Current (https://current.org/project-category/storytelling/)
The “Only Here” podcast provides an intimate look at one of the world’s busiest border crossings, where San Diego and Tijuana meet. Over time, the podcast has attracted an audience on both sides of the border with stories about the culture and creativity forged in this tense region. Hosted by a member of a bilingual hip-hop band in Tijuana, the podcast deepens understanding and connection between listeners on both sides of the border.
Local Switchboard NYC is a collective of women who produce multimedia content for and by the communities of New York City’s varied boroughs. Local journalists and community members are trained in audio production so they can cover their own neighborhoods and tell stories often overlooked and underreported by larger media organizations. This new initiative was piloted at WBAI-FM.
KUOW’s Curiosity Club is a nerdy supper club exploring the possibility that great food and compelling storytelling can turn a group of strangers into a community. Ten diverse community members, selected by an application process meet for a series of dinners. A month before each dinner, members are assigned five multimedia KUOW stories as “homework,” where the homework seeds the dinner conversations, which are both 1:1 and whole-group discussions. Afterwards, participants complete a survey, and some write thoughtful, surprising reflections posted to KUOW.org/curiosityclub.
You Know the Place (YKTP) is a podcast that examines the small local businesses most of us never enter or even notice. YKTP gos to the stores overlooked by any form of media to ask: What do you sell or make? Who’s your customer? How long have you been in business? How do you compete with Walmart and Amazon?
VPM’s Instagram is a social media strategy that provides a platform to highlight Virginians who educate, entertain and inspire. This strategy has manifest itself through quality and expressive portrait photography, intimate first-person story telling and remarkable community building. VPM’s Instagram gained over 4,000 followers since taking on this strategy, increased our engagement and built new collaborations with local organizations.
On November 10, 1898, white supremacists forcefully removed black politicians from the Wilmington, DE city government, killing as many as 300 people in the nation’s only coup d’etat. WQHR’s project documents that event, creating an educational resource for the community to explore an under-documented aspect of the city’s and nation’s history. And interactive map follows the arc of the coup with historical photos, documents, and video interviews embedded at key points.
Hive is WFDD’s multi-tiered education program that, through storytelling, empowers young people (and some grown-ups!) to ask questions, think critically, and care about their community. It provides both content and revenue for WFDD. Though primarily youth-focused, Hive serves people ages 10 – 65+, through a variety of programs, including a summer student Radio Camp and Radio 101 classes embedded in local schools and colleges during the school year.
Howl Story Slam is an on-going, live storytelling competition developed by North Country Public Radio to connect the people and communities of the “North County,” the area of New York State in and above the Adirondacks. Each event involves local businesses and community members, with much of the publicity driven by Facebook posts. Individual storytellers of all ages compete in local events with the winners of local story slams advancing to a “Grand Slam” finale. Audio and video of the slams are posted on NCPR.org.
KALW teaches California prisoners how to conduct deep, personal interviews with other inmates, and craft them into sound-rich audio stories. The station donates computers, equipment, and software so that inmates can record and edit from inside. With funding from the California Arts Council, KALW engages inmates at Solano prison to conduct “StoryCorps”-style conversations. Over 60 pieces by incarcerated people have aired on KALW and in podcast players as “Uncuffed.” The work has been life-changing for producers, prisoners and their families, and listeners say they are deeply moved.