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.
Diaries
We give people tape recorders and help them to document their own lives for public radio.
Sofia’s Choice: A Ukrainian Diary
Sofia’s mother Vita was living in Kharkiv, Ukraine when Russian forces invaded. The family is now faced with an difficult choice.
Majd’s Diary: Two Years in the Life of a Saudi Girl
Majd wants to be a scientist. Her family wants to arrange her marriage.
Frankie: 16 Years Later
As a teenager, Frankie recorded his life as a high school football star. 16 years later and with a baby on the way, he shares his struggle with drug addiction.
Josh: 16 Years Later
In high school, Josh documented his life with Tourette’s Syndrome. 16 years later, Josh records a new diary about trying to live a normal adult life with a brain that often betrays him.
Amanda: 16 Years Later
At the age of 17, Amanda knew she was gay. But her parents kept insisting she’d grow out of it. Today, a lot has changed in the country, and within her own family. In her new story, Amanda goes back to her parents to find out how they came to accept having a daughter who is gay.
Melissa: 16 Years Later
As an 18 year old raised in the foster care system, Melissa took NPR listeners along when she gave birth to her son Issaiah. Sixteen years later she chronicles her life as a working single mother.
Juan: 16 Years Later
16 years ago, Juan reported on his life as a recent Mexican immigrant living in poverty in Texas. In his new diary, Juan takes us on a 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.
Teen Contender
At 16, Claressa Shields was the youngest woman to compete for a spot on the first-ever women’s Olympic boxing team.
Teenage Diaries Series
Since 1996, Radio Diaries has given tape recorders to young people around the country and worked with them to produce the Teenage Diaries series for NPR.
Weasel’s Diary: Deported
A 26-year-old Los Angeles resident gets deported to his parents’ home country of El Salvador, which he has not seen since age five.
Thembi’s AIDS Diary
Thembi Ngubane was willing to stand up and speak out at a time when few South Africans were willing to say, “I have AIDS.”
The Last Place: Diary of a Retirement Home
A group of residents of The Presbyterian Home use tape recorders to document their lives.
Serving 9 to 5: Diaries of Prison Guards
Diaries from officers who work behind bars at Polk Youth Institution.
Going Home: Cristel’s Diary
At 15, Cristel attacked a classmate with a razor blade. After 3 years of incarceration, she’s being released.
Doing Time: John’s Diary
As a kid, John dreamed of becoming a police officer, but by the age of 17, John had committed more than 75 armed robberies.
Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary
Through their diaries, Matthew and Judge Jeremiah tell the same story from two different sides of the bench.
Amanda’s Diary: Girlfriend
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.”
Josh’s Diaries: Tourette’s
Josh has Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable tics and involuntary verbal outbursts.
Melissa’s Diaries: Teen Mom
Melissa never meant to get pregnant. But now, after 12 years of living in the foster care system, she’s trying to build the family she never had.
Frankie’s Diaries: Welcome Home, Dad / Football
Frankie always thought his family was pretty normal until the day the FBI showed up.
Juan’s Diaries: Looking at the Rio Grande
Juan crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally with his family as a teenager. Now he lives next to the Rio Grande in Texas.
Jeff’s Diary: Halfrican
More and more these days Jeff finds himself thinking about race as he’s confronted with the question “What are you?”
Randy’s Diary: Remembering Ozell
While living on a farm that was once part of a slave plantation, Randy searches for clues about the life of his great-grandfather, the civil rights leader Ozell Mitchell.
Emily’s Diary: Teenage Days
Emily gives an inside look at “sportos,” “krusties,” “krinkles,” and how being a teenager isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Nick’s Diary: Home School to High School
Nick chronicles a turbulent year in his life. He’s 15-years-old and hates school, but somehow he must learn to make friends.
Ricky’s Diary: What If God….
Ricky’s father is an atheist activist. Ricky is beginning his own search for something to believe in.
Esperanza Garden
Esperanza Garden was a much-loved community space in Manhattan’s East Village…until city bulldozers arrived to tear it down.
