Tell Me a Story

Dave Isay knows how to get people to tell their stories; after all, it's what he did every day for 15 years as a public-radio producer. But when he founded the non-profit StoryCorps, he turned the notion of one man with a microphone into something bigger—and, in the process, reinvented how we think about listening, remembering and honoring the people in our lives.

It all started with a documentary Isay produced about growing up in a notorious Chicago housing project. "I gave kids tape recorders," he explains. "When they interviewed their family members, the microphones gave them license to ask questions they never asked before. And when the tape recorders were turned off, the conversations continued."

Isay didn't stop there, either. "I stayed in touch with these guys, and over time I saw how valuable the tapes became to them. This was a record of their lives."

The profound impact of those tapes inspired Isay to create StoryCorps with the express mission of getting people talking—and listening—to each other. Typically two people (friends, relatives) enter a StoryBooth and, with the help of a facilitator, one interviews the other. They get a CD of the conversation, and what's more, each recording is preserved, digitally, in the Library of Congress.

"The facilitators say, before people go in the booth, 'Ask that question you've always wanted to ask, the question you just don't talk about at the dinner table: How do you want to be remembered? What are the most important lessons you've learned in life?'

The first StoryBooth opened in New York in 2003; two years later, the "MobileBooths"—converted Airstream trailers wired up as recording studios—started their journey around the country.