The People's Recorder cover art

The People's Recorder

The People's Recorder

By: Spark Media Inc.
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About this listen

The People’s Recorder is a podcast about the 1930s Federal Writers’ Project: what it achieved, where it fell short, and what it means for Americans today.


Each episode features stories of individual writers, new places, and the project's impact on people's lives. Along the way we hear from historians, novelists, and others who shed light on that experience and unexpected connections to American society today.


The People's Recorder recounts a forgotten chapter in our history. Join us on an unvarnished tour of America.


The People’s Recorder is produced by Spark Media with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities, California Humanities and Humanities Nebraska.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spark Media, Inc.
Art Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Important Update!
    Oct 23 2025

    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/peoplesrecorder


    Image 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 Kalin

    Producers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James Mirabello

    Editor: Ethan Oser

    Featuring Music from Pond5


    For additional content, visit www.peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    9 mins
  • Bonus Content - Pictures of Belonging
    Apr 15 2025


    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 Museum


    Pictures of Belonging: Smithsonian American Art Museum


    Citizen 13660 - a short film from the National Park Service


    Sincerely, Miné Okubo - a short biography from the Japanese American National Museum


    Further Reading:


    Citizen 13360 by Miné Okubo

    Miné Okubo: Following Her Own Road by Greg Robinson

    Peaceful Painter: Memoirs of an Issei Woman Artist by Hisako Hibi

    The Other American Moderns: Matsura, Ishigaki, Nora, Hayakawa by ShiPu Wang


    Credits:


    Director: Andrea Kalin

    Producers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James Mirabello

    Editor: Amy Young

    Featuring music from Pond5


    Produced 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

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    8 mins
  • Human Powered: Art Against the Odds
    Mar 6 2025

    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 Gresl

    John Tyson

    Sarah Demerath

    Debra Brehmer

    Learn more about Human Powered at www.wisconsinhumanities.org/podcast


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    45 mins
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