Take One Small Step with StoryCorps
Is there someone with whom you disagree but still respect? Was there a moment, event, or person in your life who shaped your political views? Do you feel misunderstood by people who have different beliefs than you?
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.
About the Initiative
Since we started our work nearly 17 years ago, StoryCorps has perfected a method for helping people feel more connected and for reminding us of the inherent worth of every person and every story. People come together to have otherwise impossible conversations, using our tools and questions. The microphone gives them license to talk about things they otherwise might not discuss.
Now, we are doing something different. We are asking people with different political views to record a StoryCorps interview with each other. Why? To break down boundaries created by politics and remember our shared humanity. To remind us that we have more in common than divides us and that treating those with whom we disagree with decency and respect is essential to a functioning democracy.
StoryCorps designed One Small Step to leverage its interview model and begin undoing the idea of “us” versus “them” in the United States. During the pilot phase in 2018-19, more than 800 Americans in 40 cities took part. Now, we’re expanding our effort to heal and humanize each other in the challenging months and years ahead.
One Small Step Cities
In 2020, One Small Step will anchor in four of our country’s most politically diverse cities. We have chosen communities that are culturally, historically, and demographically distinct, and that we believe can lead the way in showing us all what is possible when we take time to listen to the opinions of people with whom we disagree.
Join our email list to take One Small Step with StoryCorps, to receive project updates, and a matching survey.
Record with your local station
With support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, six radio station partners across the country now also offer opportunities to record a One Small Step conversation. If you are in the area of one of these locations, please visit the links below to be matched by your local public radio station:
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- Jacksonville, FL (WJCT)
- Cleveland, OH (ideastream)
- Pittsburgh, PA (WESA)
- Richmond, VA (VPM)
- Wichita, KS (KMUW)
- Shreveport, LA (Red River Radio)
Read the full announcement about our work with One Small Step partners, and stay tuned for more from these stations.
Partner with Us
We want to activate local communities around this project. To achieve this, StoryCorps is seeking partners that represent various political backgrounds and that can recruit, orient, then enlist their constituents in recording interviews. If you are interested in working side-by-side with StoryCorps to make these exciting and enriching conversations come to life, please contact us at onesmallstep@storycorps.org
Featured Stories from One Small Step
Support For One Small Step
One Small Step is made possible by the generous support by a wide range of funders including the Fetzer Institute, Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg’s The Wunderkinder Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Charles Koch Institute.
