Hearing Voices from NPR®:
043 Go By Train— Riding the Rails
Host— Calvin Johnson of K Records
Airdates— 12/24/2008 - 12/31/2008

Go By Train (52:00 mp3):

Musician Calvin Johnson (of the band Beat Happening, and owner of K Records) hosts train tales:

Hearing Voices from NPR®:
041 Christmas Mashup— Holy Days & Silent Nights
Host— Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices
Airdates— 12/10/2008 - 12/17/2008

Christmas Mashup (52:00 mp3):

A mix of lotsa holiday stories, found-sound, and sprinkling of sampled songs:

A home-recording of a “Christmas Gathering 1947″ (4:08 excerpt), on an unlabeled 7″ Wilcox Gay Recordio Disc, was found by Bob Purse. The complete recording is posted at the 365 Days Project, “Christmas Gathering 1947″ (6:32 mp3):

John Beltran remixes Bing Crosby “The First Noel” (5:02), on the compilation Holiday Chill - The Christmas Remixes.

“Dad and Sam” (4:43) is Jay Allison’s story of father and brotherhood, from his series Life Stories.

The latest StoryCorps: John Brown (L) tells his brother Paul (R) about his on-air appearance as a gay guy educating evangelical radio.

“John (w/ Paul) Brown” (2:35 mp3):

StoryCorps declares November 28 2008 the first annual National Day of Listening, and offer a Do-It-Yourself Guide to help you:

This holiday season, ask the people around you about their lives — it could be your grandmother, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood. By listening to their stories, you will be telling them that they matter and they won’t ever be forgotten. It may be the most meaningful time you spend this year.

HV015- Father Figures
Hearing Voices from NPR®:
015 Father Figures— For Father’s Day
Host— Jay Allison of This I Believe
Airdates— 6/11/2008 - 6/18/2008

Father Figures (54:00 mp3):

Paternal praise, pride, disappointment and love:

Scott Carrier gives his son Milo a “Ski Lesson.”

From Animals and Other Stories we hear “Reflections of Fathers,” aka, Bugs & Dads (producers: Jay Allison & Christina Egloff, music: Ben Verdery & Rie Schmidt).

Comic strip artist Lynda Barry wishes her divorced dad a “Happy Father’s Day.”

A doctor tells his daughter about her granddad in “StoryCorps- Dr. William Weaver.”

“Grilling Me Softly” is how host Jay Allison describes his daughter’s questions about his love life.

Dan Robb’s family remembers the day “Dad’s Moving Out” (from Jay Allison’s Life Stories).

“Doc Merrick” and daughter Viki go through some girl problems.

David Greenberger tells David Cobb’s story “Because of Dad” (music performed by Bangalore, composed by Phil Kaplan).

Deirdre Sullivan’s father advises “Always Go to the Funeral” (from This I Believe).

And Dave Masch wants to be “A Better Father” (produced by Viki Merrick).. Photo © Scott Carrrier.

Hearing Voices from NPR®:
Host— Major Robert Schaefer of US Army Special Forces
Airdates— 5/21/2008 - 5/28/2008

For the Fallen (54:00 mp3):

Green Beret and poet, Major Robert Schaefer, US Army, hosts the voices of veterans remembering their comrades:

We talk with troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, reading their emails, poems, and journals, as part of the NEA project: “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience.”

We hear interviews from StoryCorps, an essay from This I Believe, and the sounds of a Military Honor Guard, recorded by Charles Lane.

And we attend the daily “Last Post” ceremony by Belgian veterans honoring the WWI British soldiers who died defending a small town in western Belgium (produced by Marjorie Van Halteren).

Hearing Voices from NPR®:
008 About Aging— I Thought You’d Never Ask
Host— David Greenberger of Duplex Planet
Airdates— 4/23/2008 - 4/30/2008

About Aging (53:00 mp3):

Host David Greenberger of Duplex Planet presents glorious moments and observations from people in the last years of their lives:

Dave Alvin discusses the song he wrote about his dying father, “Man in the Bed,” from the Western Folklife Center’s What’s in a Song? series.

Comedians Bob & Ray are “The Whirleys”.

From StoryCorps comes a remembrance from Richard Craig of his days as a dance host on cruise ships.

In Sound Portraits “The Ground We Live On” journalist Adrian Nicole LeBlanc faces mortality in recordings she made during her father’s last months alive.

And host David Greenberger shares some stories told him over the years by the elderly, including “Growing Old in East L.A.“