Musician Benny Jones Jr was interviewed by his friend Henry Griffin. Mr. Jones, a base drummer who comes from a long line of New Orleans Jazz musicians, helped found the influential Dirty Dozen Brass Band in the late 1970s. Now he leads the Treme Brass Band, which can be found playing all over New Orleans.

Rufus Burkhalter and Bobby Brown were working at Pump Station Six when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. They and their co-workers stayed at the station through the storm, well after they knew their own houses had been destroyed, sandbagging the breached 17th Street levee. In the StoryCorps booth, Mr. Burkhalter and Mr. Brown reflected on their breathtaking experience.

Raphael Fransen, who grew up in Nicaragua, told his daughter Cynthia about watching two hundred pound sea turtles emerge onto the beach. “My brothers and I would find the eggs–they are very soft, or the turtles would crush them. You poke a hole in the top, and eat the inside. We were always very careful to take just one or two from each nest.” He also told facilitator Laura Spero that her name means “Parrot.” Incidentally, it’s only green parrots that talk–the colored variety can’t be taught human language.