Massachusetts & Martha’s Vineyard

Island voices studio

Plan an interview about changes in a place. Ask permission, listen closely, and keep memory separate from independently verified facts.

Plan a respectful interview

Explain the school project and who will hear the recording.
Ask permission before recording. A person can skip a question or stop.
Ask open questions and let the speaker finish.
Record the date and place, and check factual claims with another source.
Ask separately before publishing or sharing beyond the agreed audience.

What place or change are you investigating?Plan three questions. Try: What do you remember? What changed? What would you like young people to understand?Record the interview date, the speaker’s agreed public description, and the sharing permission. Avoid private contact details.

Record on this device

Recording starts only after you choose Start and grant microphone access. Audio is kept locally and is not uploaded by this site. Download it before leaving; recordings are downloaded separately.

Everyone being recorded has agreed.

Ready when you are.

No microphone available?

Use written notes, a scribe, or an approved classroom recorder. A careful transcript and source log are also valuable.

Create a short history podcast

Opening question → evidence from a source → what the interview adds → what remains uncertain

If you perform imagined dialogue between historical people, label it historical fiction and explain which sources guided your choices. Never present it as an actual recording of those people.

Explore StoryCorps interview resources ↗

Pause and explain

What did you change, notice, or learn? What evidence supports your idea?Keep my work →

Explore the six lessons →Image credits & sources →