Radio broadcaster and Ted award winner Dave Isay is to digitalize is collection of conversations. Mr. Isay won $1 million at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) awards. His collection of conversations between ordinary people was deemed to have made a global impact.
The $1 million prize has been invested in a new smartphone app which will enable anyone to upload conversations. He plans to create an “archive of the wisdom of humanity”.
Mr. Isay used to make radio documentaries before forming StoryCorps in 2003 and setting up a booth in New York’s Grand Central Station where people were invited to hold a conversation. There are now three more fixed booths and several mobile ones in existence. 110,000 Americans have held conversations in the booths. Some of the conversations have been aired on public radio station NPR.
Mr. Isay called his collection “the largest archive of voices ever gathered”. The app offers tips on how to conduct a good interview and enables people to record interviews with strangers, friends, family members or acquaintances, helping them to preserve their stories. Stories can be saved for private use or uploaded to the StoryCorps site. Uploaded stories will also be sent to the US Library of Congress.