NPR: Radio Diaries Podcast

Juan and his family crossed the Mexican border illegally into Texas in 1992. In 1996, Radio Diaries gave Juan a tape recorder to keep an audio diary of his life. This is Juan's first Teenage Diary.

Beauty pageants promote the fantasy of the ideal woman. But for 35 years, one contest in New York City celebrated the everyday working girl.Each month starting in 1941, a young woman was elected “Miss Subways,” and her face gazed down on transit riders as they rode through the city. Her photo was accompanied by a short bio describing her hopes, dreams and aspirations. The public got to choose the winners – so Miss Subway represented the perfect New York miss. She was also a barometer of changing times.Miss Subways was one of the the first integrated beauty pageants in America. An African-American Miss Subways was selected in 1948 – more than thirty years before there was a black Miss America. By the 1950s there were Miss Subways who were black, Asian, Jewish, and Hispanic – the faces of New York’s female commuters.Meet the Miss Subways in this radio story, produced by Samara Freemark.

Back in 1996, we started giving tape recorders to teenagers to report on their own lives for NPR. That project turned into the Teenage Diaries series. The very first story came from Amanda Brand, a feisty, hilarious girl from Queens who was figuring out what it means to be gay...and how to explain it to her Catholic parents.

We first met Thembi when she was 19 and living in one of the largest townships in South Africa. We were struck by her candor, sense of humor and her courage. She was willing to speak out about having AIDS at a time when few South Africans were willing to say, “I have AIDS.” Thembi carried a tape recorder from 2004 to 2005 to document her life. This is her story.

In 1996, 18-year-old Melissa Rodriguez recorded a Teenage Diary about the birth of her baby. Two years later, she disappeared. When she sent us a facebook message last year, it inspired us to revisit our Teenage Diaries series and find out what happened to the young people who shared their lives with NPR listeners 16 years ago. In February on All Things Considered, we'll be broadcasting a new series called "Teenage Diaries Revisited." On this podcast you'll hear a sneak peek of Melissa's new story, as well as her original Teenage Diary.

Radio Diaries is revisiting our Teenage Diaries series this fall. We’re going to track down a bunch of teenagers who shared their lives with us 16 years ago and let you know where they are now. Ever wonder what happened to Melissa, who basically gave birth on the radio? Or to Josh, who had Tourrette’s syndrome? In December on NPR, you'll find out what's happened to them over the past 16 years. Leading up to the new series, we'll be rebroadcasting our original Teenage Diaries on this podcast (with extras!).  To kick off the project, here is Nick Epperson's story, which originally aired on NPR’s All Things Considered in 1999. Nick is 15-years-old and hates school, but somehow he must learn to make friends.“If you could give me any advice or give me some potion that would make people my age start liking me, or, I don’t know… I just need to know how to socialize or I’m gonna go nuts. As a child I was really happy, and I was really enthusiastic about everything I did; about cello, about my writing, about drawing, about school, friends, about everything. And since the beginning of Junior High, since I’ve gotten older, I’m not as idealistic as I used to be. I think I see life more as it is now and I’m not as dreamy and creative as I used to be. But, maybe it’s just still in my brain, in storage.”

Who are you rooting for in the Olympics?At Radio Diaries we are throwing away all pretense of journalistic objectivity. Go Claressa Shields!Claressa is the subject of Teen Contender, a Radio Diaries documentary that aired on NPR on February. With Sue Jaye Johnson, we followed Claressa as she fought for a spot on the first-ever USA Women’s Olympic boxing team. Next week, she’s going for the gold. One of her fights will be against her archrival, Savannah Marshall, the only woman who has ever beaten her. Claressa said losing was like having your boyfriend break up with you on your birthday…and she won’t let it happen again.In honor of Claressa's first Olympic match, listen to her diary.And for her fight schedule and results, visit radiodiaries.org.

While working on the documentary, Mandela: An Audio History, we stumbled across the only known recording of Nelson Mandela during his 27 years in prison. This is the story behind it.Learn more about the stories, the people, and the history of the struggle against apartheid at our Mandela History website, www.mandelahistory.org.

On June 16th, 1976, in South Africa, a group of school children in the black township of Soweto decided to hold a protest. Their action would change the course of a nation.Learn more about the stories, the people, and the history of the struggle against apartheid at our Mandela History website, www.mandelahistory.org.

Nelson Mandela was born 90 years ago. Over the course of his lifetime Mandela was a lawyer, freedom fighter, leader of the African National Congress, and finally, president. In honor of his birthday, July 18th, we look back at his 1963 treason trial where he outlined his dream of democracy in South Africa and declared, “It’s an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” It was the moment when Mandela became known to the world as a symbol of resistance and democracy.

Asa Carter was a speechwriter for Alabama Governor George Wallace. He penned one of the most infamous speeches of the era… Wallace’s Segregation Now, Segregation Forever address. Forrest Carter was a Cherokee writer who grew up in Tennessee. His autobiography, The Education of Little Tree, is a beloved classic that has sold millions of copies around the world. But these two men shared a secret.

Boxing has been an Olympic sport since the time of the ancient Greeks. But only men have taken part. This year, that changes. For the first time ever, women will step into the ring to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Earlier this month, twenty-four of the United States’ best amateur women boxers fought for three spots on the Olympic team.One of the contenders was sixteen year old Claressa Shields, a junior at Northwestern High School in Flint, Michigan. For the past few months photojournalist Sue Jaye Johnson and Radio Diaries have been following Claressa as she prepares for the Olympic trials.

Fifteen years ago, we began giving people tape recorders and helping them tell their own stories for NPR. To mark our anniversary, today's podcast takes a look back at some of our favorites stories from the last fifteen years. It's hosted by Ira Glass, and there's a video version available on our website at www.radiodiaries.org. Thanks for listening.

November 23, 1936 was a good day for recorded music. Two men – an ocean apart – sat before a microphone and began to play. One was a cello prodigy who had performed for the Queen of Spain; the other played guitar and was a regular in the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta.But on that day, Pablo Casals and Robert Johnson both made recordings that would change music history.

In the summer of 1932, a group of World War I veterans in Portland, Oregon hopped a freight train and started riding the rails to Washington DC. They were demanding immediate payment of a cash bonus the government had promised them after the war – but delayed until 1945. Desperate for relief in the worst year of the Depression, the vets wanted their bonuses now. They called themselves the Bonus Army.By July, more than 20,000 veterans and their families had arrived in the nation’s capital. They established a tent city and vowed to stay until their demands were met. But finally, in a historic confrontation, General Douglas MacArthur’s Army troops routed the Bonus Army and burned their camp to the ground.