A Giant Listening Project

Object Details

Copyright

© Smithsonian 2016

Podcast Category

Society & Culture

Description

It’s been called ‘the most noble and absurd undertaking ever attempted by any state.’ During the height of the Great Depression, the U.S government hired out-of-work writers and laid-off reporters and sent them out to record the stories of all kinds of Americans. Called the Federal Writers’ Project, historians have called the program a giant “listening project.”

While on our summer break, we’re sharing the first episode of a new podcast series called The People’s Recorder. Host Chris Haley sets the stage, laying out 1930s America, the New Deal, and the cultural forces that both supported and opposed the Writers’ Project. The project of holding up to America raises questions: What history gets told? And who gets to tell it? 

You can listen to rest of the series by searching for The People’s Recorder wherever you get your podcasts. Find out more at peoplesrecorder.info 

 

Guests:

Scott Borchert, author

David Bradley, novelist

Dr. Douglas Brinkley, historian

Dr. Tameka Hobbs, historian

David Kipen, author

Dena Epstein, daughter of Hilda Polacheck

Studs Terkel, oral historian

Links and Resources:

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project

Born to Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project

Author Scott Borchert on the Federal Writers' Project and the WPA guidebooks

Article on Library on Congress symposium on The Millions

 

Further Reading

Soul of a People by David A. Taylor

Republic of Detours by Scott Borchert

California in the 1930s by David Kipen

First Person America by Ann Banks

Henry Alsberg by Susan DeMasi

Long Past Slavery by Catherine A. Stewart

Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

Hard Times by Studs Terkel

Duration

25:26 MINS

Author

Smithsonian Institution

Subtitle

During the height of the Great Depression, the U.S government hired out-of-work writers and laid-off reporters and sent them out to record the stories of all kinds of Americans.

Size

36.6 MB

Data Source

Smithsonian Institution

Uploaded

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 04:00:00 -0000

Creator

Smithsonian Institution

Type

Sound recordings

Symposia

Podcast

MIME Type

audio/mpeg

See More From Collection

Sidedoor

Topic

Smithsonian Sidedoor

Record ID

podcasts_5c27c7bf0f46bd388eb0ae56536f5376

Usage

Usage conditions apply