StoryCorps Gets $1 Million MacArthur Award

By Jason Boog 

StoryCorps has received a $1 million MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. They will use the funds “to build its reserve and upgrade its infrastructure.”

Radio documentarian David Isay founded StoryCorps in 2003, and the nonprofit has recorded almost 90,000 interviews with everyday people. These stories are shared through NPR broadcasts, on the StoryCorps website and through StoryCorps publications.

StoryCorps records powerful one-on-one interviews, usually between family members or friends, to hear about their lives, experiences, and perspectives. Often, these individual stories give us insight into the most important issues of the day, from race to immigration, education to equality. Each interview helps everyone recognize the dignity and power in all human lives … From documenting serious illness in hospices and palliative care centers to collecting the words of post-9/11 veterans, active-duty service members, and their families, StoryCorps illuminates the lives of everyday people and helps us see difficult and divisive issues from a human perspective.