David Isay Wins 2015 TED Prize for StoryCorps, an Oral History Project - The New York Times

11/22/15, 5:25 PM

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MEDIA

David Isay Wins 2015 TED Prize for

StoryCorps, an Oral History Project
By NOAM COHEN

NOV. 17, 2014

In March, David Isay, the founder of the oral history project StoryCorps, will give
his first TED talk typically, a big-idea lecture delivered in a large hall while
pacing alone on stage with an unseen, wireless microphone.
The invitation was unexpected, Mr. Isay, 48, said: I felt like I was an unlikely
candidate. I had never seen a TED talk.
There were a few inducements, however, including a $1 million check as the
winner of the 2015 TED Prize, which will be announced on Monday by TED, the
nonprofit organization that sponsors conferences and lectures around the motto,
Ideas Worth Spreading.
TEDs annual conference in Vancouver in March is where Mr. Isay will explain
his wish, as the prize puts it; that is, what he plans to do with the money and
exposure.
StoryCorps, which was founded in 2003 and is based in Brooklyn, puts two
friends or loved ones in a room with a microphone and a facilitator for 40 minutes
of conversation. At the end, a CD of the conversation is given to the participants,
and, with permission, to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
By the end of the month, StoryCorps expects to have had 100,000 participants,
adding about 100 conversations a week.
There are StoryCorps booths in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and New York,
and a mobile booth that is currently making its way to Dallas, Mr. Isay said. The
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David Isay Wins 2015 TED Prize for StoryCorps, an Oral History Project - The New York Times

11/22/15, 5:25 PM

conversations are by appointment only I am an old journalist, and I expect

people to prepare for interviews, he said.
Thinking about what he will wish for at the TED conference, Mr. Isay said,
Our mission is to bring StoryCorps to the people, adding that the trick is to
figure out how to use the strengths of TED.
TED may be best known for its talks, which have been viewed more than a
billion times on YouTube and are excerpted on a weekly NPR show, but it also has
a global reach through its affiliated TEDx conferences about 2,500 similar
conferences around the world. (StoryCorps also has an NPR connection. Threeminute excerpts from StoryCorps chats are heard once a week on NPRs Morning
Edition.)
Right now, StoryCorps lacks many of the global, high-tech trappings one
associates with TED. The talks are always face-to-face no Skype conversations,
thus far and have always been in the United States. But perhaps that could
change, he said, through the TED prize.
Chris Anderson, the curator of TED, said StoryCorps mission contrasted
sharply with the sharing and oversharing of social networks.
It is a powerful antidote to superficial communication, he said, noting that
the 40-minute length of conversation is very different from Twitters 140-character
limit. It almost works the other way. This is longer than the conversations we
usually have and encourages people to go deeper than they may want to.
And there is another distinction. The StoryCorps conversations are initiated by
the person doing the interview, Mr. Isay said, not the person recalling her life. That
is the act of generosity behind the project, he said, listening to another human
being.
A version of this article appears in print on November 17, 2014, on page B5 of the New York edition with the
headline: Oral History Project Wins Prize for Boss.

2015 The New York Times Company

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