The Nocturnists:

Stories from a Pandemic

Series Illustrations: Lindsay Mound

When COVID-19 hit, The Nocturnists suspended our usual programming and put out a call for audio diaries from healthcare workers grappling with the pandemic. Between the months of March and May of 2020, we received over 700 audio clips from over 200 healthcare workers across North America — and it was some of the most raw, honest tape we’ve ever heard.

Each week for ten weeks, our creative team of three listened to the material submitted to us, and aired selected diaries on this new series, Stories from a Pandemic. This allowed healthcare workers to hear each others’ voices as the crisis unfolded in real time. Audio clips were also made available on our interactive story map, which demonstrates the geographic breadth of our community.

Diarists also submitted sounds from their environment and poignant musical performances, which we used to score the series. Our series finale, “Mourning,” concluded with healthcare workers across the country humming Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” — a heartbreaking and much-needed acknowledgement of the 100,000 lives already lost from the virus at the time.

A story from one of our diarists, a medical student in New York City, was further developed into a feature for Pop-Up Magazine’s “Spring Issue 2020: At Home.” Later that year, our entire collection of unpublished pandemic audio diaries was acquired by the U.S. Library of Congress, alongside the testimonies of 9/11 first responders and other historical treasures. Our pandemic storytelling work has been featured on CBS This Morning and NPR’s Morning Edition.

We are proud to have served as an outlet for self-expression, truth-telling, and community for healthcare workers during this unprecedented moment in medical history. Thank you to all who contributed your voices to this project, which will be preserved forever for posterity.

Posts tagged Medical

Stories from a Pandemic: 10. Mourning

Stories from a Pandemic: 10. Mourning

How does the pandemic end? Does it go out with a bang? Does it fizzle out? What we know for sure is that this story is not over.

The NocturnistsJune 9, 2020COVID19, Medical, Coronavirus, Doctor, ER, Health, Healthcare, Hospital, Medical History, Nurse, Pandemic, Trauma, Storytelling, Documentary, Audio diary