Walter's Diary: Seltzer Man

Back in 1919, Walter Backerman's grandfather delivered seltzer by horse and wagon on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Today, Walter continues to deliver seltzer around the streets of New York. Some customers, like Mildred Blitz, have been on the family route for more than 50 years. When Walter's grandfather drove his cart there were thousands of seltzer men in the city; today Walter is one of the last.


Walter's Diary: Seltzer Man was part of New York Works, a series whirch originally aired on WNYC's The Next Big Ting and NPR's All Things Considered. The series was produced by Radio Diaries/Joe Richman.

Length: 13 min
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Radio Diaries is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people document their own lives for public radio. To find out more and to hear all our stories, visit radiodiaries.org.

Thembi's AIDS Diary: A Year in the Life of A South African Teenager

In 2004, at the age of 19, Thembi Ngubane was given a tape recorder to keep an audio diary of her life with AIDS. Over the course of a year, Thembi recorded more than 50 hours of tape, which we edited into a half-hour documentary for broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered on April 19, 2006.

Thembi's story has become more than a radio documentary. Recently, Thembi came to the US for an AIDS Awareness tour. Her diary has become a powerful tool to help reduce the stigma of AIDS, highlight the need for antiretroviral drugs in Africa, and infuse young people with the information and inspiration to bolster existing AIDS awareness campaigns.

Thembi's AIDS Diary was produced by Radio Diaries/ Joe Richman

Length: 22 min
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Radio Diaries is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people document their own lives for public radio. To find out more and to hear all our stories, visit radiodiaries.org.

Amanda's Diary: Girlfriend

Amanda's family is Catholic. Amanda is gay. And she's having a hard time getting her parents to understand that this is not just a phase.

"When I was in the first grade, I remember one day we were playing a game that was kind of like Sleeping Beauty where like the prettiest girl on the block fell asleep on a picnic bench. And you know, somebody had to go and wake her up, to like, kiss her and revive her and it would always be one of the boys. And I always felt like I wanted to go and revive her."

Amanda's Diary was part of the Teenage Diaries series produced by Joe Richman/Radio Diaries. The series was originally broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered.

Length 12:07
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Radio Diaries is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people document their own lives for public radio. To find out more and to hear all our stories, visit radiodiaries.org.

Josh's Diary: Growing Up with Tourette's

Josh has Tourette's Syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable tics and involuntary verbal outbursts.

"It feels like there's a big balloon inside my stomach. And the balloon keeps growing bigger and bigger, like every second extra the tic stays inside it feels like somebody blows up the balloon another notch, until I let it out."


Josh's Diary was part of the Teenage Diaries series produced by Joe Richman/Radio Diaries. The series was originally broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered.

Length 13:52
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Radio Diaries is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people document their own lives for public radio. To find out more and to hear all our stories, visit radiodiaries.org.