By Lauren Herman

At your Thanksgiving celebrations this year, give the gift of shared experiences and family history by interviewing a loved one. This is the goal of StoryCorps’ Great Thanksgiving Listen – a movement to record the life stories of our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other elders, who have a wealth of knowledge that may go unnoticed without the effort of younger generations to listen, record and learn.

Dave Isay's TED Talk as the 2015 TED Prize Winner.

Dave Isay founded StoryCorps more than ten years ago, and last year won the TED Prize for his creative and bold vision toward producing a digital archive preserving and learning from the wisdom of humanity. Since then he has continued to grow the message and purpose of StoryCorps to spark global change – this time through StoryCorps’ Great Thanksgiving Listen.

Register Now!

Interested in participating? Click here for more information. The Story Corps app has tips and tools to assist you with any interview.

Don’t Know How or Where to Start?

TED has published a list of questions written by Dave Isay on their blog to help you get your conversation going.

1.     What was your childhood like?

2.     Tell me about the traditions that have been passed down through our family. How did they get started?

3.     What are your most vivid memories of school?

4.     How did you meet your wife/husband/partner?

5.     What piece of wisdom or advice would you like to share with future generations?

Need Some Inspiration?

Join thousands of Americans, including myself, by interviewing a loved one this Thanksgiving weekend. Don’t pass this opportunity to learn and document the wisdom of your loved ones to preserve their voice and vision from future generations to come. Family history does not have to be a mystery thanks to StoryCorp’s advocacy and TED’s efforts toward listening and sharing this holiday season.

Need another gift idea this holiday season? Give the gift of ideas by purchasing a ticket for you and a friend to attend the upcoming TEDxSacramento2016 on February 12th - register now! It truly is the gift that keeps giving.

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