Accessibility links
StoryCorps: Recording The Lives And Stories Of Everyday Americans StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate the lives of everyday Americans by listening to their stories.
StoryCorps

StoryCorps

Sharing And Preserving The Stories Of Our Lives

Opinion

The Day Bonnie and Clyde Came Calling

Late one evening in 1933, when Trudy Henry was at home in Dodge City, Kan., with her mother and sister, a man and a woman drove up to their house. What followed could be seen as an innocent visit — if it weren't for the names of the couple in the car: Bonnie and Clyde.

The Day Bonnie and Clyde Came Calling

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/10357978/10363002" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Two Women Linked by a Special Gift: a Daughter

Stacy Cooper was on her own in 1999, when she was pregnant. She didn't feel ready to raise a child. At the time, Karen Smith and her husband were looking to adopt. So, they agreed to an open adoption. The two recently recalled how the process began, and where they see the future going.

Two Women Linked by a Special Gift: a Daughter

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/10245412/10249956" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Finding a New Kind of Love, Late in Life

Ten years ago, two men met who would change each other's lives. Don Boniface was single, with AIDS. Ted Kuhar had only recently told friends and family he was gay. "I didn't know what this kind of love was," Kuhar said.

Finding a New Kind of Love, Late in Life

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9981593/9982671" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Parents Recall Daughter Who Changed Their World

Liddy Horsey was born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. She didn't reach her ninth birthday — but she changed her parents' lives. Thom Horsey and Karen Manning Horsey recently spoke of how grateful they are.

Parents Recall Daughter Who Changed Their World

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9852723/9855781" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A Mother Who Flew High in the 1940s

When she was just a 20-something, Dorothy Hayes — or Dot, as she's long been called — got a question that makes many young people groan: "What would you really like to do, Dot?" Her reply helped her see the world before settling down.

A Mother Who Flew High in the 1940s

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9707420/9707424" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The Day Our Family Took to the Road

Sisters Evelyn Palmour and Doreene McCoy were just children when the Depression hit their Nebraska community. Recently, the sisters remembered how their family packed up, took to the road, and started a new life.

The Day Our Family Took to the Road

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9400853/9400854" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A Quadruplet with Character: Roberta Keys-Torn

When Roberta Keys-Torn and her sisters were born in 1915, it came as a surprise. Her parents, after all, were expecting one child — not four girls who together weighed 16 pounds.

A Quadruplet with Character: Roberta Keys-Torn

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9231922/9231934" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A Shelter Gave Refuge, and Changed a Life

Robert Crum, 83, remembers how — in his role as a Methodist minister — he turned a deserted building in Des Moines, Iowa, into a shelter for people in need. He saw things he's never forgotten.

A Shelter Gave Refuge, and Changed a Life

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9093412/9093417" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Pip and the Judge: An Unlikely Friendship

Judge Joe Pigott served nearly two decades on the bench in Jackson, Miss. But he says no defendant confounded him more than the man nicknamed "Pip." That would be the late Willie Earl Dow, whose exploits often landed him in the courtroom.

Pip and the Judge: An Unlikely Friendship

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/8939266/8946121" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Speak, Pancakes: The Language of Love

Tomas Kubrican had only recently moved to Wisconsin from Slovakia when he met Carol Mittlesteadt, a waitress at the restaurant where he was a cook. Despite his limited English, Kubrican found a way to communicate.

Speak, Pancakes: The Language of Love

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7776653/7776658" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Generous to a Fault: Harry Herz, Pipe Salesman

Being called "Toots" or "Babe" might have irked some of the women Harry Herz met. It mortified his daughter, Catherine Dwyer. But there were many other quirks about her father that she adored — and she wasn't alone.

Generous to a Fault: Harry Herz, Pipe Salesman

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7673268/7673576" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Mothers and Daughters, and a Blessing

Sue Hyde lives in Cambridge, Mass., with her wife, Jade McGleughlin, their daughter Jesse, 14, and their son Max, 12. Jesse recently asked her mother about the differences between their childhoods.

Mothers and Daughters, and a Blessing

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7541422/7541457" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Opinion

When a Friend Becomes a Donor

Luke Thiboutot and Ryan Conner were roommates in college. Now in their thirties, they've stayed close. Last year, their friendship took a remarkable turn: Ryan donated a kidney so Luke could live a healthy life.

When a Friend Becomes a Donor

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7440025/7440036" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A Late Love That Burns Brightly

Jo Ann and Bob Chew have been married for nearly 12 years. In December 2004, Jo Ann was diagnosed with dementia. Then, one year later, she was told she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. As a result, Jo Ann says, "my doctor told me he did not want me to cook, and that was music to my ears."

A Late Love That Burns Brightly

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7296423/7296499" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Making a Difference on the Streets of Boston

For 40 years, Walter Fahey walked the streets of Boston as a police officer. The secret to lasting so long, he says, was that he had "a good reputation on the street, because I never looked down on people."

Making a Difference on the Streets of Boston

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7123119/7123127" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript