Two Friends Look Back on Y2K and The Apocalypse That Never Was
Looming over the end of 1999 was anxiety about Y2K, a theory that said at the stroke of midnight, when the year turned over to January 1, 2000, computers would malfunction and society as we know it would crumble.
Many people thought this was nonsense and trusted that experts had everything under control. But others, including 18-year-old Erin Maloney, latched onto the swirling conspiracy theories that Y2K could spell serious disaster.
Middle photo: A view of the home where Erin Maloney and Alec Lively lived for several months in 1999. Photo courtesy of Erin Maloney.
When Erin learned that a friend of hers had an old house in the woods where they could go, she rallied a small group to move there and wait out the potential apocalypse.
She came to StoryCorps with one of member of that group, Alec Lively. It was the first time they’d sat down together to talk about the final days of the last millennium.
Bottom photo: Erin Maloney sits atop an old military shipping container at the property in New Hampshire in 1999. Photo courtesy of Erin Maloney.
Top photo: Erin Maloney and Alec Lively stand outside the house in rural New Hampshire in 1999. Photo courtesy of Erin Maloney.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired December 27, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Two Bartenders Remember the Highs and Lows of Working at Brooklyn’s Historic Starlite Lounge
Sometimes a bar is more than just a business, it’s a part of history. These bars are places where cultures flourish, and often become a second home to devoted customers and a treasured landmark that neighbors proudly claim. For many years that was the Starlite Lounge in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, which was one of the first Black-owned gay bars in the city.
“It was the most welcoming place in the world,” Albert Johnson remembers.
Closing night at the Starlite Lounge in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in summer 2010. Courtesy of Donna Cuthbert.
Albert tended bar at the Starlite for nine years, and in 2010 he came to StoryCorps with fellow bartender Donna Cuthbert to talk about their time working there; the nights of dancing, the beloved jukebox and the eccentric regulars—some of whom refused to go home.
That same year the property owner sold the building, and despite efforts by the local community it was last call for the Starlite. But its legacy as a gathering space for the gay Black community lives on in the memories of its former employees and patrons.
Originally aired December 30, 2022 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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