FIND JOY
Elmo is staying home.
But sends out a Big Virtual Hug
We could all use a hug right now.
Jackie Miller adopted her son, Scott, in the early 1970s. In 2008 Scott brought his mom to StoryCorps to ask her about that decision.
On Empathy,
"Rarely, can a response [to fix the problem] make something better. What makes something better is connection" ~Brene Brown~
Army Specialist Justin Cliburn, a veteran of the Iraq war, remembers an unlikely friendship he formed with two local Baghdadi boys.
Kay Wang was a strong-willed grandmother who was reluctantly taken to a StoryCorps booth by her son and granddaughter. Though Kay resisted, she still had stories to tell—from disobeying her mother and rebuffing suitors while growing up in China to late-life adventures as a detective for Bloomingdale's department store. Kay passed away just weeks after that interview, and her son and granddaughter returned to StoryCorps to remember her gentler side, which she kept to herself.
"Accountability is a vulnerable process.
Blame is the discharging of [anger] discomfort and pain."
~Brene Brown~
Stop raging. Find your tenacity and grit to hold people accountable, including yourself.
Jenn Stanley is a self-described liberal. Her father, Peter Stanley, votes Republican. Over time, a deepening chasm between them made it difficult to talk about the things they care about — until they sat down to try and listen to each other’s points of view. Presented through One Small Step, StoryCorps’ new national effort to encourage people to engage in a conversation with someone they may not agree with politically.
“It was this common ‘that’s not okay’ moment.” Days after the 2016 election, a Muslim student at the University of Texas came to a march protesting the election of Donald Trump. Attending the same rally was a Trump supporter sporting a sign that read “Proud to Be Deplorable” and a “Make America Great Again” cap.
Blanca Alvarez and her husband immigrated into the U.S. and struggled to make ends meet. They hoped to shelter their children from these harsh realities, but Blanca's daughter Connie reveals how much children can really see of their parents' lives—and the inspiration they draw from their struggles.