To protect his wife and kids during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Roberto Vargas isolated himself from them in the basement of their home. The family speaks virtually about the ways they have come together despite the distance between them.
One Small Step is an effort to connect people so they can remember that people with whom they disagree are human beings. In doing this, we can begin to mend the fraying fabric of our nation — one conversation at a time.
Growing up on his family farm in South Carolina, Drew Lanham was fascinated by birds, but life took him in a different direction. At StoryCorps, he told his friend, John Lane, how he found his way back.
Barnie Botone was 22 years old when he got his very first job on the railroad. At StoryCorps, he remembered the day he told his grandmother the news.
Arguster and Lebronze Davis, along with their 15 siblings, grew up on their family’s farm in Wetumpka, Alabama in the 1950s. They came to StoryCorps to talk about their childhood and remember the wisdom of their dad, Ben Davis.
Barb Abelhauser worked in an office for 14 years until one day she quit and decided to become a bridgetender on the Ortega River Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida. She planned to work there for a year. Eight years later she came to StoryCorps to talk about why she stayed.
Stefan Lynch remembers the community of gay men - lovingly nicknamed his "aunties" - who helped raise him, the dark days of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, and the lessons that he learned from this powerful family.
When Wil Smith enrolled as a freshman in college, he brought an unusual roommate with him — his infant daughter. Wil and Olivia look back together on their days as college roommates.
Sometimes the memories may be a little hazy, but the feelings are clear. Ken Morganstern, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's five years before this conversation with his daughters Priya and Bhavani, discusses his most important legacy — his loving family.
John Washington, 95, was born blind and with a severe loss of hearing. He sat down with his eldest child, Melva Washington Toomer, for a conversation about the pride he takes in his kids and to laugh over some of their childhood hijinks.
