StoryCorps said four public radio stations have joined its One Small Step initiative thanks to help from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The purpose of the initiative is to help “bridge partisan divides through civil conversations.” Programs are 50-minute discussions by two people with different political beliefs in a “respectful conversation.”
The newly added “hub” stations are KGNU in Boulder, Colo., Tri States Public Radio in Macomb, Ill., WKU in Bowling Green, Ky., and WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
The stations will receive training, production support and professional recording equipment from StoryCorps for the initiative.
The 2025 CPB grant to StoryCorps totals $500,000, including funding these radio station hubs.
CPB said that Pew Research Center research finds that Americans trust each other less now than in the past.
Since a pilot was launched seven years ago, 33 public media stations have participated in One Small Step. The program launched nationally last year.
In the example below, the participants are Alton Russell, former chair of the Republican party in Columbus, Ga., and Wane Hailes, former president of the local chapter of the NAACP.
