Radio Diaries
Extraordinary stories of ordinary life from Radio Diaries, a non-profit organization that gives people tape recorders to report on their own lives and histories.
In the late 1990s, Melissa Rodriguez struggled to create a stable life at home for her son, who is now a teenager. Together, they've faced many challenges.
Teenage Diaries Revisited: Mother And Son Listen To The Past
In 1996, after 12 years living in the foster care system, Melissa Rodriguez recorded a diary about getting pregnant and becoming a mother. Now, her son Issaiah is a teenager, and she shares her teenage diary with him and reveals things about her past that she's never mentioned.
In 1996, Josh Cutler took his tape recorder to high school, documenting his effort to live a normal life. Today, he also documents his efforts to live a normal life with a brain that often betrays him.
Teenage Diaries Revisited: Growing Up With Tourette's
In 1996, Josh Cutler, who has Tourette's syndrome, documented his efforts to live a normal life. Josh overcame Tourette's enough to become a schoolteacher. But it hasn't been easy. His new diary examines his life with a brain that often betrays him.
Frankie Lewchuk had been a high school football star whose picture was in his hometown newspaper every week. Now, after struggling with a crystal meth addiction, he is trying to repair his life.
Teenage Diaries Revisited: From Kicking A Football To Kicking Meth
Frankie Lewchuk was a high school football star whose picture was in his hometown newspaper every week. Years after graduating from high school, Frankie was back in the hometown paper, this time for drug-related crimes. Now, he's attempting to repair his life and his relationship with his family.
Teenage Diaries Revisited
Shaping 'Teenage Diaries': Intimacies, Difficulties, Life()
May 7, 2013 In 1996, independent producer Joe Richman gave tape recorders to a group of teens and let them report on their lives. "There is something magical about handing someone a tape recorder, because you never know what will happen," he says. Last year, he tracked down some of the diarists and let them do it again.
Teenage Diaries Revisited
Teenage Diaries Revisited: Living Life Under The Radar()
May 7, 2013 Juan came to the U.S. with his family, who crossed the Rio Grande illegally in 1992. He has made a life for himself in Colorado that might seem like the American dream: a house, a job, two cars, three kids. But he remains undocumented.
Teenage Diaries Revisited()
May 6, 2013 Beginning in 1996, Radio Diaries gave tape recorders to teenagers to create audio diaries about their lives. NPR aired intimate portraits of five of these teens. Over this past year, the same group has been recording new stories about where life has led them for Teenage Diaries Revisited.
Teenage Diaries Revisited
Teenage Diaries Revisited: A Gay Teen's Family, 'Evolved'()
May 6, 2013 Amanda Brand is gay. Her family is Catholic, and when she was a teenager, her parents were convinced she was only going through a phase. Recently, Amanda sat down with her mother and father in Queens, N.Y., in the same house she grew up in, to revisit her tumultuous teen years.
Hey Teenagers! We Want To Hear Your Stories()
May 3, 2013 NPR and Radio Diaries are looking for personal, surprising stories from teens. Write it, photograph it (and record it if you want) and submit it to the storytelling site Cowbird. Two entries will be picked to produce audio stories with Radio Diaries and a selection will be featured on NPR.org.
'Segregation Forever': A Fiery Pledge Forgiven, But Not Forgotten()
January 14, 2013 On Jan. 14, 1963, Alabama Gov. George Wallace delivered an inauguration speech destined to go down in the history books. That now infamous line, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever," embodied a moment in U.S. history that changed the political landscape forever.
The Picture Show
'Miss Subways': A Trip Back In Time To New York's Melting Pot()
December 20, 2012 Between 1941 and 1976, New York commuters were charmed by posters of regular New York women while riding the city's trains and buses. "Miss Subways" was selected each month by New Yorkers, in a pageant that reflected America's diversity long before the nation's other beauty contests.
The Artful Reinvention Of Klansman Asa Earl Carter()
April 20, 2012 Since its first publication in 1976, The Education of Little Tree has sold more than 1 million copies. But the book and its author are not what they seem. That's because before Forrest Carter became a Cherokee novelist, he was Asa Earl Carter, a Ku Klux Klan organizer and segregationist.
London 2012: The Summer Olympics
Straight Out Of Flint: Girl Boxer Aims For Olympics()
February 27, 2012 A 16-year-old from Michigan named Claressa Shields is the youngest fighter competing for a place on the first-ever U.S. Olympic women's boxing team. She's facing fighters almost a decade older and much more experienced — but she's beaten the odds before.
Music Interviews
Robert Johnson And Pablo Casals' Game-Changers Turn 75()
November 23, 2011 Two hugely important recordings, made by pivotal musicians an ocean apart, were made on the same day in 1936.
