“Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop.” -Abel Meeropol

Poet and songwriter Abel Meeropol wrote that lament after seeing a photograph of two black teenagers hanging from a tree. Strange Fruit was later made famous by Billie Holiday. But a third boy escaped being lynched that fateful day, 80 years ago, in Marion, Indiana. James Cameron was believed to be the only African American to have survived a lynching. Decades later, a box of recordings was found in a basement. They contained the recollections of people who witnessed or took part in the events of that day.

#18: Strange Fruit - Voices of a Lynching

For more than a century, the Rio Grande has been the border between the U.S. and Mexico. But rivers can move. This is the story of the Chamizal, a piece of land that was sometimes on the Mexican side and sometimes on the U.S. side of the river. It’s also the story of the people who made it their home.

The Chamizal - A Town Between Borders

In this podcast episode, we're looking back at a This American Life story we produced in 1999: Weasel's Diary. Jose William Huezo Soriano - aka Weasel - is a 26-year-old Los Angeles resident who gets deported to his parents' home country of El Salvador, which he has not seen since the age of five. In this podcast episode, you'll hear Weasel's original audio diary, and an update from Weasel in which he talks about his life over the past 15 years.

#22: Weasel's Diary, Revisited

In 1966, a young Marine took a reel-to-reel tape recorder with him into the Vietnam War. For two months, Michael A. Baronowski made tapes of his friends, of life in foxholes, of combat. And he sent those audio letters home to his family in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

And then he was killed in action.

Michael's tapes survived and were used to produce this story as part of the public radio series "Lost and Found Sound," created by the Kitchen Sisters and Jay Allison. The story was produced by Christina Egloff and Jay Allison.

#64: The Vietnam Tapes of Michael A. Baronowski

Nelson Mandela famously spent 27 years in prison for fighting against apartheid in South Africa. He was sentenced to life in 1964 for treason, along with 7 others. One of them was Ahmed Kathrada who died this week. He was 87. 

Mandela, Kathrada and the others served most of their sentences at Robben Island. Kathrada often said that being in prison for more than two decades was like being preserved in amber. When he was released, he found himself in a pretty different country. He was now allowed in the same restaurants, theaters and libraries as whites. But being allowed in doesn’t always mean you feel you belong. After spending his entire life fighting a racist system, Kathrada said he began to realize how much of that system he still carried inside. Today on the podcast, we're remembering Ahmed Kathrada with chapter 3 of our series Mandela: An Audio History.

Voices:
Eddie Daniels (political prisoner)
Ahmed Kathrada (political prisoner)
Sonny Venkatrathnam (political prisoner)
Neville Alexander (political prisoner)
Nelson Mandela
Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane (daughter of Nelson Mandela)
Mac Maharaj (political prisoner)

Radio Diaries

#65: Remembering Robben Island

One of the last songs that Johnny Cash recorded before he died was called, “There Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down).”

But that song is not a Johnny Cash original. “Ain’t No Grave” was actually written in 1934, by a 12-year-old boy on his deathbed. A boy who – instead of dying – went on to become a Pentecostal preacher. A boy who would later help inspire the birth of Rock & Roll.

His name was Brother Claude Ely…and he was known as The Gospel Ranger.

#17: The Gospel Ranger

If you’re a longtime listener to this show, you probably know that Radio Diaries began back in the 1990s with a NPR series called Teenage Diaries. I gave tape recorders to teenagers around the country and asked them to document their lives. One of those original teens was Melissa Rodriguez. At the time, she was 18 years old, and about to become a mother.

Melissa brought us along as she learned to be a mom to her baby boy, Issaiah. Motherhood was something she had to figure out on her own. Growing up, Melissa’s own mother was largely absent from her life. By the time she was 15 years old, Melissa had been in eight foster homes, five residential youth facilities, and seven group homes.

16 years after her story first aired on NPR, I gave Melissa a tape recorder again, so she could record a new audio diary about her life. She had gone from being a teen mom, to the mom of a teen.

When our friends at the storytelling show, The Moth, heard Melissa’s new diary, they invited her to tell a story on stage at BAM.

For Mother's day, we're bringing you Melissa's story, as she told it live at The Moth.

#66: Radio Diaries Live at the Moth

This month, the big tent is finally coming down. After 146 years, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey are closing the 'Greatest Show on Earth.' The elephants have already retired to a farm in central florida. Where will the 400 human cast and crew members go next? Perhaps they'll go just an hour west of that elephant farm...to Gibsonton, Florida. It was once known as the Oddest Town in America. Gibsonton is where the sideshow went to retire.

#67: The Oddest Town in America

The New York City public school system is the largest in the United States. More than a million students, being taught by 75,000 teachers.

Except, a few hundred of those teachers... are being paid NOT to teach.

These are teachers who are accused of misconduct. Often without warning, they’re removed from their classrooms and sent to a Department of Education reassignment center. Teachers call it: “The Rubber Room.”

Teachers can remain in the Rubber Room for years while their cases slowly creep through the system.  Not guilty, not innocent... just doing time. On today’s show, we go inside The Rubber Room.

#68: The Rubber Room

The secret behind the 1968 massacre of students in Mexico City.

A Movement, A Massacre, and Mexico's 50 Year Search for the Truth

In 1974, oral historian Studs Terkel published a book with an unwieldy title: "Working: People talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do." This collective portrait of America was based on more than a hundred interviews Studs did around the country. And after "Working" came out, something surprising happened. It became a bestseller. It even inspired a Broadway musical. Something about ordinary people talking about their daily lives, struck a cord. Studs recorded all of his interviews on a reel-to-reel tape recorder, but after the book came out the tapes were packed away in boxes and few have ever been heard. On this episode of The Radio Diaries Podcast, we're bringing you eleven stories from the book. There's the telephone switchboard operator, the Chicago police officer, the private eye, the hotel piano player and many more.

The Working Tapes of Studs Terkel (Labor Day Special)

We first met Thembi when she was 19 and living in one of the largest townships in South Africa. We were struck by her candor, sense of humor and her courage. She was willing to speak out about having AIDS at a time when few South Africans were willing to say, “I have AIDS.” Thembi carried a tape recorder from 2004 to 2005 to document her life.

http://www.radiodiaries.org/thembis-aids-diary/

Thembi’s AIDS Diary

94-year-old Selma Koch runs the Town Shop, one of New York's last old-style bra fitting shops. The Town Shop is a fourth-generation family business that  emphasizes personal service and custom fitting. Selma still works everyday alongside her son and grandson. Their motto: "We know your size."

http://www.radiodiaries.org/selma-koch-bra-saleswoman

Selma Koch, Bra Saleswoman

Back in 1919, Walter Backerman's grandfather delivered seltzer by horse and wagon on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Today, Walter  continues to deliver seltzer around the streets of New York. Some customers, like Mildred Blitz, have been on the family route for more than 50 years. When Walter's grandfather drove his cart there were thousands of seltzer men in the city; today Walter is one of the last.

http://www.radiodiaries.org/walter-backerman-seltzer-man

Radio Diaries - NYW Seltzerman


http://www.radiodiaries.org/going-home-cristels-diary

Going Home: Cristel's Diary


http://www.radiodiaries.org/doing-time-johns-diary

Doing Time: John's Diary

We gave both Judge Jeremiah, a Rhode Island juvenile court judge, and Matthew, a 16-year-old repeat offender, tape recorders. Judge Jeremiah released Matthew early, for good behavior. Two weeks later, Matthew was arrested again for selling drugs. Through their diaries, Matthew and the judge tell the same story from two different sides of the bench.

http://www.radiodiaries.org/matthew-and-the-judge-juvenile-court-diary

Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary (Podcast)

Amanda is gay. Amanda’s family is Catholic. And she’s having a hard time convincing her parents that this is not “just a phase.”

http://www.radiodiaries.org/amanda-from-new-york-girlfriend

Amanda's Diary: Girlfriend

Emily gives an inside look at “sportos,” “krusties,” “krinkles,” and how being a teenager isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

http://www.radiodiaries.org/emily-in-maplewood-minnesota-teenage-days

Emily's Diary: Teenage Days

Frankie always thought his family was pretty normal until the day the FBI showed up. 

http://www.radiodiaries.org/frankie-in-men…lcome-home-dad

Frankie’s Diary, Part 1: Welcome Home, Dad

More and more these days Jeff finds himself thinking about race as he's confronted with the question "What are you?"

http://www.radiodiaries.org/jeff-in-boston-halfrican

Jeff’s Diary: Halfrican

Nick chronicles a turbulent year in his life. He's 15-years-old and hates school, but somehow he must learn to make friends.

http://www.radiodiaries.org/nick-in-salt-lake-city-utah-home-school-to-high-school/

Nick's Diary: Home School to High School

Laura Rothenberg tried to live a normal life, with lungs that betrayed her and the awareness that she might not live to see her 30th birthday.

http://www.radiodiaries.org/my-so-called-lungs

My So-Called Lungs

Part 1: The Birth of Apartheid (1944-1960)

Part 2: The Underground Movement (1960-1964)

Part 3: Robben Island (1964-1976)

Part 4: State of Emergency (1976-1990)

Part 5: Democracy (1990-1994)

Introduction by Nelson Mandela

Poet and songwriter Abel Meeropol wrote that lament after seeing a photograph of two black teenagers hanging from a tree. Strange Fruit was later made famous by Billie Holiday. But a third boy escaped being lynched that fateful day, 80 years ago, in Marion, Indiana. James Cameron was believed to be the only African American to have survived a lynching. Decades later, a box of recordings was found in a basement. They contained the recollections of people who witnessed or took part in the events of that day.

Strange Fruit: Voices of a Lynching

In the summer of 1968, students in Mexico began to challenge the country's authoritarian government. But the movement was short-lived, lasting less than three months. It ended October 2, 1968, ten days before the opening of the Olympics in Mexico City, when military troops opened fire on a peaceful student demonstration. The shooting lasted over two hours.
Part of the Audio History Project Series

http://www.radiodiaries.org/mexico-68-a-movement-a-massacre-and-the-40-year-search-for-the-truth

Mexico ’68: A Movement, A Massacre, and the 40-Year Search for the Truth

Bridgette McGee grew up knowing nothing about her grandfather, Willie McGee. Now she is on a quest to unearth everything she can about his life – and his death.

http://www.radiodiaries.org/willie-mcgee-and-the-traveling-electric-chair

Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair

During the war in Vietnam, there was a notorious American military prison on the outskirts of Saigon called Long Binh Jail. But LBJ wasn't for captured enemy fighters, it was for American soldiers.

These were men who had broken military law. And there were a lot of them. As the unpopular war dragged on, discipline frayed and soldiers started to rebel.

By the summer of 1968, over half the men in Long Binh Jail were locked up on AWOL charges. Some were there for more serious crimes, others for small stuff, like refusing to get a haircut. The stockade had become extremely overcrowded. Originally built to house 400 inmates, it became crammed with over 700 men, more than half African American.

On August 29th, 1968, the situation erupted. Fifty years later, we're bringing you that story.

#80: Prisoners of War (Clean)

This is a near-complete recording of the "Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever" speech the newly elected Alabama Governor George Wallace gave at his inauguration. It is remembered as one of the most vehement rallying cries against racial equality in American history. Thanks to the Alabama Dept. of Archives and History for providing the audio. For the story behind Wallace's words, listen to our documentary: http://www.radiodiaries.org/segregation-now-segregation-forever-the-speech-that-changed-american-politics/

Alabama Gov. George Wallace's 1963 Inaugural Address: "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever"

In high school, Josh recorded a "Teenage Diary" for NPR about his life with Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable tics and involuntary verbal outbursts. Today, Josh has overcome Tourette’s enough to become a NYC public school teacher, but not enough to remain one. Josh’s new diary is about trying to live a normal adult life with a brain that often betrays him. This is part of our Teenage Diaries Revisited series for NPR.

Teenage Diaries Revisited: Josh

As a teenager in 1997, Frankie recorded a Teenage Diary for NPR about his life as a high school football star in his small Alabama town. Now, for our Teenage Diaries Revisited series, Frankie has recorded a new diary about all that's happened in his life in the 16 years since his story aired. Frankie tells his story of crystal meth addiction and takes his recorder along while he attempts to repair his relationship with his family. With a baby on the way, Frankie is hoping for a second chance.

Teenage Diaries Revisited: Frankie

At the age of 17, Amanda knew she was gay. But her Catholic parents kept insisting she’d grow out of it. 16 years later, a lot has changed in the country, and within her own family. Now, for the Radio Diaries "Teenage Diaries Revisited series," Amanda goes back to her parents to find out how they came to accept having a daughter who is gay.

Teenage Diaries Revisited: Amanda

16 years ago, for our Teenage Diaries series on NPR, Juan reported on his life as a recent Mexican immigrant living in poverty in Texas. Now, for our Teenage Diaries Revisited series, Juan takes us on an audio tour of the life he has built since he first crossed the Rio Grande. It looks a lot like the typical American dream: a house, 2 cars, 3 kids—except for the fact he’s still living illegally in the U.S.

Teenage Diaries Revisited: Juan

The extraordinary stories of ordinary life.

First-person diaries, sound portraits, and hidden chapters of history from Peabody Award-winning producer Joe Richman and the Radio Diaries team. 

For more information, go to www.radiodiaries.org, and subscribe to the Radio Diaries Podcast: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/npr-radio-diaries-podcast/id207505466

Popular tracks by Radio Diaries