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StoryCorps ProFile: 'If I Could Share A Coffee With Anyone, It Would Be My Wife.'

This morning, Steve Inskeep admitted to Morning Edition listeners that he, like many of them, often finds himself choked up over the Friday morning StoryCorps segments on NPR. These intimate conversations are a small sampling from the nearly 50,000 interviews recorded as people share the incredible stories of their lives. This week marks the 10th anniversary of the oral history project, and in that time StoryCorps has built up one of the largest collections of human voices ever gathered. To celebrate, Morning Edition will be checking in all this week with people whose stories you've heard on NPR over the years. We'll be tooting the StoryCorps horn right here as well, and we're starting with the man who made it all possible, StoryCorps Founder Dave Isay.

StoryCorps Founder Dave Isay in the recording booth located in New York City's Foley Square.
/ Harvey Wang
/
Harvey Wang
StoryCorps Founder Dave Isay in the recording booth located in New York City's Foley Square.

My name... Dave Isay

StoryCorps employee since... 2003 (the very beginning!)

Public radio listener since... I was 22 years old - the day I recorded my first radio story.

My job is... Founder of StoryCorps.. Once upon a time (ten years ago) I made radio documentaries for NPR. Now I spend all of my time fundraising and/or evangelizing for the organization. Highlight of each week: spending a blessed 10 minutes working with our brilliant production team on the Friday Morning Edition broadcast. All in all, I couldn't be happier—StoryCorps is my calling.

When I tell people about StoryCorps, they often say... "Why do you make me cry every Friday??"

Something you might not know about the StoryCorps Airstream trailer MobileBooths is... one of them is named after the great oral historian Studs Terkel.

I've learned the most about radio from... Gary Covino, former All Things Considered weekend producer and radio genius.

I wanted to be... anything but a kid when I grew up.

In my suitcase, you'll find... Tuesday NYT's crossword puzzles—they help me fall sleep—I'm not smart enough for Wednesday-Sunday.

I use social media to... What's social media?

Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me that... my kids changed the time on my alarm clock (again!).

On Sunday morning, you'll find me... on an adventure with my kids.

If I could share a coffee with anyone, it would be... my wife.

Listening is most important when... someone feels they don't deserve to be heard.

I make it a point to never miss... an opportunity to eat a good, cheap meal.

I can't live without... artichokes.


Caitlin Sanders contributed to this post.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Dave Isay