The People's Recorder

Episode Summary:Tune in for an important update on The People's Recorder!Host Chris Haley shares the state of the podcast now in the wake of recent funding cuts and also the exciting plans we have coming up over the next few months, including a sneak preview of "Gospel of Fear," our trilogy of episodes about Congressman Martin Dies, the playbook he used to attack the WPA and the Federal Writers' Project, and how we're all still feeling the impact of that playbook today.The People's Recorder is also now on Patreon! Support the podcast and help keep these stories coming and out in the world where they belong. Become a patron for only $5/month and receive access to exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, AMA events, and more!For more information and to sign up, visit: www.patreon.com/peoplesrecorderImage Description and Credit: Protestors in Center City Philadelphia, 1939, staging a symbolic "funeral" for the Federal Writers' Project, a Works Progress Administration program soon to be gutted by federal budget cuts. From the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.Episode Credits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditor: Ethan OserFeaturing Music from Pond5For additional content, visit www.peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder

Episodes Summary: A beautiful and powerful art exhibition is touring the country right now, called Pictures of Belonging, which explores three artists of Japanese descent - Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo.  The exhibition puts these artists and their work in their rightful place in the history of American art.  For this bonus episode, producer and lead writer David Taylor visits the exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and shares his insights about Miné Okubo, who was featured in Episode 9: Is This Land Your Land?  She was a painter who was working with Diego Rivera on murals for the WPA when she was detained and sent to an incarceration camp during World War 2.  She used her artwork to bear witness to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during the war.  Links and Resources:Pictures of Belonging: Japanese American National MuseumPictures of Belonging: Smithsonian American Art MuseumCitizen 13660 - a short film from the National Park ServiceSincerely, Miné Okubo - a short biography from the Japanese American National MuseumFurther Reading: Citizen 13360 by Miné OkuboMiné Okubo: Following Her Own Road by Greg Robinson Peaceful Painter: Memoirs of an Issei Woman Artist by Hisako HibiThe Other American Moderns: Matsura, Ishigaki, Nora, Hayakawa by ShiPu WangCredits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditor: Amy YoungFeaturing music from Pond5Produced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder

The People’s Recorder was funded in part with a grant from Wisconsin Humanities. But did you know that Wisconsin Humanities also has their own podcast, Human Powered? Hosted by Adam Carr and Dasha Kelly Hamilton, Human Powered focuses on the power of the humanities in Wisconsin's prisons. We wanted to share an episode from that terrific show with you today.  People in prisons are cut off from their families, their communities, and in some cases their own feelings. Making art in prison can be a way to affirm your humanity in a place that is often dehumanizing. So, when organizers of an exhibit of prison art put out a call for submissions, they were flooded with responses from incarcerated artists working without support, formal programs or materials. This episode tells the story of that exhibit. Guests: Joshua GreslJohn TysonSarah DemerathDebra Brehmer​Learn more about Human Powered at www.wisconsinhumanities.org/podcast

Episode Summary:In the 1930s, the notion of making an incubator for creativity in a region devastated by the Great Depression got tested in Nebraska. This episode looks at what happened there when the Writers’ Project came to town, through a group of creatives from contrasting backgrounds, including a hobo, a nurse and a hardware store poet – all under the watchful eye of a university professor and a celebrated novelist. Starting from chaos, they ignited a surprising alchemy and made the Lincoln office one of the most productive Writers’ Project hubs in the country. The Season 1 finale listens in as Americans face war clouds on the horizon, and a national radio show asks, “Can we count on youth to uphold the American Way?”Speakers: Stephen Cloyd, librarian and historianMarilyn Holt, historianJames Reidel, biographer and poetDouglas Brinkley, historianLinks and Resources: Rudolph Umland and the Federal Writers' ProjectThe Nebraska Federal Writers' Project - Lincoln City LibrariesMari Sandoz and the Writers' ProjectWeldon Kees reads his poem, "1926"WPA Guide to Nebraska (free PDF)Prairie SchoonerReading List: Vanished Act: The Life and Art of Weldon Kees, by James ReidelNebraska During the New Deal, by Marilyn Irvin HoltSoul of a People by David A. TaylorThe Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, by Timothy EganThe Collected Poems of Weldon Kees, edited by Donald JusticeCrazy Horse, by Mari SandozCreditsHost: Chris HaleyDirector: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloWriter: David A. TaylorEditor: Ethan OserAssistant Editor: Amy YoungStory Editor: Michael MayAdditional Voices: Jared Buggage, Sam Hanks, JoJo Drake Kalin, Antonio Macias, James Mirabello, Mariko Miyazaki, Kate Rafter and Sarah SmackFeaturing music and archival from: Aaron CoplandAlexandria Symphony OrchestraJoseph VitarelliBradford EllisMike SayreCeiri TorjussenPond5Library of CongressNational Archives and Records AdministrationNew York Public Radio Archives CollectionNebraska Public MediaFor additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorderProduced with support from: National Endowment for the HumanitiesHumanities Nebraska

Episode Summary:The Franklin Delano Library and Museum is an amazing place which just celebrated its 75th anniversary.  President Roosevelt had the idea to build the library on his family property in Hyde Park, New York, using private funds.  And then he donated the library and its historical collections, including all of his personal and official papers, to the US Government.  This started the precedent of Presidential Libraries that we continue today.  Last month, we sat down with the FDR Library and its director Bill Harris and had a great discussion about the Federal Writers' Project, its impact then, and why it still matters today.  Please join our host Chris Haley, writer-producers David Taylor and James Mirabello and historian Sara Rutkowski for a few highlights from that conversation.You can see the full discussion on the FDR Library’s YouTube channel here.  Links and Resources: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library and Museum"Rewriting America: New Essays on the Federal Writers' Project" with Sara RutkowskiCredits: Director: Andrea KalinProducers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James MirabelloEditor: Amy YoungFeaturing music from Pond5Featuring: Chris Haley, Bill Harris, David A. Taylor, Sara Rutkowski and James MirabelloProduced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska. For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder

This month, we're doing something a little different.  There are some amazing podcasts out there that give us a view of America through a distinctive lens. One of our favorites is Sidedoor: A podcast from the Smithsonian.  Every episode, host Lizzie Peabody sneaks listeners through Smithsonian's side door to search for stories that can't be found anywhere else.We're excited to share one of those stories. “King’s Speech” is about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the evolution of his iconic I Have a Dream speech.  It’s fascinating to chart the history of his speech and to hear how Dr. King was influenced by poet Langston Hughes, who worked with the Federal Theatre Project in the 1930s and co-wrote a play with one of the writers featured in the People's Recorder, Zora Neale Hurston.Guests: Kevin Young, Director of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and CultureW. Jason Miller, Author of Origins of the Dream: Hughes's Poetry and King's RhetoricEnjoy the episode!  To hear more, search for Sidedoor wherever you get your podcasts or go to www.si.edu/sidedoor.