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National Day of Listening 2017: Iowa Stories

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For many, listening to StoryCorps on Friday mornings has become routine—a few minutes to listen, learn, reflect, and often shed a few tears.

When StoryCorps debuted in 2003, it sounded unlike anything else on public radio.  They were stories not driven by news or cultural events, and they were stories that didn’t feature news-makers. These were stories of normal people sharing their memories. We quickly learned that those normal people were extraordinary, and that we all have stories to share.

In 2008, StoryCorps created a new holiday known as the National Day of Listening. It's a day to set aside time to record the stories of families, friends, and local communities. The Day of Listening has inspired many families to sit down and share their stories on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day.

We were fortunate to have the StoryCorps mobile booth in Des Moines this past summer. On this edition of Talk of Iowa, we listen to some of the many stories collected from Iowans while the booth was here.  

Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa
Katherine Perkins is IPR's Program Director for News and Talk
Lindsey Moon is IPR's Senior Digital Producer