Talking History

CONTRIBUTING PRODUCERS:
Producer Joe Richman and Assistant Producer Teal Krechof of Radio Diaries, Inc.

Joe Richman is an award-winning independent radio producer and reporter for public radio. He is the head of Radio Diaries, Inc., a not-for-profit radio production center committed to producing a new kind of oral history devotred "to find ing extraordinary stories in ordinary places, and preserve these voices for generations to come." Before becoming an independent producer, Richman worked for many years as a producer on National Public Radio programs All Things Considered, Weekend Edition Saturday, Car Talk and Heat. Currently, in addition to his work at Radio Diaries and for NPR, Joe teaches at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, helping to train future generations of radio documentarians.

Assistant Producer Teal Krech began working in radio as a regional correspondent for New Hampshire Public Radio. She's also reported for a variety of publications, including The Keene Sentinel, Community Innovation News and The Village Voice. She is currently working on an audio and written project on trains. Teal is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Radio Diaries works with young and old people whose lives are ignored or neglected by mainstream media--teenagers, the elderly, workers, prison inmates and "people in the forgotten corners of America." It works with them "to document their own lives for public radio, to share their stories -- and their lives -- in their own words, creating documentaries that are powerful, surprising, intimate and timeless."

Radio Diaries trains and equips individuals, offering them basic instruction on conducting interviews, keeping audio journals, and recording the sounds of their daily lives. Joe and other staff members collaborate with their "reporters" and help them edit the material for National Public Radio's All Things Considered. Pedagogical models developed at Radio Diaries are now used in schools and community radio stations around the country.

Radio Diaries is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts and The Soros Open Society Institute's Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture. Richman and Radio Diaries have won a number of awards, including The RFK Journalism Award, The Casey Journalism Award, and the Sigma

For more information about Radio Diaries, and to hear their most recent work, go to: www.radiodiaries.org.

Below you will find an audio library of works produced by Radio Diaries. All compressed audio streaming versions of the documentaries appearing below were processed by Talking History at the University at Albany, SUNY.

Teenage Diaries Series: Jeff Rogers in Boston ~ "Halfrican" (1996)

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Jeff Rodgers was 16 when he recorded the following piece. From the introduction: "Jeff Rodgers is sixteen and lives with his family in Boston. More and more these days he finds himself thinking about race and being forced to answer the question 'What are you?' This is his radio diary."

Mandy in Chicago, Illinois: "God Is My Guy" (1996)

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Mandy Maldonado was 17 years old when she recorded this diary. From the introduction: "This time out we meet Mandy Maldonado. She lives in Chicago where she attends an evangelical Christian church. Every Sunday, Mandy arrives at least an hour early for services; because that's one of the things you do when your father is the pastor.
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Teenage Diaries series: Melissa in New Haven, Connecticut ~ "Teen Mom" (1996)

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Melissa Rodriguez was 18 when she recorded this piece. From the introduction: "Today we meet Melissa Rodriguez. Melissa is 18 and lives in her own apartment in New Haven, Connecticut. Her rent is paid by the state's Department of Children and Families. She's in a program designed to help young people from group homes and foster care learn to live on their own. As part of the program, Melissa holds a part-time job and attends a community college. In exchange, the state gives her money for basic living expenses, rent, phone bills, food and, now, diapers. This is Melissa's story."

Teenage Diaries series: Melissa in New Haven, Connecticut ~ "Raising Issaiah" (1997)

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This is Melissa Rodriguez's second story. From the introduction: "One year ago we met Melissa, an 18-year old in Connecticut. In her first story, Melissa chronicled her pregnancy and the birth of her son Issaiah. Melissa is 19 now and still raising Issaiah on her own. This is Melissa’s story."

Teenage Diaries series: Josh in New York City, New York ~ "Growing Up With Tourette's" (1996)

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Josh Cutler was 16 when he recorded this story. From the introduction: "Tourette's syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary tics, such as sudden movements and verbal outbursts. According to the National Institutes of Health, an estimated 100,000 Americans have the condition. Most begin showing symptoms at around the age of 10 and the tics often increase during the teen years. Josh Cutler is 16 years-old and lives in New York City. He was diagnosed as having Tourette's syndrome when he was 10. As part of our series of Teenage Diaries, Josh was given a tape recorder to document his life with Tourette's syndrome. This is his story."

Teenage Diaries series: Juan in El Cenizo, Texas ~ "Looking At The Rio Grande" (1996)

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Juan was 19 when he recorded this story. From the introduction: "Some of the poorest communities in the United States are the so-called 'colonias' along the US border with Mexico. Most of the people who live there are Mexican immigrants. Juan is a 19 year old who lives in a colonia just outside Laredo, Texas. He and his family - 10 brothers and sisters, plus his mother and father - live in a small trailer home. Though his father is a legal resident of the US. Juan and the other members of his family are not. Four years ago they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the country illegally. Juan attended high school here, and this spring received his diploma . . . This is Juan's diary."

Teenage Diaries series: Juan from Denver, Colorado ~ "Back to Mexico" (1997)

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This is Juan's second diary. Juan was 20 when he recorded it. From the introduction: "A year ago, we first heard from Juan, a Mexican teenager living in Laredo, Texas. Juan talked about life as an illegal immigrant. He and his family crossed the border into the United States five years ago. This year, Juan left his family in Texas and moved to Denver, Colorado to look for work. He still has his tape recorder. This is his story."

Teenage Diaries series: Frankie in Mentone, Alabama ~ "Welcome Home, Dad" (1997)

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Frankie Lewchuk was seventeen when he recorded this diary. From the introduction: "Frankie is 17. He lives with his family in Mentone, Alabama. Mentone is a small town on Lookout Mountain, part of the southern Appalachians. This is Frankie's story."

Teenage Diaries series: Frankie in Mentone, Alabama ~ "Football" (1997)

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This is Frankie Lewchuk's second diary. From the introduction: "Last spring we met 17-year old Frankie Luwchuk. Frankie lives with his parents, his brother and two sisters in Mentone, Alabama. Mentone is a small town on Lookout Mountain, part of the southern Appalachians. Frankie has sent us another audio diary, a record of the past four months playing football with the Valley Head Tigers. This is Frankie’s story."

Teenage Diaries series: Brina at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island ~ "The Best Four Years of Your Life" (1997)

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Brina Goldfarb recorded this diary when she was eighteen years old. From the introduction: "Today, we meet Brina Goldfarb. In September, Brina left her hometown, Monroe, New York, to attend Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She kept an audio diary of her first semester. This is Brina's story."

Randy Cooper in Tchula, Mississippi: "Searching For Ozell"

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Randy Cooper searches for clues about the life of civil rights leader Ozell Mitchell, his great-grandfather. From the introduction: "Eighteen year-old Randy Cooper lives on a farm in western Mississippi, 3 miles south of the town of Tchula. As part the series Teenage Diaries, we gave Randy a tape recorder and asked him to document his life in rural Mississippi. Randy decided he wanted to research the Civil Rights movement in his county. What he learned led him back to his own family. This is Randy's story."

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