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April 1, 2015 | Category: Blog | Author:

Weekly roundup: StoryCorps, Selma, and face time

StoryCorps.me app launches: StoryCorps founder Dave Isay won the 2012 TED Prize last month, granting him $1 million and the support of the TED community to fulfill a wish. Isay’s wish was to launch StoryCorps.me, a mobile app that enables users to record, archive and share audio stories. The big idea? “StoryCorps.me is the vehicle to take StoryCorps global for the first time. We can’t wait to see what wisdom emerges from across the world.”

Face-to-face conversations: Speaking of StoryCorps and its one-on-one interviews… An article from “frank” last December says that a face-to-face conversation can be an effective means of changing people’s minds on polarized social issues; the focus of the article is public attitudes on gay rights.

Storytelling in Selma: Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march for African-American civil rights. Storytelling trainer Lee-Sean Huang writes in the HuffPost that President Obama wisely told a story in an “opportunity-obstacle-choice” structure (which gives listeners a role in making change) as opposed to a “problem-solution” structure (which shuts them out). The author is the founder of the strategy and design consultancy Foossa; see the slides from a presentation he gave last month on Transformative Storytelling.