Press Room & News

Press contact

Members of the press can contact StoryCorps at press@storycorps.org or by calling 646-723-7020 ext. 75

For general inquiries, please read our FAQ page, submit an online inquiry, or call 646-723-7027 for more information

Our mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. We accomplish this by recording high-quality interviews between friends or family, in which one person interviews the other. A trained Facilitator guides the interview, if necessary, and handles all the technical aspects of the recording.

StoryCorps travels across the country and has collected and archived more than 30,000 interviews from more than 60,000 participants. It is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind.

StoryCorps launched the first National Day of Listening in 2008 to encourage all Americans to record an interview with a loved one on the day after Thanksgiving using equipment that is readily available in most homes—from cell phones to tape recorders to computers or even pen and paper.

StoryCorps has created a free Do-It-Yourself interview guide with equipment recommendations and interview instructions available online at nationaldayoflistening.org.

The first StoryBooth opened on October 23, 2003, in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. In May 2008 the new flagship StoryBooth opened in Lower Manhattan’s Foley Square. StoryCorps currently operates StoryBooths in New York City, San Francisco, and Atlanta.

Two StoryCorps MobileBooths travel across the country, partnering with local public radio stations in various cities for one month at a time. StoryCorps’ first two MobileBooths hit the road May 19, 2005.

StoryCorps also provides a Door-to-Door service where trained Facilitators travel with recording equipment to collect stories on-site. More information can be found at Bring StoryCorps to Your Community.

StoryCorps currently has four major initiatives: StoryCorps Historias collects the stories of Latinos throughout the United States and Puerto Rico; StoryCorps Griot preserves the voices and experiences of African Americans; the Memory Loss Initiative reaches out to people affected by memory loss disorders and their families; the September 11th Initiative honors and remembers the stories of survivors, rescue workers, and others most personally affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

With the permission of the participants, edited stories from each booth are broadcast on a partner public radio station. One story is broadcast nationally on NPR’s Morning Edition every Friday morning.

Interviews recorded are added to the StoryCorps Archive, housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

StoryCorps participants receive a broadcast-quality copy of their interview on CD at the end of their session.

The suggested donation for an hour-long StoryBooth session is $25 ensuring access to everyone. We fundraise throughout the year to help cover costs of recording, archiving, and preserving each interview and to continue our mission.