(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
On this Friday before Thanksgiving, we have a StoryCorps tradition. It's called the Great Thanksgiving Listen. And Steve Inskeep talked about it with StoryCorps' founder, David Isay.
STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: What is the Great Thanksgiving Listen?
DAVID ISAY: So we have an app that makes it possible to do StoryCorps interviews any time, any place and with one tap upload it to the Library of Congress. High school teachers assign their students to record with a loved one over Thanksgiving weekend. Last year, we had about 10,000 people participate, and we'll see what happens this year.
INSKEEP: Let's hear some of the people you've gathered.
ISAY: Sure. So this is an immigrant family in New Jersey, originally from Ghana. A 15-year-old named Prince (ph) asked his mom what it was like to become a parent.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: When I first gave birth to you, I thought you were the most prettiest baby on the surface of the planet (laughter). I didn't want to go to sleep and leave you. I didn't want to do anything and leave you. And your big brother was so happy with you. He would go from door to door, telling everybody that he has a new baby.
PRINCE: How has being a parent changed...
INSKEEP: Oh, I wish you could see the smile on my face, David Isay.
ISAY: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: It's amazing to hear the words and the tone as well.
ISAY: Yeah. You know, it's a nice reminder of the not-phony side of who we are as Americans.
INSKEEP: Who's somebody else you've heard from?
ISAY: Let's listen to 13-year-old Gianni Velasco, who asked his mom, Sarah (ph), to tell him about a person who she misses.
SARAH VELASCO: I lost my grandmother about nine years ago on Christmas night. And a big saying that she has - that people doesn't die when they die. They die when you stop remembering them. And every Christmas, my father and I, we have this tradition where we'll talk about her. And it is super funny because a couple of days before Christmas, I can always smell her perfume around the house.
GIANNI VELASCO: How do you want to be remembered?
VELASCO = MOTHER OF GIANNI VELASCO: I just want to be remembered. As long as somebody remembers me, I know that I will be alive.
INSKEEP: Oh, the detail of the perfume.
ISAY: Yeah. And also the dishes clinking in the background. It's...
INSKEEP: Yeah.
ISAY: You're right there.
INSKEEP: These are touching. But not everybody has that kind of conversation at holiday time, especially in these divided times, where there are families where people voted differently just now.
ISAY: Well, I would say this may not be the time to do an interview with someone who is not on the same side as you. But, you know, maybe it is. You know, are we going to keep drifting apart as a country, or are we going to try and find a way back to each other? And maybe the best way through is stories.
INSKEEP: Well, you've certainly shared many of them with us for 20-some years. David, thanks so much.
ISAY: Steve, thanks. Happy holidays.
INSKEEP: David Isay is the founder of StoryCorps and is presiding over the Great Thanksgiving Listen in which you can participate. Go to the thegreatlisten.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHRIS POTTER'S "I HAD A DREAM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
