An audio-mapped history of Lebanon
Track where each story is in our editorial process
Your listening journey across Lebanon
A few tips to help us preserve stories with care.
Let them know in advance you'll be asking about their town and their life. Ask them to think of three events that marked them. Ask them to prepare a few pictures.
If you don't know the storyteller well, have a younger family member they trust ask the questions instead. Just sit beside.
Use your phone's built-in voice recorder, or send yourself a WhatsApp voice note. Hold the phone about 20cm from the storyteller. Don't worry about quality — we'll clean the audio in review.
Begin the recording with this consent line. Edit it slightly to sound natural in your own voice.
Avoid open cafés, traffic, and wind. A small room with curtains and soft furnishings works wonders. We'll do light cleanup in review, but we can't fix a noisy room.
When you submit, pin the location where the story took place — not where you recorded it.
Avoid naming specific politicians, parties, or sectarian groups. We're aware of how sensitive this is — and that's exactly why we want Riwayati to be a quiet space for memory, not a target for shutdown. Personal experience is welcome; political commentary isn't.
[ Your team can replace this with the full guidelines document ]
Submissions are reviewed by our editors before they go live.
No name, nickname, or photo will be shown publicly. Our team still knows who recorded it.
For long interviews you don't want to summarise. Our editors will listen, cut it into pieces, and come back to you with a draft for your approval before publishing.
Editors typically respond within 3–5 days.
Help us improve — a few quick questions about how that went.
This changes the app's interface. Recordings are kept in their original language.
Tell us what's working, what's broken, and what we should build next.