November 22, 2017

The Great Thanksgiving Listen: Recipes for Success

From ironing out travel plans to deciding what side dish to bring, Thanksgiving can be stressful. However, your interview for The Great Thanksgiving Listen doesn’t have to be. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide for the big day so that you can have a relaxing, enjoyable, and fulfilling experience with your interview partner.

PREP TIME: BEFORE THE INTERVIEW 
•   Participants will need access to a smartphone or Kindle tablet with the most recent version (3.1) of the StoryCorps App. Download the app for free through the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
•   Make sure that your interview space has a strong wifi signal, or that you have a data plan that is adequate for uploading your interview.
•   Take some time to think about who you choose to interview. While we all have a favorite aunt or uncle, The Great Listen can be an opportunity to get to know a relative or friend with whom you might not be as close. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a family member with a different worldview. Avoid trying to change their beliefs, and instead learn more about other aspects of their life — their loves, their hopes and dreams for the future, and stories from their past.
•   Take time to plan some questions ahead of the interview. For inspiration, check out our list of Great Questions. Make sure that most of your questions are open-ended. For example, ask, “What was it like to grow up in a house with so many siblings?” instead of, “Was the house hectic growing up?”
•   If you’re familiar with the space in which you are going to be recording your interview, plan ahead to make sure that you will be able to find a quiet nook for you and your partner. Not only does this ensure that your interview will be free of distracting background noise, but it also allows for an intimate setting that will help you both to feel comfortable.

LET’S GET COOKING: DURING THE INTERVIEW
•   Make sure that you and your partner are settled into a quiet place. If they’re shy, start with some simple questions. For example, ask your grandfather about his daily afternoon walk, or the book he is reading, to get warmed up.
•   Think of the interview as a conversation. Your prepared questions are a guide, not a script. If your partner goes off topic, follow their lead. Don’t hesitate to share a memory about your interview partner, especially if it highlights how much they mean to you and could potentially lead to a story. For example, “Grandma, you know we always look forward to your famous stuffing. When did you learn to make it?”
•   Be aware of your body language. A warm smile, eye contact, and nodding of the head let your partner know that you’re interested in the story they’re telling.

COOLING DOWN: AFTER THE INTERVIEW
•   And that’s a wrap! Once your interview is complete, you can share and archive it for future generations. Create a title and summary and use keywords to highlight who, what, when, and where questions along with this year’s keyword TheGreatListen2017.
•   Share a selfie from your interview, and tag us with @StoryCorps #TheGreatListen!

Source: SNPR Story Corps

November 19, 2017

Great Conversations Start with Great Questions

After 14 years of listening, we know what makes a great conversation: start by asking great questions. Once you’ve selected your interview partner for The Great Thanksgiving Listen — whether you’re a student interviewing an elder or looking to spark lively conversation around your Friendsgiving table — you can get ready by reviewing our list of Great Questions or using the Great Questions Generator in the StoryCorps App. Here are some of our suggestions for getting a good conversation going:

GREAT QUESTIONS FOR ANYONE
• How would you like to be remembered?
• What has been the happiest moment of your life so far? The saddest?
• What does your future hold?

FAMILY HERITAGE
• Tell me about some traditions that have been passed down through our family. When and how did they get started?
• Where is your mom’s family from? Where is your dad’s family from? Have you ever been there? What was that experience like?

GROWING UP & SCHOOL
• Did you have a nickname? What was it and how did you get it? Does anyone still call you by that nickname?
• What did you think your life would be like when you were older?

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
• Has there ever been a time in your life when you wanted to vote, but were not able to? What was that like?

Consider brainstorming your own questions in your classroom, with your interview partner, or with your family. Compile a list of new questions to use in your interviews specific to your family, school, or town. The more specific, the better! A few prompts to get the conversation going:

• What makes our family or town special?
• What stories have you heard about this place or about us?
• Is there an intriguing, confusing, or funny tradition in our family or town that you want to learn more about?
• Is there a particular food we eat here that makes us unique? How can we learn more about it through an interview?

Afterwards, when you archive your interview, don’t forget to tag it with descriptive keywords that answer the classic who, what, when and where questions as well as this year’s keyword, “TheGreatListen2017”.  Share a selfie from your interview, and make sure to tag us @StoryCorps #TheGreatListen!

Source: SNPR Story Corps

November 19, 2017

‘It’ Director Andrés Muschietti Shares a Spooky Sketch of Pennywise the Clown

Bill Skarsgård’s take on Pennywise the Dancing Clown became a pop-culture phenomenon before this year’s “It” even arrived in theaters. First made famous onscreen by Tim Curry in the 1990 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s tome, the interdimensional being is many things, but funny isn’t one of them.

Director Andrés Muschietti would appear to disagree, considering the caption to a drawing of Pennywise he’s shared on Instagram: “And here a little sketch i drew for pennywise’s ‘killmouth’ , one of the comedic highlights of the film.”

Muschietti may be laughing, but most who saw “It” weren’t — at least not during the scene itself. (The moment, which comes in the film’s opening minutes, has been parodied in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch featuring Kate McKinnon as a Pennywise-esque Kellyanne Conway, however.)

The actual drawing is composed of two panels, the first of which shows Pennywise sniffing Georgie’s arm moments after the ill-fated boy has stuck it into the storm drain where the evil clown has lured him. Then he opens his mouth, revealing a frightening number of giant teeth, and prepares to seize down on his victim. Avail yourself of the spooky sketch below.

Source: IndieWire film

November 19, 2017

‘Parks and Rec’ Producer Mike Schur Says Kevin Spacey Was ‘The Most Open Secret That’s Ever Existed’

After speaking up about his remorse for having Louis C.K. on “Parks and Recreation” despite having heard the now-confirmed rumors about his sexual harassment, Mike Schur has chimed in on Kevin Spacey as well. “If you think everybody knew about Louis, everybody knew about Kevin Spacey,” he said during a panel with Damon Lindelof at Vulture Festival Los Angeles yesterday.

Schur first became aware of his behavior while he was writing for “Saturday Night Live.” “I remember very distinctly being like, he’s hitting on the pages and he’s hitting on the young men in the talent department,” he said. “You talk about open secret, it’s the most open secret that’s ever existed. I didn’t know maybe the extent to which the behavior was predatory.”

Problems stem from the fact that “we just don’t talk about this stuff,” he continued. “Women and men to whom the behavior is being done, who it’s affecting, are scared, they don’t know who to talk to.

“In certain situations, in certain scenarios, there are very few other women who are even around. Even if they wanted to say something they wouldn’t know where to go,” Schur added.

“In many cases, even when they did say something, nothing happened. The conversation just comes to a halt. It either never happens because the person is too afraid to say anything, or it just reaches a terminus point and it stops because everyone’s attitude is, it would be better if we didn’t talk about this, and that, going forward, is obviously something that has to change.”

Source: IndieWire film