While you're preparing your holiday feast or relaxing with loved ones during the Thanksgiving break, enjoy this playlist of special StoryCorps episodes.
And while you're spending time with extended family and friends, why not create your own oral history by recording an interview with an elder, mentor, or friend? With permission, the interviews will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Learn more about participating here.
2021 StoryCorps Playlist
In the US 50 Years, a Man Reflects on His Arrival from Honduras
A half-century ago, Roy Daley was 23 years old and living in the capital of Honduras when a friend offered him a job in the United States. So he immigrated with little more than two shirts and a change of pants. Roy came to StoryCorps with his wife, Ana, and his daughter, Lucy, to talk about his early days in America.
Leslye Huff and Mary Ostendorf
Seventy-nine year-old Mary Ostendorf and her spouse Leslye Huff first met in 1983. But like so many LGBTQ people back then, Mary didn't tell her family about the relationship and Leslye went along with that.
From Beets to Brilliance: A Grandmother’s Wisdom Lives On
Chloe Longfellow, 32, remembers her close relationship with her grandmother, Doris Louise Rolison, who taught her to cook in a kitchen that also served as a classroom for Rolison's life lessons.
Herman Travis and Robert Cochran
Herman Travis lives in Holly Courts, a low-income housing complex in San Francisco.
Every Tuesday, Herman fills a shopping cart with groceries from a local food bank and makes home deliveries to his elderly neighbors. He came to StoryCorps with Robert Cochran, one of the people he delivers to each week.
Scott Maccauley
Every Thanksgiving Scott Macaulay cooks dinner for strangers in his hometown of Melrose, Massachusetts. At StoryCorps, Scott explains how he invites people to his holiday dinner and how a tradition that began with him feeding a dozen people back in 1985 became a meal for close to a hundred diners.
James Kennicott and Kara Masteller
Recorded using the StoryCorps app, a granddaughter talks to her grandfather about a difficult upbringing, loved ones lost and gets advice on growing older.
For a Father’s Last Meal, the Main Ingredient Is Love (Candi Reyes and Estela Reyes)
Juan Reyes was born in Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1940s, eventually settling his family in El Paso, Texas. Estela, 50, and Candi, 46, adored their dad, and at StoryCorps in 2012, they recalled the lasting influence he had on them.