We knew life in America would never be the same after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but no one knew exactly how it would change. How has our society and country come to terms since then? Public radio tackles this question with Understanding America after 9/11, a week of special coverage on stations nationwide. Stories and programs from Understanding America after 9/11 were broadcast on public radio stations nationwide September 3 through September 10, 2002. Many of the stories are archived on this site. You're invited to participate in an online chronicle of how our lives have changed — and remained the same — a year after the terrorist attacks. Share your answer and read others' responses. Planes overhead make me anxious now. It heightened my sensitivity to sound, before I never really heard the airplanes... After getting past the initial shock, anger and sadness, what remains is a renewed love for life, and a heightened sense of compassion and tolerance... NPR's Lost and Found Sound and the public broadcasting community are collecting audio traces of the World Trade Center, its neighborhood and the events of September 11th. Explore the archive, contribute your own sounds and stories, and immerse yourself in the Sonic Browser, an interactive soundscape of stories and audio fragments at www.sonicmemorial.org NPR Special Coverage:

Living with Terror: The World Speaks a Year After 9/11 WAMU - Washington, D.C. and BBC - London Award-winning journalists Robin Lustig and Deborah Amos hosted a two-hour live event featuring call-outs to top foreign correspondents, comments from dignitaries, and questions from around the world. (2:00:00)   Hour 1  Hour 2      Hour 1  Hour 2    Living with Terror: America Speaks a Year after 9/11 WBUR - Boston, MA, Minnesota Public Radio - St. Paul, MN, KPCC Los Angelos, CA Ray Suarez, now with PBS, and Stephen Sackur from the BBC in London hosted live roundtable discussions in L.A., the Twin Cities, and Boston. Audiences compareed views about how 9/11 has changed their lives and the country, and how the fear of terrorism will influence the future. (1:48:00) Navajo Reflections on 9/11 KUER - Salt Lake City, UT This is an audio portrait of Native American reflections on September 11 and its aftermath. Jenny Brundin allows Navajos to share the spiritual and life lessons they gained from the 9/11 tragedy. This portrait with no narration is steeped in the sounds indigenous to the reservation. (8:10) Lost and Found Sound's Sonic Memorial Special www.sonicmemorial.org In this intimate, historic, sound-rich documentary, narrator Paul Auster weaves together voicemails, on-site recordings, oral histories, remembrances and stories collected from NPR's Sonic Memorial phone line. (59:00) Unfriendly Skies WBUR - Boston, MA WBUR's documentary on aviation security starts at Logan Airport where two of the hijacked planes took off on September 11. Since that day, air travel has changed forever, but questions remain whether government and the travel industry have taken the right steps to protect passengers and the country. (58:59) Days of Infamy: December 7 & 9-11 American RadioWorks, St. Paul, MN and The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University Twice in living memory, the Library of Congress has collected recordings of Americans reacting to a surprise attack — following Pearl Harbor and after September 11. These tapes, some broadcast here for the first time, provide a powerful look at our nation and culture in crisis across sixty years. (1:00:00)

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Major funding for Understanding America after 9/11 is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Photo Above: Mel Evans/The Record

UnderstandingAmerica.org is comprised of the collective work of public radio stations, producers and networks around the world. Copyright to individual programs is held by the producing entity. All other copyrights are held by Minnesota Public Radio, 2002. All right reserved.