Yuma, Arizona - StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans, will record interviews in Yuma from November 20 to December 21 as part of its cross-country MobileBooth tour. Having collected over 65,000 interviews from Americans in all 50 states, StoryCorps has gathered one of the largest single collections of human voices ever recorded.

StoryCorps’ MobileBooth—an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio—will be parked at the Yuma Art Center by the Momo mural for 5 weeks. Reservations can now be made by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour, toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406 or visiting storycorps.org Additional reservation slots will open on November 21.

StoryCorps has partnered with KAWC, public radio for Yuma and La Paz counties, to collect 150 interviews with residents in Yuma and surrounding communities. KAWC will air a selection of local interviews recorded in the StoryCorps MobileBooth and create special programs around the project. StoryCorps may also share excerpts of these stories with the world through the project’s popular weekly NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. With participant permission, all StoryCorps interviews will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

KAWC will host an opening day press event on November 20 to introduce StoryCorps to the community and to allow press to interview StoryCorps staff and the first two sets of participants.

Who: Dave Riek, Lou Gum, VIP participants (TBA), and StoryCorps staff

What: Opening remarks by Lou Gum, Dr. Daniel Corr, and StoryCorps staff; tour of MobileBooth

Where: Yuma Art Center, 254 S Main Street

When: November 20, 2019

10:30 am          First VIP Interview

11:30 am          Press Event

12:00 pm          Tours of MobileBooth

12:30 pm          Second VIP Interview

General Press Guidelines

  • Cameras will be allowed in the MobileBooth before interviews begin. Photographs and video can be shot from outside the window during interviews.
  • Press can interview participants before and after their StoryCorps interviews.