Search Essay Collection

Use this feature to search through the tens of thousands of essays that have been submitted to This I Believe. In addition, you can search through the essays from Edward R. Murrow’s original 1950s radio series.

For privacy purposes, when an essay is viewed, the essayist will only be identified by first name, city, and state. The only exceptions to this rule are essayists who have granted permission for use of their last name or essayists from the original 1950s series.

Browse By Age

Each essay is categorized by the age of the person writing the essay. You can mouse over each age category to tell how many essays have been written by people in that age category and click on the age category view essays written by people in that age group.

Browse By Theme

Themes are displayed relative to the number of essays tagged with each theme. You can mouse over each theme to see how many essays have been tagged with that theme or click on the theme to see essays covering that subject.