Material Memory
25 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsWe live in the age of information, but how often do we think about what has been lost—or nearly lost? From memories left on discarded machines to the voices of ancestors trapped on obsolete media, we are losing parts of human history each day.
In theme-based seasons, Material Memory explores the effects of our changing environment—such as digital technologies, the climate crisis, or global human displacement—on our ability to access the record of our shared humanity, and the critical role that libraries, archives, museums, and other public institutions play in keeping cultural memory alive.
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Episodes
Cradle of Student Protest
June 15, 2022 07:00 - 38 minutes - 53.3 MBTravel to Nashville, Tennessee, “the cradle of student protest,” to learn about Fisk University’s activist legacy–from the Jubilee Singers in the 1800s to the sit-ins of the 1960s to Black Lives Matter today.
Sankofa
June 01, 2022 07:00 - 31 minutes - 43.8 MBTravel to the Lowcountry of South Carolina to learn about the Mather School, founded after the Civil War to serve the newly freed, and the Gullah Geechee people, whose traditional way of life is threatened by gentrification.
By Actions and Not by Words
May 18, 2022 05:30 - 34 minutes - 47.6 MBDive into Tuskegee University’s vast collections, from the notebooks of George Washington Carver to archival speeches from luminaries Myrlie Evers, Shirley Chisholm, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Jackie Robinson, and Muhammad Ali.
If Walls Could Talk
May 04, 2022 07:30 - 30 minutes - 41.5 MBLearn about Alcorn State University student life–and civil rights protests–in the 1960s, and how a community-centered approach to librarianship has made Alcorn indispensable to the people of Lorman, MS.
Walking on Sacred Ground
April 20, 2022 12:12 - 32 minutes - 44.2 MBMorgan State University archivist Ida E. Jones discusses the history of Maryland's largest HBCU and how it is deeply entwined with the history of Black politics, activism, and media, particularly in Baltimore.
Cadence to the Rhythm of Life
April 13, 2022 07:00 - 16 minutes - 23 MBKofi Amu Horne, who created the theme music for this season, started drumming with his Ghanaian mother before he was two. Here, he talks about drumming as a spiritual practice and its importance to the African diaspora.
There's Magic in Creating Something from Nothing
April 06, 2022 07:00 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBLibrarian and curator Erika Witt speaks about Southern University at New Orleans’s African art collection, a transformative trip to Egypt, and how GLAMs can and must make themselves more inviting and accessible to BIPOC.
Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams
March 23, 2022 06:00 - 31 minutes - 43.6 MBThis season, we’re taking a tour of the treasures housed in HBCU libraries and archives. Meet two women instrumental to the HBCU Library Alliance: executive director Sandra Phoenix, and recent board chair Monika Rhue.
Season 3 Trailer: HBCU Library Alliance Tour
February 28, 2022 19:27 - 2 minutes - 3.73 MBIn this season of the Material Memory podcast, we're taking an audio road trip to explore the libraries, archives, and museums at six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Hear briefly from our guests in this season's introduction. View the video trailer at material-memory.clir.org.
Crisis as Catalyst: Notes from DCDC
June 10, 2021 02:04 - 54 minutes - 75.7 MBSpecial episode! Three stories about crisis as catalyst: capturing NHS COVID-19 stories; rethinking anti-racism and anti-ableism at the Wellcome Collection; & toward a climate action plan at the National Library of Scotland.
What We've Learned and What We Can Do
April 29, 2021 07:00 - 39 minutes - 54.7 MBWhat did we learn? What can we do? In the season 2 finale, host Nicole Kang Ferraiolo and producer Lizzi Albert share their biggest takeaways, from climate change’s unequal impacts to the importance of finding your role.
Heritage Has a History
March 31, 2021 08:00 - 27 minutes - 38.7 MBAnthropologist Dr. Blessing Nonye Onyima discusses the effects of colonialism and climate change on Nigeria’s cultural heritage, from the changing migration patterns of Fulani nomads to the looting of African antiquities.
The Home of Memory
March 09, 2021 12:04 - 25 minutes - 35.2 MBWhere do we house our memories? What does it mean to lose our records? Drawing on her experience as an archivist and as a hurricane evacuee, Itza Carbajal speaks about the impacts of the climate crisis on our recorded memory.
Living Heritage
February 12, 2021 02:22 - 23 minutes - 32.1 MBIntangible or “living” cultural heritage includes folk arts, food, and other traditions. Host Nicole Kang Ferraiolo talks to media scholar Saiful Alam Chowdhury about how climate change affects living heritage in Bangladesh and how to protect it.
Climate Displacement and Cultural Resilience
January 21, 2021 15:17 - 23 minutes - 33.3 MBVictoria Herrmann, president of the Arctic Institute, discusses climate displacement in the United States, the risks it poses to communities and traditions, and how cultural memory builds resilience.
How We Tell the Story of Disaster
December 18, 2020 18:53 - 20 minutes - 29.1 MBAnthropologist and emergency management specialist Dr. Crystal Felima speaks about her work on climate hazards, disaster narratives in Haiti and Puerto Rico, and the role of libraries.
Archivists Against the Climate Crisis
November 10, 2020 01:27 - 23 minutes - 32.6 MBArchivists Eira Tansey and Ben Goldman discuss their research on the impact of climate change on U.S. archives. They share their approaches to climate activism and the superpowers librarians can bring to the fight for environmental justice, both within and outside of their employer institutions.
Does it Matter? Cultural Memory and the Climate Crisis
November 10, 2020 01:09 - 19 minutes - 27.7 MBClimate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity—but how does cultural heritage fit in? Hear from all seven of this season’s guests as they weigh in on why culture matters, what’s at stake, and where we'll be headed in the coming episodes.
Sound and Meaning: Preserving Native American Voice and Song
April 24, 2020 16:52 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBIn this episode of Material Memory, we return to the Autry Museum of the American West in southern California, where a project is underway to preserve audiovisual materials documenting Native American voice and song. We’ll learn about the vital process of community-building and the relationships forged along the way.
"Hello, Friends" The Story of the Indians for Indians Radio Hour
March 18, 2020 15:49 - 57 minutes - 105 MBIn this episode of Material Memory, we talk with a staff member at the University of Oklahoma who has been working to preserve the recordings of the Indians for Indians Radio Hour program, a long-running broadcast that started in the 1940s at the university’s WNAD station. We’ll hear about the show’s founder, the complications of dealing with a well-used collection of many different Native voices, and the process of providing access to this important historical resource about tribal life.
Not Even in the Dictionary
February 26, 2020 19:57 - 1 hour - 115 MBIñupiaq dialects—spoken by people in the northernmost parts of Alaska—are considered “severely endangered,” with about 2,000 native speakers of these dialects alive today. In this episode of Material Memory, we chat with the people who are preserving, transcribing, and translating collections of audio and video recordings of Iñupiaq dialects. They discuss the joys and challenges of preserving the history and culture of the people for the next generation.
The Duty of Memory
December 19, 2019 20:03 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBRadio Haiti, the nation’s first independent radio station, gave people a voice in speaking out against government oppression while speaking up for human rights and democracy. In this episode of Material Memory, we talk with the Duke University Libraries staff who have been working to preserve a large collection of tapes of programming broadcast before government forces destroyed the station and its documents. We hear about the recovery of the audio and its importance in Haitian history.
Connected to the Legacy
December 09, 2019 21:47 - 55 minutes - 51.3 MBIn this episode of Material Memory, we talk to experts at the Amistad Research Center who are working to digitize the audio field recordings of African-American academic and linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner. His work established a connection between the languages of West Africa and African Americans living in the low countries and sea islands of South Carolina and Georgia. We listen to some of these recordings, discuss their importance, and hear how they bridge the distance between time and place.
The Ethics of Access
December 09, 2019 15:16 - 46 minutes - 86.4 MBHow can recordings of indigenous languages be made accessible to the communities they represent? In this episode of Material Memory, we talk to experts about the ethical considerations and complexities of providing broad access to recordings that may be culturally sensitive—sacred sounds, songs and language—and why it’s important to reconnect people to their own content. One lesson? The story doesn’t end once something is digitized.
Keeping Cultural Memory Alive: What's at Stake?
November 16, 2019 13:24 - 21 minutes - 39.9 MBKathlin Smith introduces the Material Memory podcast in a conversation with CLIR President Charles Henry about the threats to our cultural record and what is at stake if it's lost.