignment 365 00:17:53,093 --> 00:17:57,087 where every high school student studying U.S. history across the country 366 00:17:57,087 --> 00:17:59,989 records an interview with an elder over Thanksgiving, 367 00:17:59,989 --> 00:18:02,892 so that in one single weekend 368 00:18:02,892 --> 00:18:07,977 an entire generation of American lives and experiences are captured. 369 00:18:07,977 --> 00:18:14,292 (Applause) 370 00:18:14,292 --> 00:18:19,354 Or imagine mothers on opposite sides of conflict somewhere in the world 371 00:18:19,354 --> 00:18:22,976 sitting down not to talk about that conflict 372 00:18:22,976 --> 00:18:25,173 but to find out who they are as people, 373 00:18:25,173 --> 00:18:26,288 and in doing so, begin to build bonds of trust; 374 00:18:26,288 --> 00:18:32,014 or that someday it becomes a tradition all over the world 375 00:18:32,014 --> 00:18:34,522 that people are honored with a StoryCorps interview 376 00:18:34,522 --> 00:18:36,765 on their 75th birthday; 377 00:18:36,765 --> 00:18:39,041 or that people in your community 378 00:18:39,041 --> 00:18:44,195 go into retirement homes or hospitals or homeless shelters or even prisons 379 00:18:44,195 --> 00:18:47,725 armed with this app to honor the people least heard in our society 380 00:18:47,725 --> 00:18:50,711 and ask them who they are, what they've learned in life, 381 00:18:50,711 --> 00:18:53,172 and how they want to be remembered. 382 00:18:53,172 --> 00:19:01,067 (Applause) 383 00:19:01,067 --> 00:19:04,224 Ten years ago, I recorded a StoryCorps interview with my dad 384 00:19:04,224 --> 00:19:09,019 who was a psychiatrist, then became a well known gay activist. 385 00:19:09,019 --> 00:19:12,456 This is the picture of us at that interview. 386 00:19:12,456 --> 00:19:15,637 I never thought about that recording until a couple of years ago, 387 00:19:15,637 --> 00:19:18,632 when my dad, who seemed to be in perfect health 388 00:19:18,632 --> 00:19:21,233 and was still seeing patients 40 hours a week, 389 00:19:21,233 --> 00:19:23,996 was diagnosed with cancer. 390 00:19:23,996 --> 00:19:27,386 He passed away very suddenly a few days later. 391 00:19:27,386 --> 00:19:29,661 It was June 28, 2012, 392 00:19:29,661 --> 00:19:34,041 the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. 393 00:19:34,041 --> 00:19:37,268 I listened to that interview for the first time at three in the morning 394 00:19:37,268 --> 00:19:39,126 on the day that he died. 395 00:19:39,126 --> 00:19:41,123 I have a couple of young kids at home, 396 00:19:41,123 --> 00:19:44,582 and I knew that they only way they were going to get to know this person 397 00:19:44,582 --> 00:19:47,461 who was such a towering figure in my life 398 00:19:47,461 --> 00:19:49,598 would be through that session. 399 00:19:49,598 --> 00:19:53,173 I thought I couldn't believe in StoryCorps any more deeply than I did, 400 00:19:53,173 --> 00:19:54,961 but it was at that moment 401 00:19:54,961 --> 00:19:57,910 that I fully and viscerally grasped the importance of making these recordings. 402 00:19:57,910 --> 00:20:02,623 Every day, people come up to me and say, "I wish I had interviewed 403 00:20:02,623 --> 00:20:05,154 my father or my grandmother or my brother, 404 00:20:05,154 --> 00:20:08,382 but I waited too long. 405 00:20:08,382 --> 00:20:11,168 Now, no one has to wait anymore. 406 00:20:11,168 --> 00:20:12,468 At this moment, 407 00:20:12,468 --> 00:20:16,230 when so much of how we communicate is fleeting and inconsequential, 408 00:20:16,230 --> 00:20:20,897 join us in creating this digital archive of conversations that are enduring 409 00:20:20,897 --> 00:20:22,894 and important. 410 00:20:22,894 --> 00:20:25,564 Help us create this gift to our children, 411 00:20:25,564 --> 00:20:29,952 this testament to who we are as human beings. 412 00:20:29,952 --> 00:20:33,528 I hope you'll help us make this wish come true. 413 00:20:33,528 --> 00:20:35,989 Interview a family member, a friend, 414 00:20:35,989 --> 00:20:38,079 or even a stranger. 415 00:20:38,079 --> 00:20:44,069 Together, we can create an archive of the wisdom of humanity, 416 00:20:44,069 --> 00:20:46,043 and maybe in doing so, 417 00:20:46,043 --> 00:20:49,665 we'll learn to listen a little more and shout a little less. 418 00:20:49,665 --> 00:20:54,193 Maybe these conversations will remind us what's really important. 419 00:20:54,193 --> 00:20:56,956 And maybe, just maybe, 420 00:20:56,956 --> 00:20:59,742 it will help us recognize that simple truth 421 00:20:59,742 --> 00:21:03,689 that every life, every single life, 422 00:21:03,689 --> 00:21:06,894 matters equally and infinitely. 423 00:21:06,894 --> 00:21:11,375 Thank you very much. 424 00:21:11,375 --> 00:21:12,605 (Applause) 425 00:21:12,605 --> 00:21:15,113 Thank you. Thank you. 426 00:21:15,113 --> 00:21:17,389 (Applause) 427 00:21:17,389 --> 00:21:19,571 Thank you. 428 00:21:19,571 --> 00:21:24,935 (Applause)