POV

Kathleen reflects on her experience as a hairdresser while we bear witness to her unusual work.

A story about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr and his mother Debbie Africa—a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE9.

Against the backdrop of a community pool, a young Yezidi girl wrestles quietly with her traumatic memories of the Mediterranean Sea.

Meet 19-year-old Hunter “Pixel” Jimenez, a nonbinary trans boy caught between the expectations of his Guatemalan immigrant family and his dreams of living happily ever after.

Conoce a Hunter “Pixel” Jimenez, un adolescente trans entrapado entre la lealtad a su familia inmigrante guatemalteca y sus sueños de poder vivir “alegre y gay” con su novio de larga distancia.

An 18-year old influencer attempts to reconcile his identity online with his identity in real life.

Four distinct women in Central Florida form a bond over crickets, superworms, and roaches on an insect farm in the small town of LaBelle.

In 1998, a violent conflict forced Najat Hamza to flee her home in Oromia, a regional state in Ethiopia. She recalls the night she said goodbye to her mother before she, her father, and two siblings left for Kenya. Najat eventually settled down in Minnesota, but she still longs for a place she left behind. She came to StoryCorps to reflect on her journey and share what home means to her.

To Ken Kobus, the steel mill was always a part of his life. His father, John Kobus, dedicated 40 years of his career as a steelmaker. Towards the end of John’s life, he spent it bedridden in hospice care, motioning and manipulating the air as if he was still making steel. At StoryCorps, Ken sits down with his friend Ron Barraf to honor John’s legacy.

When Joseph Patton joined the Navy in 1955, he had to serve in silence. At the time, the LGBTQ community could not be open while in the military. Despite being the “perfect sailor,” Joseph was kicked out of the Navy under the assumption that he was homosexual. At StoryCorps, Joseph remembers the pride he took in his service and the beauty and joy that love has brought to his life.

Mohamad Hafez received a one-way ticket to the United States. Missing his homeland, he decided to create a stand-in. A story of love, loss and creating pathways home.

A young child tells their mother “I’m not a girl” for the first time.

Remembering the September 11 victim who died praying for others.

A man reflects on feeling responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Herman Travis and Robert Cochran are neighbors and community leaders in Holly Courts, a low-income housing complex in San Francisco. For 14 years, Herman and Robert worked together distributing over 1,300 pounds of food from a local food bank to elderly and disabled neighbors. At StoryCorps, Robert thanks Herman for the many ways he helps his community.

Growing up in Wyoming in the 1950s, Sissy Goodwin started wearing his sister’s dresses. As an adult, he still felt happiest in dresses and skirts. At StoryCorps, Sissy talks with his wife Vickie about how they forged a new path that allowed Sissy to be the man he needed to be and wear his skirts proudly.

Six year old Jerry Morrison is obsessed with outer space—so of course his favorite person to talk to is his uncle Joey Jefferson, a Mission Operations Engineer at NASA. When they get together, their conversations always revolve around one thing.

Standing Above the Clouds follows Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists as they stand to protect their sacred mountain Mauna Kea from the building of the world’s largest telescope.

After years of work in the Philippines, Crescenciana Tan came to the U.S. to help raise her grandchildren, who called her Lola. Using StoryCorps Connect, her grandson, Kenneth Tan, told his mother Olivia about the greatest lesson Lola taught him.

When Max Starkloff was in his early 20s, a near-fatal car accident left him quadriplegic and living in a nursing home. It was there that he met his future wife, Colleen.