Posted by Eloise on February 10, 2010, from San Francisco, California
Community Partners: Contemporary Jewish Museum, KALW
There are many reasons to love KALW, our local public radio partner in San Francisco. Let me count (a few of) the ways: For one, they are a community-driven radio station that really puts the public back in public radio. Two, their news magazine program, Crosscurrents, is award-winning and the best way to stay informed on Bay Area issues and events. And last, but not least, because of their support and commitment to airing locally-recorded StoryCorps clips on a weekly basis, they have become one of the most successful, long-term public radio partners in StoryCorps history!
Plus, they are all really wonderful people. Which is why it was so lovely and amazing to host them for a day at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. In January, the KALW crew came for a bagel breakfast, listening session, and discussion. While they had heard many-a-StoryCorps clips on the radio, some had no idea what actually happens during a StoryCorps interview, nor the Facilitator’s exact role in the process. We also talked about how we could make our partnership even stronger…discussing ways we can further reach out to the community and provide even more stories for the station to edit and broadcast. This radio rap session was followed by a group museum and booth tour.
One KALW volunteer, Julia Halprin Jackson was able to do an interview with her mom Lyra Halprin, as well. The ladies coincidentally wore matching sweaters–mom thought this was cute, daughter thought this was embarrassing–and shared a moving story about Lyra dealing with her father’s sudden death, which happened during one of the best walnut harvests on the family farm when she was 25 years old.
KALW day was such a success that we are already planning our next gathering. Word on the street is that KALW’s conference table doubles as a ping-pong table…this has me thinking a KALW/StoryCorps ping-pong tournament is a necessary next step in our amazing partnership.
Here are some of my favorite KALW-produced StoryCorps clips:
Happy Listening!
February 10th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Wonderful blog post, Eloise! What a special day that was for me – learning about what you all do, and then the capper was a moving hour in the StoryCorps booth with Julia. I’m sure what makes many of those stories so thoughtful and moving is the excellent facilitation help from gentle, talented, understated people like yourself who guide us through our “soul train.” And the coincidence of our sweaters at least made for a great laugh, and funny photo. Thank you!
February 11th, 2010 at 2:39 am
Hi Eloise–
Thanks for the shoutout! This is hilarious, and yes, the sweaters do kind of lend themselves to their own story. Thanks also for the great tour! You guys do such great work.
Best,
Julia & Lyra
February 17th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Whew! That zebra story cracks me up every time.