StoryCorps might share your story

We all have differences of opinion. StoryCorps would like to hear Pittsburgh talk about them.

The lauded nonprofit that records people’s stories of life in the U.S. — then archives them at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress — will be here this summer as part of the nationwide One Small Step initiative.

Pittsburgh is one of six cities selected. It is a return for StoryCorps, which brought its mobile recording AirStream booth here a few years ago. StoryCorps is teaming locally with radio station 90.5 WESA, which will broadcast edited versions of select contributions. Some will also be used in the StoryCorps podcast.

Although New York-based StoryCorps has been around since 2003, the One Small Step program is relatively new. It was launched in 2018 to allow two people with differing viewpoints on any number of subjects to carry on a 40-minute recorded conversation. Usually, the pairs come to a recording venue, but StoryCorps can set up oral history storytelling remotely.

“The pandemic has only exacerbated the divides in the United States. At a moment of distancing, One Small Step gives us a rare chance to get proximate with people we may disagree with and in doing so be reminded of our shared humanity,” said Dave Isay, founder and president of StoryCorps.

Wearing masks in public might be one such subject. Race, religion, the election … pick a topic.

“We’re excited to be partnering with StoryCorps to encourage conversations across southwestern Pennsylvania and share them with our listeners and readers,” WESA news director Patrick Doyle said in a statement.

For information on how to participate, go to wesa.fm/ onesmallstep. Recordings will begin this month.