CPB Announces 2025 Grant for Four New Public Radio Hubs for StoryCorps’ One Small Step

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 25, 2025) — Through a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), StoryCorps has announced four new public radio stations as part of its One Small Step initiative, which helps bridge partisan divides through civil conversations. 

KGNU in Boulder, CO;  Tri States Public Radio in Macomb, IL; WKU in Bowling Green, KY; and WYSO in Yellow Springs, OH; will receive training, production support, and professional recording equipment from StoryCorps, enabling them to facilitate and share One Small Step conversations within their communities.

“One Small Step is designed to bring two people with different political beliefs together for a respectful conversation,” said Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB. “StoryCorps has won the trust of the American people through this inclusive, balanced, and transparent approach.”

Recent Pew Research Center research found not only that Republicans and Democrats sharply differ from each other in which news sources they trust, but also that Americans trust each other less than they did a few decades ago.

Public media serves all Americans. In addition to its role, as designated by Congress, to serve as a firewall of editorial independence for content makers, CPB is also directed to ensure the content it funds is fact-based, nonpartisan, unbiased, and transparent.

By focusing on shared humanity rather than political disagreement, the initiative seeks to counter polarization at the local level, one conversation at a time. In fact, One Small Step has been shown to help participants develop stronger feelings of empathy and understanding for people with opposing political views.

Founded in 2003 with support for CPB, StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit dedicated to helping us believe in each others by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all, one story at a time. Since 2018, CPB’s support has enabled 33 public media stations to participate in StoryCorps’ One Small Step, helping to build bridges in communities across the country.

Dave Isay, Founder and President of StoryCorps, said, “We’ve learned through One Small Step that Americans across political divides have much more in common than they thought—and that the conversations we’re facilitating have the potential to help bring people together. But we know we can’t succeed in this David vs. Goliath effort alone. We’re deeply grateful to the four 2025 One Small Step Radio Station Hubs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for joining us in this crucial work.”

Through the One Small Step Radio Station Hubs project, two members of each participating station are trained by StoryCorps staff to facilitate and record conversations between community residents with different political beliefs. The stations also receive program support and a customized set of professional recording equipment for in-person recording, as well as access to StoryCorps’ remote recording platform, which can be used to host conversations virtually. Stations will team up with a variety of community organizations to spread the word about the initiative and will collaborate with StoryCorps to match participants and record conversations through the end of the year. The project includes a series of public listening events, streamed online, and select interviews will be shared across each station’s media platforms.

About One Small Step
Piloted in 2017 and nationally launched in 2024, One Small Step is an effort to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree. The initiative brings strangers with different political views together to record a 50-minute conversation—not to debate politics, but to learn who we are as people. Audio recordings of each interview are archived at the Library of Congress and by StoryCorps. To date, over 7,000 people across the U.S. have participated in a One Small Step conversation. Listen to One Small Step interviews here, and learn more at takeonesmallstep.org.

About StoryCorps
Founded in 2003, StoryCorps is a national nonprofit dedicated to helping us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all, one story at a time. Over 700,000 people, in all 50 states, have recorded interviews about their lives through StoryCorps. The award-winning organization preserves the recordings in its archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ podcast, radio broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, engender empathy and connection, and remind us how much more we have in common than what divides us. StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media. The StoryCorps MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer that has been transformed into a traveling recording booth, crosses the country year-round gathering the stories of people nationwide. Learn more at storycorps.org.

About CPB 
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org, follow us on twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and subscribe for email updates.