Next Door

Before you press play

Great for workplaces and neighborhood groups. None of these stories needed a big gesture, so keep the 'try it' small.

Play it on a laptop or TV with the screen on, since most voices are short videos. Each neighbor is introduced by a short card. You can pause after any voice to talk.

Content notes. A Catholic priest: About a friend who died on September 11, 2001. A son raised by gay parents: He talks about losing his aunties, and his father, to AIDS.

Who you'll hear

1. Neighbors who disagree. Two neighbors on opposite sides · StoryCorps One Small Step · 3 min
2. A Dominican and Pakistani couple. A note on a napkin · StoryCorps · 3 min
3. A Deaf woman raised in a hearing family. Learning to speak by feeling the stairs · PBS NewsHour, Brief But Spectacular · 4 min
4. An Air Force flight nurse. Come with us to the VFW · Veterans Health Administration · 2 min
5. A man with a Black father and a Japanese American mother. The best of both cultures · Discover Nikkei (Japanese American National Museum) · 1 min
6. A Catholic priest. My friend, the firefighters' chaplain · StoryCorps · 5 min
7. A group home for kids in foster care. Five quinceañeras at once · Austin PBS · 3 min
8. A Korean American veteran of World War II and Korea. A promise made before battle · Discover Nikkei (Japanese American National Museum) · 1 min
9. A son raised by gay parents. My aunties · StoryCorps · 3 min

The order rotates between plays, so no tradition always goes first.

Talk about it

1. What changed for the people in these stories once they actually talked?
2. Which story felt closest to your own street, office or school?
3. What makes it hard to start a conversation with a neighbor you don't know?
4. Who's next door to you that you've never really talked with? What would a first step look like?

Let anyone pass. Listening is the point.

Try it this week

Have one real conversation this week with someone whose life looks different from yours.

Read more: Why does getting to know someone change how we feel about them? · neighborradio.com/ask/why-does-getting-to-know-someone-change-how-we-feel/