STORYCORPS’ THANKSGIVING PROJECT: StoryCorps is sponsoring its annual “Great Thanksgiving Listen” this weekend, encouraging young people especially to interview their family members when they gather for the holiday; this is a big year for the Listen, because StoryCorps has a mobile app that allows people to easily record, tag and upload their stories to StoryCorps, and where it will be added to the Library of Congress.

NEW YORK TIMES‘ VIRTUAL REALITY: The nation’s newspaper of record is making a foray into virtual reality–short films that you can watch on your smartphone with a cardboard Google viewing device attached. Read more about the effort at the Future of Storytelling blog.

STORYTELLING FOR HEALTH: frank reports that researchers have found that storytelling (in the form of a short film) can encourage women to get the HPV vaccine – but only if the audience can relate to at least one character.

STORIES AND STATISTICS: Hopes & Fears has writers and academics answer the question, “Is it possible to run out of empathy?” Their answers have implications for how nonprofits communicate about their work. On a related note, European Journalism Observatory reports that research says “Stories, not statistics, can overcome compassion fatigue.” (h/t to Andy Goodman for the second story.)