WTIP’s One Small Step Initiative
WTIP was one of seven stations selected nationally to host One Small Step in 2024. Working as an Alumni station, we focused on youth conversations and stories.
Created by StoryCorps, One Small Step is an effort to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree. The initiative brings strangers from different backgrounds or with different political beliefs together for a conversation—not to debate politics—but to get to know each other as people.
For a One Small Step 2024 recap including key takeaways from project coordinator Barbara Jean Meyers, follow this link.
To listen to a very special, one-hour, live community conversation with OSS Interns and hosted by Kirsten Wisniewski click right here.
One Small Step is based on contact theory, which states that a meaningful interaction between people with opposing views can help turn “thems” into “us-es.” Its scientific and systematic approach is supported by a group of advisors that include scientists, researchers, and psychologists. Since its launch in 2021, nearly 5,000 people across 40 states have participated in a One Small Step conversation.
With participant permission, these conversations will be preserved for future generations at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Here are some excerpts from OSS conversations that took place in 2024:
Below–OSS Interns Amber and Eero discuss economics and life in a small, rural town; Max and Addie talk about the effects of a warming planet here in Minnesota and Grace and Kaj create a conversation around changes to our community, and what worries them about the future of Cook County.
Over the summer WTIP’s OSS interns Aaliyah, Amber and Grete created this fun video, which covers the ground rules of good conversations.
And check out this One Small Step primer, produced by Grete Youngdahl for WTIP:
Listen to audio clips from One Small Step staff and interns below:
A LOOK AT PAST CONVERSATIONS FROM 2022
In 2022 WTIP and StoryCorps invited you to take part in One Small Step, a nationwide initiative to help bridge political divides and strengthen communities, one conversation at a time. Here’s what some of our North Shore community had to say to each other, as part of this important initiative.
WTIP was one of six stations selected nationally to host One Small Step in 2022. With participant permission, these conversations will be preserved for future generations at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Search for completed full interviews at: archive.storycorps.org
In the archive
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- Click on interviews
- Left column, scroll down click partnerships
- input WTIP in search box & click filter
- Select OSS_WTIP 2022
- Update query
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More WTIP One Small Step participant experiences:
Learn about the experience from Marcia Hyatt, a WTIP One Small Step participant.
Audio Conversation: Taking One Small Step, with Philis Anderson and Barb LaMotte
WTIP and StoryCorps’ One Small Step – A Special, One Hour Community Conversation
The WTIP One Small Step Initiative continues through 2024.
Apply to be matched for One Small Step
One Small Step helps us move beyond labels like “Democrat” and “Republican” and into the life experiences that shaped how each of us sees our world.
About StoryCorps
Founded in 2003, StoryCorps has given over 660,000 people, in all 50 states, the chance to record interviews about their lives. The award-winning organization preserves the recordings in its archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ podcast, NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, engender empathy and connection, and remind us how much more we have in common than what divides us. StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media. The StoryCorps MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer that has been transformed into a traveling recording booth, crisscrosses the country year-round gathering the stories of people nationwide. 2023 marked StoryCorps’ 20th anniversary. Learn more at storycorps.org.
