Your Summer Sound Stories

Here's the background: When we asked our listeners to send us their summer sound recordings, we weren't sure how many we'd get (maybe 30, 35?). But you sent us close to 150 sounds. You took us to Spanish Harlem. You took us to Spain. You woke us up early to hear the parrots in Queens. You kept us up late with coyotes in Westchester. We listened to every single sound, and it was a joy. Thank you - really - to everyone who submitted.

So this is what we did with your summer sounds: We strung a few of your sound recordings together to make a little audio medley. You can listen to it here:

Then came the challenge: We handed this medley over to a few storytelling champs and challenged them to spin an original story to correspond to the sounds. Hit the "Listen" button at the top of this page to hear how they did.

The expert storytellers:

• Elizabeth Gilbert: author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic.
• Jim O’Grady: a features reporter at WNYC. He’s told stories on This American Life, Studio 360, and The Moth.
• Peter Aguero: a storyteller, Moth StorySLAM host and GrandSLAM champion. He also leads the MothSHOP Community Education Program.
• And Brian Lehrer, with a special long-form story.

And a special kicker to end it: You sent us SO many irresistibly rich and story-ful sounds, so we wove as many as we could together into an audio essay. Click below to hear Brian perform the essay, taking you on a journey through listener-submitted recordings about the Summer of 2015.