StoryCorps Chicago Finale: ‘I Can’t Wait To Build A Future With You’

By Bill Healy
Arianna Hermosillo and Irakere Picon
Arianna Hermosillo and Irakere Picon at the StoryCorps booth in Chicago StoryCorps Chicago
Arianna Hermosillo and Irakere Picon
Arianna Hermosillo and Irakere Picon at the StoryCorps booth in Chicago StoryCorps Chicago

StoryCorps Chicago Finale: ‘I Can’t Wait To Build A Future With You’

By Bill Healy
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A few years ago, Arianna Hermosillo boarded a bus going from Chicago to Alabama. She was working as a freelance journalist for a local bilingual newspaper, covering a group of Chicago protesters. They were headed to the Alabama state capitol to protest anti-immigration legislation. While on the bus, Hermosillo interviewed a man around her age. His name was Irakere Picon. Six months later, they went on their first date, and Picon was determined to be forthcoming about his life. 

They got engaged during their recording at the booth. 

During its eight years in Chicago, the StoryCorps booth was the site for nine wedding proposals.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago for WBEZ and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. A podcast he produced was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting. Follow him @chicagoan.