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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Regular listeners to this program know what to expect when they hear that theme. StoryCorps. Loved ones interview each other face to face and we hear some of the most moving conversations on Fridays. Many people cry. Sometimes I cry. Now StoryCorps and MORNING EDITION are teaming up to create another collection of interviews for America's 250th birthday. Connect 250 is a little different than StoryCorps, and it's an opportunity for you, as we heard from StoryCorps founder Dave Isay.
DAVE ISAY, BYLINE: So we are for the 250th birthday of America creating a portal, a site, where two MORNING EDITION listeners can have a conversation about their lives for 40 minutes and it goes to the Library of Congress. So we're trying to create a time capsule of who we are as Americans on the occasion of the 250th birthday of America.
INSKEEP: So this is not talking to a loved one. This is talking to a stranger.
ISAY: Yeah. And, you know, it might seem kind of scary, but as you know, talking to strangers is incredibly fun.
INSKEEP: It's a thing that I love to do. I will knock on doors and talk to random voters in politically interesting areas. And yet I know some people would never want to do it at all.
ISAY: Well, you got to try. And that's what StoryCorps is all about. And hopefully, that's what's going to happen for the 250th for this project we're calling Connect 250, that MORNING EDITION listeners will get to talk to a stranger, talk about their lives and have that become part of American history at the Library of Congress.
INSKEEP: What pointers do you give for interviewing someone you've never met before?
ISAY: You know, it's pretty easy. You just ask that question you've always wanted to ask. You know, the microphone gives you the license to ask things that you may not - never have asked before and may never have said before. So it's a chance to get to know someone very intensely, very quickly. And as I said, it is very, very fun.
INSKEEP: I think there's a format here, right? Each of you will write a few facts about yourself and then the other person will read them, so they'll have something to go on.
ISAY: That's exactly right. So you go through a process where you sign up, sign in, and you write a little bio of yourself and that bio gets shared with your partner, and it's off to the races.
INSKEEP: Any facts can get the conversation going, like you find out that they're from Toledo. What did you do in Toledo? Why were you - why was your family in Toledo? How long have you been wherever you're living now? Anything to get you going.
ISAY: Exactly. And we also supply the best StoryCorps questions. Where did you grow up? Who was kindest to you in your life? How do you want to be remembered? Those sorts of questions. And just like you cry at the broadcasts, people tend to cry in these interviews, even if it's with a stranger.
INSKEEP: Is there something about this moment in history, 2026, that makes you feel it's important for people who've never met to have a conversation?
ISAY: You know, I think these kind of conversations are important anytime. It could be 2026. It could be 2036. It could be 2016. The point is human connection. And, you know, in many ways, for many reasons, we talk less and less to one another, and anything that opens the door for us to meaningfully connect with another human being is a good thing at any time, at any point.
But we are at a moment, you know, certainly in our country - and you can look at the statistics - where there's a lot of fear of others. And it is one of those moments where I think it's important for us to open up our ears and open up our hearts and get to know someone who's different and there's nothing to be scared of. This is what it means to be alive.
INSKEEP: Dave Isay is the founder of StoryCorps. Thanks so much.
ISAY: Thank you, Steve.
INSKEEP: And you can sign up for a conversation at connect250.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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