Celebrated on 11/27/2026
National Day of Listening, celebrated annually on the Friday after Thanksgiving, was founded by StoryCorps in 2008 to encourage people to record and preserve the stories of loved ones. It has since become a tradition where over 10,000 interviews are conducted each year, adding to StoryCorps' archive of over 75,000 recordings at the American Folklife Center.
National Day of Listening was established in 2008 by StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of people from all backgrounds. The holiday was created as a response to the increasingly fast-paced, digital world, aiming to encourage individuals to set aside time to connect with family and friends through meaningful conversation. The first National Day of Listening took place on the Friday after Thanksgiving, a day already associated with family gatherings, to capitalize on the opportunity for storytelling.
Since its inception, National Day of Listening has grown in popularity, with participants encouraged to record interviews using StoryCorps' free resources, including a question generator and recording guides. In 2015, StoryCorps launched the Great Thanksgiving Listen, a national education project that invites high school students to interview an elder over Thanksgiving weekend. This initiative has expanded the holiday's reach, with thousands of schools participating each year. Today, the day is marked by community events, social media campaigns using #NationalDayOfListening, and the continued growth of StoryCorps' archive, which is housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
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