Russell Lehmann and David Apkarian
Air travel can be a stressful experience for just about anyone. But for 26-year-old Russell Lehmann, a flight delay or cancellation isn’t just a small inconvenience. He was diagnosed with autism at age 12, and unexpected changes can cause him to have a meltdown — when sensory overload causes him to lose control and break down crying.
That’s what happened when he tried to catch a flight from Reno, Nevada to Cincinnati. At StoryCorps, Russell sat down with David Apkarian, an airline employee, to remember that difficult day.
Russell is a poet and advocate for autism awareness who regularly speaks about his experiences on the autism spectrum. Learn more about him and his work here.
Originally aired September 22, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Bottom photo: Russell Lehmann and David Apkarian on the day of Russell’s meltdown, June 3, 2017. Courtesy of Russell Lehmann.
Carla Saunders and Kyle Cook
Kyle Cook and Carla Saunders are neonatal nurse practitioners at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.
They’ve spent decades caring for infants, but when the opioid crisis began to hit in 2010, their jobs changed in ways they never anticipated.
Tennessee has seen a sharp increase in babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), a condition marked by tremors and constant shaking in babies who experience withdrawal. In fact, over the past decade, the incidence of babies born with NAS in the state has risen nearly ten-fold.
Kyle and Carla came to StoryCorps to remember when they began to notice how this affected their patients firsthand.
Over the past several years, Kyle and Carla helped establish one of the first treatment protocols for babies exposed to opioids, as well as a program connecting mothers with treatment and therapy.
Originally aired September 15, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
This interview was recorded at the 2016 National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, in partnership with Operation UNITE.
StoryCorps 444: Your Biggest Fan
On this week’s podcast, stories about people meeting some of their heroes — both famous and not.
Our first story comes from New York City, where Ed Trinka (above), a doorman at the legendary Plaza Hotel, talks with Debra Goodman. They met on Debra’s morning commute — she passed by the Plaza each day, and Ed never failed to say hello.
Our second story comes from Wisconsin where Jim Krawczyk (below) grew up. He recounts a road trip he took to New Hampshire to meet his hero, J.D. Salinger. Arriving in the town of Cornish, Jim had a door slammed in his face by Salinger’s ex-wife but was later allowed into the home of the reclusive author by Salinger himself.
Our third story was recorded in New York City between two friends who had not seen each other in 40 years. As children, Ralph Tremonte and Donald Weiss (below) were patients at a New York state psychiatric institution. Both were deeply affected by the experience but Ralph uses their StoryCorps conversation as an opportunity to offer his old friend support, encouragement, and advice to try not to look back on their difficult childhood experiences.
Like the music in this episode? Support the artists:
Cinematic Royal – “Sprung”
Benny Goodman – “When You’re Smiling”
Caribou – “Bees”
Explosions in the Sky & David Wingo – “Send Off”
Originally released October 20, 2015.
Anthony “Tony Bees” Planakis
When bee season in New York City begins in early spring, retired police detective (and New York City Police Department’s unofficial beekeeper) Anthony “Tony Bees” Planakis gets busy tending to his hives and rescuing swarms.
“Tony Bees” didn’t always love bees. In fact, it took a long time for his beekeeper father to convince him of their beauty. Ultimately, Tony became enamored with honeybees and even has a tattoo dedicated to his affection for them. He says it’s in his blood; he’s a fourth generation beekeeper whose family hails from Crete.
At StoryCorps, Anthony talked about what drew him to working with bees, and what he’s learned from them.
Tony retired from the New York Police Department in 2014. He now works as a private consultant and contractor removing hives and swarms all over the New York City region.
Originally aired June 2, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top photo: Police Officer Anthony “Tony Bees” Planakis from the 114th Precinct works on the removal of a beehive in a tree on 13th Avenue and 45th Street in Brooklyn, circa 1995. (Photo by Ken Murray/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Bottom Photos: Tony Bees shows off his bee-themed tattoos. The scroll reads in Latin: “Go to the honeybee, thy poet, consider her ways and be wise.”
Tyree Hicks and Jamel Massey
Jamel Massey (below right) and Tyree Hicks (below left) met at the Institute for Transformative Mentoring at The New School. They were both first arrested when they were teenagers, and they now mentor people from their own neighborhoods, including those who were formerly incarcerated. While serving a sentence for manslaughter, Jamel met a mentor who he credits with helping change the direction of his life.
Jamel and Tyree’s conversation was recorded through the StoryCorps Justice Project, which preserves and amplifies the stories of people who have been directly impacted by mass incarceration. The Justice Project is made possible, in part, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice Challenge, #RethinkJails, and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. This conversation was recorded through our community partnership with the Institute for Transformative Mentoring, a professional training program focused on the development of Credible Messengers working in the social services fields throughout New York City.
Released May 11, 2017.
Fatuma Abdullahi, Annie Johnson, and Maryan Osman
Even though they’re only teenagers, Fatuma Abdullahi and her sister, Maryan Osman, have undertaken a long, complicated journey to get to where they are today.
When they were very young, the girls lost their parents during the civil war in Somalia, the country in which they were born. They were taken in by their grandmother until she was resettled in Australia. Fatuma and Maryan were to follow her there, but in the interim, Australia closed its borders to Somali refugees. The were shuffled between family members in Kenya until they were eventually left on their own.
Then, in 2014, Fatuma and Maryan were resettled in the United States through Catholic Community Services of Utah. There they found a stable, loving home with a young couple, Annie and Randall Johnson, near Salt Lake City. They also live with their little brother, Roscoe, and their dog, Maddox.
Fatuma and Maryan recently sat down with Annie to talk about what it’s been like — for all of them — to become a family.
Originally aired April 7, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Bottom photo: Randall Johnson, Maryan Osman, Fatuma Abdullahi, Roscoe Johnson, and Annie Johnson at their home in Murray, UT.
Toni Henson and Camaran Henson
As a kid, Camaran Henson would stay up late listening to his grandfather, Leonard Simmons, tell stories about his experiences as police officer in Newark, New Jersey.
Leonard worked undercover for “The Bandit Squad” — a group of detectives who investigated armed robberies in the 1970s — and Camaran was convinced that his grandfather was a real-life superhero. Camaran’s mom, Toni, knows the feeling because she grew up hearing these tales as well.
Leonard died in 2013, but Toni and Camaran came to StoryCorps to pass his stories on — since long conversations are something of a family tradition.
Originally aired March 10, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top photo: Camaran Henson with his grandfather, Leonard Simmons, ca. 1994. Courtesy of Toni Henson.
Philip and Andy
In 2014, we heard a conversation between Paul Braun, a sergeant in the Minnesota National Guard, and the interpreter he served with in Iraq, who goes by the name Philip — a moniker bestowed on him by American soldiers because he favored Philip Morris cigarettes.
In Iraq, former interpreters’ lives are in constant danger because of their association with American soldiers. So Braun helped sponsor Philip’s immigration to the U.S., and at the time of their interview, they were living together in Minneapolis.
But Philip had to leave his wife and four children behind in Iraq. He spent three years attempting to obtain visas for them so they could join him in Minnesota, even putting his life at risk by traveling back to Iraq in 2014.
Finally, in October 2016, the visas came through, and now Philip’s family — including his nephew, Andy, who was also an interpreter — are adjusting to life in the U.S. Two months after his family’s arrival, Philip came back to StoryCorps to give Andy some advice on adjusting to his new home.
You can learn more about Philip’s story in the 2015 documentary The Interpreter.
Originally broadcast February 3, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Bottom photo: Philip with his wife, Ghania, the day she arrived in Minneapolis. Photo by Sameer Saadi.
Judy Charest and Harold Hogue
On December 24, 1956, Marguerite Hunt drove with her 3-month-old daughter, Judy, to the Shelby Street Bridge (now called the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge) in Nashville, Tennessee, got out of her car, and with her baby in her arms, jumped 90 feet into the cold waters of the Cumberland River.
Harold Hogue, an engineer with the Nashville Bridge Company was at work in a nearby building and happened to see the incident unfold through an office window. Immediately, he and his colleague, Jack Knox, ran to the river and saw Marguerite in the water holding onto a piece of rebar pleading for someone to save her baby. Jack jumped into the water and grabbed Judy, swam back to shore, handed her to Harold, and headed back into the river in an attempt to now save Marguerite. Harold rushed Judy to the first aid station in the Nashville Bridge Company building and left the infant in the care of a nurse; with help from others, including Harold, Marguerite was saved as well.
When Judy Charest was 21 years old, Marguerite was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It was also the first time Judy learned of the Christmas Eve incident on the bridge. Jack passed away in 2005, and Marguerite died in 2015. Recently, Harold told his grandson about the rescue and he was able to track down Judy allowing them to meet again almost 60 years after Harold helped save her life.
At StoryCorps, Judy and Harold discuss both of their meetings.
Originally aired December 23, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Above: Rescuers pull Marguerite Hunt onto the shore of the Cumberland River. Harold Hogue is in the foreground in a white shirt, dark pants, and wearing a watch. Originally published Christmas Eve 1956, photo courtesy of Mike Hudgins/The Nashville Retrospect.
Francisco Ortega and Kaya Ortega
Growing up in rural Tijuana, Mexico, Francisco Ortega was among the youngest of his family’s 10 children. In 1975, his parents made the difficult decision to leave him and his siblings in the care of his beloved aunt, Trinidad, and move to Los Angeles to find work. Once there, his father worked as a busboy and his mother as a seamstress in a clothing factory; each month they sent back money for food and clothing.
Only about 6 years old when his parents left, Francisco was an intuitive, energetic, and excitable boy. He spent hours playing in the hills and fruit orchards of Tijuana, and chasing rattlesnakes with his dogs. He also acted up a lot and often gave his aunt a hard time.
He didn’t see his parents for nearly three and a half years, and couldn’t understand why they left. He missed his mother terribly but through hard work his parents became more financially stable, and in 1978, 9-year-old Francisco joined them in Los Angeles.
At StoryCorps, Francisco—who works to strengthen relationships between the Los Angeles Police Department and the community—shares memories of his childhood in Tijuana with his 16-year-old daughter, Kaya, and tells her about the day he left Mexico to reunite with his parents in Los Angeles.
Originally aired December 16, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.