StoryCorps is back in Austin, recording stories of Central Texans as part of its cross-country tour. It's the non-profit's third visit to Austin.
The process is simple: make a reservation and show up at the MobileBooth with someone you know and care about. Inside the Airstream trailer, you both sit at a small, diner-like booth and have a conversation or ask each other questions.
StoryCorps records that talk and it becomes archived at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. It can also get edited into one of the widely-heard conversations broadcast on NPR stations across the country, including KUT.
Emily Janssen is the site manager for the StoryCorps Mobile Tour. She says these conversations help bring local history alive.
“Even if someone’s not telling the story of a historical event, it becomes a part of the backdrop of our lives and we start to learn about that and hear about that in each place," Janssen says.
StoryCorps kicked off its visit with Jody Conradt, former head coach of UT women’s basketball team, and musician Alejandro Escovedo.
The MobileBooth is outside the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum at MLK and Congress. The next opportunity for Central Texans to make a reservation is Jan. 7 at 10 a.m.
KUT will air segments of selected local interviews recorded in the StoryCorps MobileBooth in January and early February on Mondays and Wednesdays during NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
Select pieces will also be available on the StoryCorps page at KUT.org.
