Listening matters

Every Friday morning on National Public Radio there's a feature I listen out for: StoryCorps.

StoryCorps is the brainchild of Dave Isay. He has set up recording booths, two in New York City and others that tour the country. Anyone can book a session in a booth, but the idea is that you share the session with a friend or family member and for forty minutes you talk and listen to each other. Often quite remarkable stories emerge as a result. You get to keep a copy of your conversation on cd, and another copy goes to the Library of Congress. Thus a fascinating archive of the personal histories of ordinary American people is being created.

Each week NPR presents three-minutes from one of these conversations - audio snapshots of human experience. It is nearly always interesting, often moving, and serves as a reminder that every person we encounter has a story to tell. We should all take more time to listen to each other.

If you have the time and inclination, you can listen to StoryCorps podcasts here. You might want to keep a hankie handy for some of them.