Mandela was a lawyer, freedom fighter, leader of the African National Congress, and finally, president.
Stories
Working, Then and Now
We present a special, one hour episode of our series The Working Tapes of Studs Terkel.
My Iron Lung (Revisited)
Paul Alexander, one of two people in the United States relying on an iron lung, died recently at 78 years …
My So-Called Lungs (Revisited)
Laura Rothenberg tried to live a normal life, with lungs that betrayed her and the awareness that she might not live to see her 30th birthday.
The Drum Also Waltzes
At the age of 16, he played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He went on to make landmark recordings with …
The Man on the President’s Limo
Today marks 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. There are many photos from that day in …
The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island
A weekly series untangling the mysteries of Hart Island, America’s largest public cemetery.
The Longest Game
In the spring of 1981, the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings met for a minor league game …
The Girls of the Leesburg Stockade
In July 1963, a group of young Black girls were arrested while protesting in Americus, Georgia. They were jailed at a stockade for more than 45 days, their families had no idea where they were. This is that story.
The Gospel Ranger
Outside the Appalachian mountains, his name was barely known. But Claude Ely influenced some of the pioneers of rock & roll.
Meet Miss Subways
Beauty pageants promote the fantasy of the ideal woman. But for 35 years, the Miss Subways contest in New York City celebrated the everyday working girl.
The Ski Troops of WWII
The men of the 10th Mountain Division led a series of daring assaults against the Nazis in the mountains of Italy. After returning home, many of these soldiers helped to create the modern ski industry.
Living with Dying
On Valentine’s Day 2020, Peter Fodera’s heart broke. He nearly died. Peter sat down with his daughter who knows a thing or two about death.
The Rise and Fall of Black Swan Records
The story of the first major black-owned record label and the mystery behind the man who created it.
The Almost Astronaut
In an attempt to beat the Soviet Union in the space race, the Kennedy administration enlisted Air Force captain Ed Dwight to enter the astronaut training program as its first Black trainee.
The End of Smallpox
Rahima Banu holds a remarkable place in history, as the last known person in the world to be infected with smallpox. This week on the RadioDiaries podcast, the story behind a global effort to eradicate the deadly virus.
Sofia’s Choice: A Ukrainian Diary
Sofia’s mother Vita was living in Kharkiv, Ukraine when Russian forces invaded. The family is now faced with an difficult choice.
A Museum of Sound
Thanks to the Music Modernization Act, tens of thousands of recordings made before 1923 will enter the public domain for the very first time on January 1, 2022.
Last Witness: The Kerner Commission
Former Senator Oklahoma Fred Harris is the last surviving member of the Kerner Commission, a group appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the root causes of the violence and civil unrest that swept the nation in the late ’60s.
America Vs. America
On March 1, 1954, four young Puerto Rican New Yorkers launched on attack on the U.S. Capitol.
How to Lose an Election: A History
In every U.S. presidential election since 1896, the losing candidate has given a concession speech.
Centenarians in Lockdown
Winner of the 2020 Third Coast Festival Award! Joe Newman is 107 years old. He recorded himself and his fiancé, Anita Sampson on her 100th birthday.
The Forgotten Story of Clinton Melton
Emmett Till’s murder is considered the spark that ignited a burgeoning Civil Rights movement. But there was another brazen murder of a Black man that happened just three months later, in a neighboring town in the Delta.
Segregation Now, Segregation Forever: The Infamous Words of George Wallace
Radio Diaries tells the story behind those infamous words, and the man who delivered them.
The Final Frontline
Fourth generation funeral directors reflect on their experience of the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for a second wave.
Quarantined in the Pizzeria
COVID-19 has forced many families to improvise childcare. For some, it’s been like a four month long ‘bring your child to work’ day.
Lockdown in Lockup
Moe Monsuri shares his experience of the pandemic from behind bars at Sing Sing prison. Part of our new series Hunker Down Diaries.
Home is Where You Park Your Mini Van
As the pandemic hit, Naida Lavon found herself without a home and without a job. Part of our Hunker Down Diaries series.
Soul Sister: The Limits of Empathy
A story about the limits of empathy. A collaboration with NPR’s Code Switch.
March of the Bonus Army
In 1932, 20,000 WWI veterans set up a tent city in Washington. They called themselves the Bonus Army.
Love at First Quarantine
Gali and Joshua made the surprising decision to quarantine together, after their very first date. Part of our series Hunker Down Diaries.
Love from Six Feet Apart
Part of our series Hunker Down Diaries. Wendy is an ER Doctor. Her husband is immunocompromised. During the pandemic, they are living together… six feet apart.
Busman’s Holiday
The story of William Cimillo, a New York City bus driver who snapped one day in 1947, left his regular route in the Bronx, and drove his municipal bus down to Florida.
Claudette Colvin: “History Had Me Glued To The Seat”
You know the story of Rosa Parks. But have you heard of Claudette Colvin?
The View From the 79th Floor
On the Radio Diaries Podcast, we tell the story of the plane that crashed into the Empire State Building.
The Dropped Wrench
Sometimes we make mistakes. They just don’t always happen in a nuclear missile silo. This story was produced in collaboration with This American Life.
Prisoners Of War
During the war in Vietnam, there was a notorious American prison on the outskirts of Saigon…a prison for American soldiers.
The Working Tapes
In the early 1970’s, author Studs Terkel went around the country with a reel-to-reel tape recorder interviewing people about their jobs.
Remembering Olivia Hooker
Olivia Hooker was one of the last surviving witnesses to the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
When Nazis Took Manhattan
On February 20, 1939, 20,000 American Nazis rallied at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event was billed as a “Pro-American” rally, but it championed Hitler and fascism.
A Guitar, A Cello, and The Day That Changed Music
November 23, 1936, was a very good day for recorded music.
Ballad for Americans
How a ten minute operatic folk cantata managed to unite Democrats, Republicans and Communists.
Last Witness: Mission to Hiroshima
Russell Gackenbach is the only surviving member of the crew that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This is his story.
Last Witness: The General Slocum
In 1904, a steamship on its way to a church picnic sank in the East River. More than 1,000 people, many of them women and children, died in the disaster.
Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair
Bridgette McGee is unearthing everything she can about her grandfather’s life – and his death.
A Movement, a Massacre, and Mexico’s 50 Year Search for the Truth
The secret behind the 1968 massacre of students in Tlatelolco.
Majd’s Diary: Two Years in the Life of a Saudi Girl
Majd wants to be a scientist. Her family wants to arrange her marriage.
New Podcast: Weasel’s Diary, Revisited
We check in with Jose William Huezo Soriano – aka Weasel – 15 years after he recorded his audio diary about being deported to El Salvador.
The Two Lives of Asa Carter
Asa Carter and Forrest Carter couldn’t have been more different. But they shared a secret.
The Chamizal: A Town Between Borders
When the U.S. and Mexico chose the Rio Grande as an international border, they didn’t expect the river to move.
Working Then and Now
In the early 1970s, radio host and oral historian Studs Terkel recorded more than 130 interviews for his bestselling oral history “Working.”
Frankie: 16 Years Later
As a teenager, Frankie recorded his life as a high school football star. 16 years later and with a baby on the way, he shares his struggle with drug addiction.
Josh: 16 Years Later
In high school, Josh documented his life with Tourette’s Syndrome. 16 years later, Josh records a new diary about trying to live a normal adult life with a brain that often betrays him.
Burma ’88
25 years ago, university students in Burma sparked a countrywide uprising. They called for a nationwide strike on 8/8/88, a date they chose for its numerological power.
Amanda: 16 Years Later
At the age of 17, Amanda knew she was gay. But her parents kept insisting she’d grow out of it. Today, a lot has changed in the country, and within her own family. In her new story, Amanda goes back to her parents to find out how they came to accept having a daughter who is gay.
Melissa: 16 Years Later
As an 18 year old raised in the foster care system, Melissa took NPR listeners along when she gave birth to her son Issaiah. Sixteen years later she chronicles her life as a working single mother.
Juan: 16 Years Later
16 years ago, Juan reported on his life as a recent Mexican immigrant living in poverty in Texas. In his new diary, Juan takes us on a tour of the life he has built since he first crossed the Rio Grande. It looks a lot like the typical American dream: a house, 2 cars, 3 kids—except for the fact he’s still living illegally in the U.S.
Teen Contender
At 16, Claressa Shields was the youngest woman to compete for a spot on the first-ever women’s Olympic boxing team.
Teenage Diaries Series
Since 1996, Radio Diaries has given tape recorders to young people around the country and worked with them to produce the Teenage Diaries series for NPR.
Mexico ’68: A Movement, A Massacre, and the 40-Year Search for the Truth
The Massacre of Tlatelolco has become a defining moment in Mexican history, but for forty years the truth of that day has remained hidden.
Weasel’s Diary: Deported
A 26-year-old Los Angeles resident gets deported to his parents’ home country of El Salvador, which he has not seen since age five.
Thembi’s AIDS Diary
Thembi Ngubane was willing to stand up and speak out at a time when few South Africans were willing to say, “I have AIDS.”
The Last Man on the Mountain
In the 1990s, Arch Coal began mining Pigeonroost Hollow. Now Jimmy Weekley is the last person left there.
The Square Deal
George F. Johnson was the owner of the Endicott Johnson Corp. — at one time the country’s leading shoe manufacturer — and one of the nation’s leading welfare capitalists known for his labor policy, the “Square Deal.”
Strange Fruit: Voices of a Lynching
“Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop.” -Abel Meeropol
Soweto 1976
On June 16th, 1976, in South Africa, a group of school children in the black township of Soweto held a protest and changed the course of a nation.
The Pygmy in the Zoo
On September 8th, 1906, New York’s Bronx Zoo unveiled a new exhibit that would attract thousands of visitors. Inside a cage, in the monkey house, was a man.
West Side Story: Michael Farmer and the Murder that Shocked New York
More than fifty years ago, Puerto Rican and black gang members in New York City fatally stabbed Michael Farmer, a white teenager.
Identical Strangers
Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein were both born in New York City and adopted as infants. When they were 35-years-old, they met, and found they were “identical strangers.”
Victoria Woodhull: The First Woman to Run for President
In the 19th century, Victoria Woodhull was many things: a clairvoyant, a businesswoman, an advocate for women’s rights and sexual freedom, and a presidential candidate.
A Man and His Cello
Bernard Greenhouse was a founding member of the acclaimed Beaux Arts Trio. At 92, he continues to perform and teach. And his cello, a 300-year-old Stradivarius, has been his constant companion.
William Jennings Bryan: The Speech That Changed Politics
William Jenning Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech is known today as one of the most important oratorical performances in American history.
Adlai Stevenson: A Candidate in the Age of Television
The 1952 presidential campaign pitted the popular General Dwight D. Eisenhower against the intensely private Adlai Stevenson. It was an election fought on a new battleground: television.
Margaret Chase Smith: Cold War Warrior in Pearls
In 1964, Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman from a major party to run for President.
Shirley Chisholm: The Politics of Principle
In 1972, Shirley Chisholm launched a spirited campaign for the Democratic nomination. She was the first woman and first African American to run.
Pasquale Spensieri, Grinder
Pasquale Spensieri spends his days driving around Brooklyn looking for dull blades.
Cali Rivera, Cowbell Maker
Forty-five years ago, Cali Rivera started out with a dream to make the perfect cowbell.
Charlie Zimmerman, Watertower Builder
Charlie works for Rosenwach Tanks, building wooden water tanks.
Frank Schubert, Lighthouse Keeper
Frank Schubert is the last civilian lighthouse keeper in the United States.
Selma Koch, Bra Saleswoman
94-year old Selma Koch runs the Town Shop, one of New York’s last old-style bra fitting shops.
Walter Backerman, Seltzer Man
Once there were thousands of seltzer men in New York City. Today, Walter Backerman is one of the last.
Gracie Allen: The Joke That Became a Campaign
In 1940 the United States was just emerging from the shadow of the Great Depression and war loomed in Europe. Into these serious times stepped Gracie Allen.
The “Veep”
Alben Barkley served in Congress for close to 40 years and was Harry Truman’s vice president. But he never made it to the pinnacle of power.
When Ground Zero was Radio Row
For more than four decades, the area around Cortlandt Street in lower Manhattan was the largest collection of radio and electronics stores in the world. Then in 1966 the stores were bulldozed to make way for the new World Trade Center.
The WASPs: Women Pilots of WWII
In the early 1940s, the government launched an experimental program to train women pilots. They were known as the WASPs, the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
The 10th Mountain
The men of the 10th Mountain Division led a series of daring assaults against the Nazis in the mountains of Italy. After returning home, many of these soldiers helped to create the modern ski industry.
The Last Place: Diary of a Retirement Home
A group of residents of The Presbyterian Home use tape recorders to document their lives.
Serving 9 to 5: Diaries of Prison Guards
Diaries from officers who work behind bars at Polk Youth Institution.
Going Home: Cristel’s Diary
At 15, Cristel attacked a classmate with a razor blade. After 3 years of incarceration, she’s being released.
Doing Time: John’s Diary
As a kid, John dreamed of becoming a police officer, but by the age of 17, John had committed more than 75 armed robberies.
Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary
Through their diaries, Matthew and Judge Jeremiah tell the same story from two different sides of the bench.
Amanda’s Diary: Girlfriend
Amanda is gay. Amanda’s family is Catholic. And she’s having a hard time convincing her parents that this is not “just a phase.”
Josh’s Diaries: Tourette’s
Josh has Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable tics and involuntary verbal outbursts.
Melissa’s Diaries: Teen Mom
Melissa never meant to get pregnant. But now, after 12 years of living in the foster care system, she’s trying to build the family she never had.
Frankie’s Diaries: Welcome Home, Dad / Football
Frankie always thought his family was pretty normal until the day the FBI showed up.
Juan’s Diaries: Looking at the Rio Grande
Juan crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally with his family as a teenager. Now he lives next to the Rio Grande in Texas.
