Ben Kopper

Radio Producer

Ben Kopper is a graduate student intern at Alabama Public Radio. He is working toward an MBA with a focus in social media marketing. Ben has received a bachelor's degree in creative media from The University of Alabama. In his spare time, he enjoys creating digital art, listening to podcasts and playing tabletop games with friends.

Commentary

“It’s a safe place when home isn’t safe anymore.”

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, Susan Youngblood tells the story of her career as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse. She begins with her graduation from paralegal school in Nashville and then tells how she went on to establish the SABRA sanctuary to protect victims here in Alabama.
Commentary

"I was afraid – we couldn't go nowhere, we couldn't do nothing, we just had to be there."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, Annie Pearl Avery is back to talk about a dangerous encounter she had when she and her friends got lost on the way home from a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee conference in Georgia.
Commentary

"It was a trap ... there was nowhere to go, except jump in the river."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, Annie Pearl Avery tells the story of her experience on Bloody Sunday, when she and her fellow civil rights protestors attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7th, 1965.
Commentary

"I feel an alignment; I feel this is where I'm supposed to be."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, Tres and Helene Taylor return to tell the story of the community mural they organized in Selma, Alabama and how they used the power of art to bring people together.
Commentary

"You jumped off the cliff, but I caught you."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, Tres and Helene Taylor tell the story of their unconventional romance, and the ways in which they healed each other’s heartbreak.
Commentary

"Live in the present and be honest with yourself."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, Nancy Ziccardi and Charles Flaherty discuss their personal history in the anti-war movement of the 1970s, and the ways in which their hippie days have shaped who they are now.
Commentary

"Food is one of the only things that you can recreate a memory with."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, cooking enthusiasts Matt Orndorff and Megan York discuss old family recipes and the way that food can help us to connect with lost loved ones.
Commentary

"No one is born an artist. The only thing you're born as is a baby."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, Alabama artists Winfred Hawkins and Bill Ford discuss the notion of artistic talent as an innate capability and what it means to call oneself an artist.
Commentary

"I do try to tell them that what I'm doing is not about money, it's about purpose."

Ben Kopper

This week on StoryCorps, journalist Cindy Fisher describes the way her personal and professional lives interact as she balances the responsibilities of parenting two children and operating a local newspaper.
Commentary

"I want to do the most good for the most people."

Ben Kopper

Major Edward Madison Jr. has lived a life of service to others. He served his community as a deacon at his local church, he served his country in the United States Air Force, and he currently serves the people of Selma, Alabama as their city attorney. This week on StoryCorps, Major Madison explores how he discovered his passion for public service.