Studs Terkel and oral history
On WUNC’s The State of Things today, an interesting radio interview with the director and cast of the dramatic reading of Studs Terkel’s book about death, Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
Blogging and journaling
I’ve been invited to be a guest on WUNC’s The State of Things tomorrow. Host Frank Stasio will talk first with Duke Documentary Studies professor Margaret Sartor about her new book, Miss American Pie (reviewed today in the NYTimes). That book comes from her childhood diary.
After Sartor, NPR senior editor Marcus Rosenbaum will talk about his grandmother’s diaries, which he edited into Heart of a Wife: The Diary of a Southern Jewish Woman.
Then I’m up, to talk about how blogging can be like journaling, and how blogs are different than written diaries. I’ll draw on my decade of journaling (from college through my Peace Corps service) as well as my reasons for writing a blog (to practice writing, to record my observations, to share news with my family and friends).
This will also be a good time for me to talk about the StoryBlogging project, a grassroots oral history plus blogging initiative. This effort has been germinating for quite some time, but just this weekend I stumbled upon a perfect occasion around which to organize a StoryBlogging event: at UNC this fall, Playmakers Repertory Company will stage Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, a play based on the bestselling book about Albom’s conversations with a beloved but dying professor. I’m hoping to put together a workshop on oral history and memoir writing for a group of senior citizens and younger bloggers. Stay tuned for more about that.
For tomorrow’s show, listen in on WUNC 91.5 FM (live stream from the website) at noon; the show repeats at 9 p.m.
Crossposted at http://mistersugar.com/article/4151/hear-me-on-the-radio .
Mark your calendars for StoryCorps in Durham
The StoryCorps mobile booth will visit Durham (American Tobacco Historic District, perhaps?) starting April 6th. You can make a reservation for a recording time starting March 28th at 10 a.m.
Storytelling how-to
From WUNC (and my brother-in-law, Tom Michael) comes this note:
Ira Glass, host of This American Life, is coming to Chapel Hill for a one-man show, Radio Stories and Other Stories, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. at UNC’s Memorial Hall. The program will give the audience a behind-the-scenes look at how stories and music are woven into his unique program, This American Life. Tickets available here or by calling the Memorial Hall Box Office at 919-843-3333 Monday – Friday 10a – 6p. Hope to see you there!
The Aging Exchange
UNC’s Institute on Aging and a host of other departments hosts The Aging Exchange tomorrow at the Friday Center. Looks like a good place for me to talk up the StoryBlogging project.