Richard O’Connor

Walnut Street

When Sharon Adams moved back to her hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the late 1990s, she needed help with fixing her house. Initially there to do electrical work, Larry Adams found himself enamored by Sharon. The two fell in love and embarked on a new undertaking: revitalizing their neighborhood one lot at a time.

An Honest Life

When Jeffrey Perri was nine years old, his grandfather, Tony Perri, came out to him as gay. At StoryCorps, grandfather and grandson share memories of their respective coming out journeys and reflect on how much they mean to each other.

Don't Be Scared

Animals seek solace on a blustery winter's night.

Star Bound

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. They talk all about favorite planets, how much more there is to learn, and Joey’s hopes for Jerry’s future.

Father Mychal's Blessing

Father Michael Duffy recalls delivering the sermon for his close friend, Father Mychal Judge, who was the first certified fatality of the September 11th attacks. Father Michael remembers Father Mychal’s endearing mannerisms, his constant positivity, and, above all, his profound impact on everyone he knew.

Alone Together

How one doctor’s family is navigating COVID-19

My Aunties

Stefan Lynch was raised by gay parents in the early eighties. He was cared for and loved by a group of adults, largely gay men, who he called his “aunties.” Stefan remembers the succession of AIDS-related illnesses in his family, including the death of his father in ‘91. Even in the face of terrible sickness and loss, his aunties showed him how to survive and care for one another.

Leading the Way

John Washington was born blind and with a severe loss of hearing that has become more extreme over time. He raised three children with his wife Fannie Ruth, who was also blind and deaf.

The Day You Were Born

Alice was 14 when her mother died just two weeks after giving birth to her youngest child. 10 years later, the siblings discuss losing their mother for the first time.

My Father, the Giant

In this StoryCorps short, Kiamichi-tet Williams sits down with his dad, Thompson Williams, to learn more about his larger-than-life grandfather.

A Certain Kind of Love

The difficulties faced by same-sex couples have created far too many stories of unrequited love. Glenda Elliott's story is one of them: Glenda came to StoryCorps to remember Lauree, the woman she fell in love with in small-town Georgia, at a time when it was difficult to imagine an acceptable path apart from marrying a man and starting a family. Though she and Lauree planned for a late-in-life reunion, fate interfered. In "A Certain Kind of Love," Glenda remembers the power of their bond.

Tesla

Meet Nikola Tesla, the genius engineer and tireless inventor whose technology revolutionized the electrical age of the 20th century. Although eclipsed in fame by Edison and Marconi, it was Tesla's vision that paved the way for today's wireless world. His fertile but undisciplined imagination was the source of his genius but also his downfall, as the image of Tesla as a mad scientist came to overshadow his reputation as a brilliant innovator.

The Drill

As active shooter drills become integrated into schools across the country, students must grapple with the threat of school shootings. This is the case for ten-year-old Dezmond Floyd, who has an open discussion with his mother Tanai about what happens in his fifth grade class during his school’s active shooter drills. Dezmond explains step-by-step what his class has been taught to do during an active shooter situation.

With Love, From Georgia

In a war zone, a slice of home.

Spectrum: A Story of the Mind

A documentary about autism and sensory perception that features live-action and animated segments.

The Stepford Wives

What does it take to become a Stepford wife, a woman perfect beyond belief? Ask the Stepford husbands, who've created this high-tech, terrifying little town.