1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,520 Speaker 1: Hello. So we've put on a short break from the podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: but I just couldn't stay away. And recently Apple picked 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: five Black creators disrupting their fields to spotlight for Black 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: History Month. And I'm really pleased and humbled and honored 5 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: to say that the Tangoti community were among the voices 6 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: that Apple says are disrupting technology. And I could not 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: be prouder. So thank you Apple for spotlighting black creators, 8 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: and most importantly, thanks to all of you for listening. 9 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: It really means so much to me. And in honor 10 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: of all this, I'm revisiting one of my favorite episodes, 11 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: my conversation with archivist Jocelyn Robinson about her work preserving 12 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: black voices literally by archiving audio from historically black colleges 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: and universities. I hope your month is full of celebrating 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: Black history, the Black present, and beautiful Black futures. And 15 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: we'll be back soon with more episodes of There Are 16 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: No Girls on the Internet. Happy Black History Month. You 17 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: hear everything in her voice, You hear her life in 18 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: her voice, you hear the black experience inner voice. It's 19 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: just um, yes, it's transportive, it's it's transcendent. There Are 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: No Girls on the Internet. As a production of I 21 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Unbossed Creative. I'm Bridget Todd, and this 22 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: is there are No Girls on the Internet. The Internet 23 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: is ephemeral. How can you archive something that happened on 24 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: social media or something that existed completely online. That's actually 25 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why I created this very podcast. 26 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: I saw all the ways that underrepresented communities contribute to 27 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: the Internet and technology, but I saw those same contributions 28 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: being overlooked or forgotten. I didn't want them to fade away. 29 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: Audio was a bit like that too. Tape fades, hard, 30 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: drives crash, and pieces get lost forever. In the a 31 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: of searching text, audio is that much harder to hold onto. 32 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,919 Speaker 1: But there's something magical about the medium of audio. Hearing 33 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 1: someone tell their stories in their own words just hits differently. 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: That's why it's so important that we be intentional about 35 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: whose voices we preserve. Joscelyn Robinson is an audio producer 36 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: and preservationist, and she has long standing roots in the 37 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: museum community. What if she thought we could survey the 38 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,239 Speaker 1: audio archives of the voices and stories housed it radio 39 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: stations on the campuses of historically Black Colleges and Universities 40 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: or HBCUs. So in her late fifties, she quitted a job, 41 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: went back to school, and made it her mission. Joscelyn 42 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: served as the very first archives fellow at Dayton, Ohio's 43 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: only national public radio station, w y s O, where 44 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: she produced Rediscovered Radio, a series built around w y 45 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: s o's Civil rights era audio. Now, Joscelyn works with 46 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: HBCUs to start a dialogue around preserving the audio at 47 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: the radio stations. Her work, it's grounded and making sure 48 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: we preserve our stories and in doing so that we 49 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: preserve the magical audio. So how did you get into 50 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,839 Speaker 1: your work preserving audio and historically black colleges. In two 51 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: thousand thirteen, I took a an audio production course at 52 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: the local public radio station, and I just got bit 53 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: by the bug. And by two thousand and fifteen, I 54 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: had quit my day job and was producing part time 55 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: and teaching part time. And um I had always in 56 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: the back of my mind, had this idea that um I, 57 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: you know, would love the thought of doing a long 58 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: form audio at HBCUs because it's not something that's typically 59 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: taught in mass communications courses and programs. And when I 60 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: was working initially, UM, I used some chival audio from 61 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: w y s SO that is mainly from the sixties 62 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: and seventies into the eighties, UM, and so it reflected 63 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: the civil rights era and also the movement into black nationalism, 64 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:20,559 Speaker 1: the peace movement, anti war movement of the seventies, and 65 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: I just became enamored of of um historical materials kind 66 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: of related to my background in the museum community. There's 67 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: around a hundred roughly HBCUs it in exists today, and 68 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: a third of them just about have radio stations. And 69 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: I thought, you know, if w y s O has 70 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: this kind of material, um it was also a college 71 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: radio station, initially at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, if 72 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: that college radio station has such incredible material, and I 73 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: mean it's incredible material, and the voices of people whom 74 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,359 Speaker 1: were significant from those areas are represented there as well 75 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: as the history of the local area and the college 76 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: and the state, and you know what was going on 77 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: in the world. But I thought, HBCUs, being the crucible 78 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,479 Speaker 1: of the civil rights movement in so many ways, must 79 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: have some materials too, and so I had I had 80 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: thought about it, and when I quit my day job, 81 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: I went back to school and got a grad certificate 82 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: in public history with a with a focus on archives, 83 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 1: so that I would be knowledgeable about the archival process 84 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: and about the materials and and and their preservation and um. 85 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: In the course of doing that, I kind of fell 86 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: into a preservation activity that was initiated at the Library 87 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: of Congress, the Radio Preservation Task Force, And that just 88 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,720 Speaker 1: opened up this whole world of people who were seeking 89 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: out and figuring out how to preserve and use these 90 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: materials all over the world. So I was aware of 91 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: this this world, but I became kind of immersed in it, 92 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: and I became a member of the African American and 93 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: Civil Rights Radio Caucus of the Radio Preservation Task Force, 94 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: and went to conferences and did presentations with this idea that, um, 95 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: wouldn't it be great if we could survey the materials 96 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: at historically black colleges and universities And someday, if I 97 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: can find the funding for it, That's what I'm gonna do. 98 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: Johnston got a grant from the National Recording Preservation Foundation 99 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: to s h B c U s about what kind 100 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: of audio were housed at their campus radio stations. How 101 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: tragic is it to think that an audio recording of 102 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: rosa parks could be collecting dust and some campus basement somewhere. Well, 103 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: Johnston wanted to make sure these radio stations had access 104 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: to the ability to archive their audio. What I found 105 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: was that UM radio stations at most colleges are not 106 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: necessarily included in the institutional records management or preservation efforts 107 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: that they that the college normally takes takes on, and 108 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: that it was an opportunity to connect the radio stations 109 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: with the institutional archives on their campuses and at least 110 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: get a dialogue going, if not get the institutional archives 111 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: to take on the task of preserving the audio audio material. 112 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: So what wasn't exactly about HBCUs. Why did you feel 113 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: like it was so important to be doing that work 114 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: on HBCU campuses, having sort of an intimate understanding of 115 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: the challenges that are faced by HBCUs and also their 116 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: importance to UM, the American Higher education UM landscape, but 117 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: UH and to our communities. And there were times when 118 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: you know, teachers, doctors, UM lawyers, UM engineers were you know, 119 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: trained primarily at HBCUs and UM. And that's one of 120 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: the things that distinguishes historically black college from a predominantly 121 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: white institution, so um so to me, they are precious. 122 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: They are sacred ground and um and they are in 123 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: their communities UM and you know here in Ohio world 124 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: bit isolated. But as I got to know the other 125 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: um uh my my counterparts at other campuses and got 126 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: to know their their their institutions, you know, and realizing 127 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: how important they are to um black people in this 128 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: country and particularly in the Southeast, they are hallowed ground 129 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: and and anything that took place there is is worthy 130 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: of of of not just preservation but also um uh 131 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: honoring to to to look to it as a as 132 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: an example of resilience. I don't know that we can 133 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: even imagine those of us who do not live in 134 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:05,319 Speaker 1: the former Confederate States what life was like and and 135 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: how our institutions, UM, our churches are, our communities, but 136 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: but especially centered around um are. Historically black campuses were 137 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: refuges uh, places of uh you know, where the intellect 138 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: and ingenuity and um creativity of black people could um 139 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: shine and thrive and um you know that that's an 140 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: important um legacy to honor and with audio it's such 141 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: an intimate and um uh you know emotionally charged UM medium, 142 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: and I think that um, you know, finding materials, which 143 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: is very difficult. Radio is ephemeral and UM and not 144 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: a lot of recordings were made. At times, making recordings 145 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: was expensive. You know, a quarter inch tape was expensive. 146 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: The clayback equipment was was you know expensive, and and 147 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,320 Speaker 1: and maybe a few and far between at times that changed, 148 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: you know, when the when cassettes became UM more prominent, 149 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: but but certainly when it was real to real you know, 150 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: that's a big bulky machine with a big bulky tape. 151 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: So um, you know, to try to find anything. And 152 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: and also you know the thing about radio stations is 153 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: that they often change format when when the license changes hands. 154 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: And what happens is whatever was happening before kind of 155 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: gets swept up and thrown out into the dumpster. So 156 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: to make sure that that anything that might be of 157 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: significance at an HBC radio station is you know, found 158 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 1: and preserved, is kind of it's a mission for sure. 159 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: Audio shall medium. That intimacy is one reason why he 160 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: became a podcaster in the first place. Hearing someone tell 161 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:08,959 Speaker 1: their story it's just different than reading it in print. 162 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 1: Through her work, Jocelyn preserves this intimate magic for future generations. 163 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: I often wonder if listening if if people listening to 164 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 1: two audio producers talk about audio production, is is like boring. 165 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 1: But I have to say, when you talked about the 166 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: intimacy of the medium of audio, like that's what made 167 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: me fall in love with it. And I'll never forget 168 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,439 Speaker 1: um my grandmother. She she's now passed away. She is 169 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: from Charlotte, North Carolina, and she is a you know, 170 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:40,679 Speaker 1: uh black Southern matriarch of a big Southern family. And 171 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: at the University of North Carolina reached out to her 172 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: to do this archival project where she sat down and 173 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: and talked about her life with a researcher. And I 174 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: had read clips of this before and I really enjoyed 175 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: reading it. But one day I found the audio of her, 176 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: her telling of her telling these stories, and it something 177 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: about hearing her voice was so different. You know, I 178 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: had I had read, I had read what she had 179 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: said before, but hearing her say it in her own words, 180 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: I just I've always felt that there's something intimate and 181 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: magical about the medium of audio. Just you know, it's 182 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 1: so intimate, it's in your ears, and it just can 183 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: hit your can hit you in a different way I feel, 184 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: and I don't know. I guess I've always when people ask, 185 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: you know, why audio, I never really have a good answer, 186 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: but I think it just always comes back to that intimacy. Well, 187 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: one of the things that creates that intimacy, if you 188 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: think about it, is that if you were thinking of 189 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 1: other media, and we're thinking of especially a visual media, 190 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: what you see is what is in the frame. What 191 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 1: you see is what the person who made that image 192 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: or even whether it's moving or not, but what the 193 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: person you're seeing, what the person that made that image 194 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: um chose you to see what they curated for your eyes. 195 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: And with audio, I tell people you can't use photoshop 196 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: on audio. You cannot you cannot change what you what 197 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: you hear. Microphones are dumb, they're not smart. They look 198 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: up everything. So what you hear is what was heard. 199 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,199 Speaker 1: You hear all of it. You hear the train whistle 200 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: in the background, you hear the sirens, you hear the 201 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: birds singing or the crickets chirping. And so not only 202 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: do you hear all of that, you hear the emotion 203 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: in someone's voice. You hear them take a breath and 204 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 1: think about what it is they're about to say. You 205 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 1: hear them choke up, you hear them laugh, you know, 206 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:51,199 Speaker 1: so it's and and you hear it all um without 207 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: a filter, the same way that that you know that 208 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: with the visual um, that image is curated so um. 209 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: So I think that that's what creates that sense of 210 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: of of total experience, even though um, it's just coming 211 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: through your ears. And there's something about that vibration that 212 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: you know, it's on a vibrational level. You know that 213 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: even in a recording, even in effect simile, you can, um, 214 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: you can feel that vibration. When I first got into podcasting, 215 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 1: I was very self conscious because I was very new 216 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: at it, and so I would try to edit my 217 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: audio to make it seem as though, you know, I 218 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: was just the most well spoken person. I never you know, 219 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: used a filler word. I never like stopped and restarted. 220 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: I never had to catch my breath. I never you know, 221 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: cleared my throat while I was thinking. And it's funny 222 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: because those are all the little markers of somebody figuring 223 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: something out in real time. And that's actually why you 224 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: listen to audio, because you get these unfiltered, unedited moments 225 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: that don't that you aren't photoshops like you said. And 226 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: I think the more or that I when I realized 227 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: that the reason why I like audio is because you 228 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: get to hear the crickets chirping, and then this and 229 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: then that, and allowing that those little nuances to to 230 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: stay in my own audio, it really just I feel 231 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: like it all clicks for me. It really it really 232 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: helped me in the in the craft of audio storytelling. 233 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: Mm hmm. It's I think what it does is it 234 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: it helps us stay in touch with our humanity, you 235 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: know it even if it's even if something we're listening 236 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: to is is highly um uh produced, um, you still 237 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: get that that sense that that uh, you know, you're 238 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: you're hearing it. It's that hearing is and and and 239 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: listening are active, you know, um sorts of things. It's 240 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: that you're not passive. You have to you have to 241 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: pay attention, you know, you have to you you you 242 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: have to let your brain absorb you know, what's being 243 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: heard and and and makes sense out of it. So, 244 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: I mean, I think there's a humanness to to um 245 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: uh audio work that that really um you know, kind 246 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: of transcends, uh. The fact that we are using these 247 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 1: highly technical and technological tools to to um preserve it 248 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: and um disseminate it more. After this quick break, let's 249 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: get right back to it. So do you have a 250 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: maybe do you have an example of like a favorite 251 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: piece of audio that you have found in your work 252 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: or one that stuck with you. Um. Wow, that might 253 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: be a big question. That's a big question. You know, 254 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: I spend so much time UM listening that UM, I 255 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: listened to a lot of things and UM, you know, 256 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: I think that's what what I love about the archival 257 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: audio actually is that it transports me. You know, it 258 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: takes me back to a place there is um a. 259 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: I think it was probably a PACIFICA produced UM interview 260 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,199 Speaker 1: with Maya Angelo that just you know still knocks my 261 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: soft socks off. And it's it's it was part of 262 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: w y s O s collection because back in the day, 263 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: um uh, folks used to swap tape. So it was 264 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: a tape that ended up somehow in w y s 265 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: O s UM tape library, but was produced UM I 266 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: believe at w b A if I'm not mistaken. So 267 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: it was it was um you know, from from years past, 268 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: and she sings on it um. She she not only 269 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: speaks her poetry, but she also sings a spiritual This 270 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:01,880 Speaker 1: is uprising up next the late Great Angelou. It's in 271 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,719 Speaker 1: the reach of my arms, the span of my hips, 272 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: the stid of my step, the curd of my lips. 273 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: Because I'm a woman, phenomenally phenomenal woman. That's me. If 274 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: you listen to it again. Anyways, we were just saying, 275 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: you hear everything in her voice. You hear her life 276 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: in her voice, you hear the black experience in her voice. 277 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: It's just Um, yes, it's transportive, it's it's transcendent, so transformative. 278 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: Um yeah, that's That's one of my favorite pieces of 279 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: audio for sure. According to the Women's Audio Mission, a 280 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: nonprofit that trains women engineers and producers, less than five 281 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: percent of the people creating the sounds music in media 282 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 1: that make up the daily sound check of our lives 283 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: are women or gender not conforming folks. And as a podcaster, 284 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: I know that our audio endscape definitely excused white and mail, 285 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: but it also tends to skew young, a dynamic that Jocelyn, 286 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,159 Speaker 1: who quit her day job to train as an audio 287 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: producer in her late fifties, challenges so what was it 288 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,239 Speaker 1: like getting involved in audio production as a woman in 289 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 1: her late fifties. What I felt like I was bringing 290 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: to the table was a you know, a lifetime of experience. 291 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 1: So the technical part of it was not a big 292 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,199 Speaker 1: stretch for me. UM. And in fact, you know, the 293 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: first time I sat down with Hindenburg and started to 294 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:45,399 Speaker 1: um edit my own tape, UM, you know, I was, 295 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: I was in the zone. I was in the flow 296 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 1: all I mean almost immediately. So, UM, I'm a musician, 297 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: you know, I I've I've done other creative pursuits in 298 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: my life and UM, and it was you know, I 299 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: recognized pretty quickly that I was doing something that was 300 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: filling my heart and soul in ways that other things 301 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: I had been doing UM was not so um you know. 302 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: So so the that part of it came pretty easily. 303 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 1: And then because I was working in some community based 304 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 1: UM you know production um uh areas, it wasn't really 305 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: UM an issue so much that here was this person 306 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: who in her fifties just you know, just starting out. 307 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,479 Speaker 1: And I had a lot of success pretty early on 308 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,920 Speaker 1: because I was doing work that I knew. I had 309 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: a series called Rediscovered Radio in which I took the 310 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: archival audio at w y s O and UM used 311 00:20:54,320 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: it to uh make short pieces, UM short document entery 312 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:04,679 Speaker 1: pieces that aired UM on the radio station, you know 313 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: during the UM drivetime shows, so during morning edition and 314 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: all things considered. So I learned to work with the 315 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: with the NPR clock almost right away. UM. I was 316 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: doing interviews as well as UM contextualizing the historical audio 317 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: and putting it all together and UM that the first 318 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: I did two seasons of it, so UM you know, 319 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: I've done dozens and dozens of them. So I got 320 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: to work at the craft, UM like hands on UM 321 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: already producing for air material that UM you know, UH 322 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:47,679 Speaker 1: was UM you know, the kind of production work that 323 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,679 Speaker 1: I think you don't necessarily get to do. Even as 324 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: a young person. I was. I was the producer of 325 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: of of the series. I was able to take the 326 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 1: maturity that I had from the other parts of my life, 327 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: plus the fact that you know, I've been this high 328 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: level administrator and I know how to get things done. UM. 329 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: So I didn't have a lot of of UM down 330 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: time or you know, when I jumped into it, I 331 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 1: really got to jump into it. So so there was that, 332 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: But I have seen what I would consider ages m 333 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,439 Speaker 1: in the in the field. And in fact, that's a 334 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 1: conversation that we're having at AIR right now about what 335 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 1: that looks like. And um, not only for people newly 336 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: entering the fields in a uh pivot, you know, in 337 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,440 Speaker 1: their in their careers, but but people who have been 338 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: in the business for many, many many years and have 339 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: weathered all its changes as as it has progressed, and 340 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: are finding themselves now getting boxed out or or overlooked 341 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: for something younger, newer, fresher kinds of things. So now, 342 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: I think, because I work with historical materials and I 343 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: have a certain amount of of um firsthand knowledge some 344 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,879 Speaker 1: of the events and and so forth. Um, you know, 345 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: it has served me really well. But you know, I 346 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: also have found that I need to push my um 347 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: uh my skill set and my my producing chops. I 348 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: have to just keep pushing it beyond that so that 349 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: I'm doing work that is um um you know, topical 350 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:29,920 Speaker 1: and um you know again new and fresh and and 351 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: and you know, keeping not just myself but listeners, um 352 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,400 Speaker 1: engaged with what's going on in the world. So UM, yeah, 353 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: I've just been really fortunate. It was all kind of 354 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 1: a perfect storm of goodness. That's kind of storm. Yeah, 355 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: you know, you talked about agism and how I don't know, 356 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: I guess I feel like we have this very pervasive 357 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: culture where we're obsessed with thirty under thirty lists and 358 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: people who are sort of young and successful. And that's 359 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: a that's a great story, but it does just it 360 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: does discount the wisdom and the skill set and the 361 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: experience that comes with age. And I feel like we 362 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: are so obsessed with youth that we can overlook that. Yeah, 363 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: if you if you came to audio production in your fifties, 364 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: that would mean that you would come with an entire 365 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: skill set, you know of and experience, like like many 366 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: years of experience. And I think that because we're obsessed 367 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: with youth, we don't allow for that to be as 368 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: meaningful and as good of a thing as it really 369 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: truly is, Oh no, no doubt, you know. And and 370 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:47,719 Speaker 1: a lot of that is very cultural, and you know, 371 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: I mean it. One of the things that I have 372 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: been working with lately has been community based storytelling projects 373 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: and UM and much of that is focused on gathering 374 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: and preserving and sharing the stories of elders and going 375 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: back to UM, you know, a cultural mindset in which 376 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: the wisdom of elders is held in high esteem and um. 377 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: And that is you know, very much a a traditional 378 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: um traditional communities hold elders and high esteem and um. 379 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,360 Speaker 1: You know, trying to move back towards that I think 380 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: is very important. But you know, work with oral histories 381 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:35,400 Speaker 1: and um with uh, you know, interpreting some of the say, 382 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,199 Speaker 1: for instance, interpreting some of the events that some of 383 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: the historical audio might um uh be representing. Is you 384 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: know who better than someone who was actually there and 385 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: who experienced it, you know, in their own lifetime. So 386 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: you know, really honoring the voices and the stories of 387 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: elders as part of this work, and finding that you know, 388 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: many of those elders are quite capable of of um 389 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: you know, producing and being um, you know, active participants 390 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: in that story gathering and that storytelling. So UM you know, 391 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 1: that's I think really important work. But but but truly, 392 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: it's it's it's very it's a it's a it's a 393 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,919 Speaker 1: cultural thing in the US. For sure, it's not quite 394 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: as um I think, uh, you know intense in other places, 395 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,679 Speaker 1: is it as it really is here? It definitely is 396 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: a cult of youth in the US, and UM, you know, 397 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: one of my favorite things to tell people is like, 398 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,200 Speaker 1: there's this old Richard Prior bit where the junkie and 399 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:44,479 Speaker 1: the wino are talking and the junkie says something him 400 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: to something to him of the effect it's like, you 401 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 1: old fool, and the wino says, boy, you don't get 402 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:56,639 Speaker 1: to be old being no fool. I love that. I 403 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: love Let's take a quick break, let's get right back 404 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,359 Speaker 1: in it. I hope to tell you, I mean, I 405 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 1: hope this isn't like too much information, But UM, I'm 406 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: speaking to you today from my brother's condo in Richmond, Virginia, 407 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: and I live in Washington, d C. And Um, the 408 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: reason why I'm here is because our father, UM had 409 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: a had an unexpected health emergency. So I'm here so 410 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,879 Speaker 1: that I can take care of him while he's been 411 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:36,120 Speaker 1: in the hospital this week. And he's he's on the upswing. 412 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,359 Speaker 1: He's doing much better. But when I brought him in 413 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: on when he came to the hospital on um Monday night, 414 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 1: and he was not doing so well, all I could 415 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: think was that I wish I had brought my recorder 416 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 1: so that we could have a conversation so that I 417 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 1: could remember, I could hear his stories and get them 418 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: on audio. Like that was all I can think was, God, 419 00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: I wish I had my recorder. God, I wish I 420 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: had my recorder so the we could have we could 421 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: you know, have a conversation, because often worry that, you know, 422 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: we all love to have our elders in our lives 423 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:14,159 Speaker 1: and then when they pass on, we would like it 424 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 1: would be How meaningful would it be to be able 425 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: to have an archival of those stories in their own words? 426 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 1: That was all I could think, was like, I hope 427 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,879 Speaker 1: I haven't missed my chance to to get his stories 428 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 1: on audio. That was like the number one thing in 429 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: my mind. Never leave home without it. That's what I'm learning. 430 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: That's a that's a producer trick, I mean. And and 431 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: sometimes I'm like, why am I hauling this stuff around? 432 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: I don't use it. It's here, you know, But but 433 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 1: I have a bag that I love that has my 434 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: my um my kid in it, and I just make 435 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: sure that if I'm going to be someplace where I 436 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: don't know what's going on, necessarily um that it's in 437 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: the car, you know, I just it's I just take 438 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:05,440 Speaker 1: it with me. Everywhere. But the other thing is, you know, um, 439 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: you have a recorder probably you know, in your back 440 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: pocket and done, um, done, right, you can capture some 441 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: pretty decent audio with a smartphone and um so in 442 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: a pinch, you've got something right there that that you 443 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,800 Speaker 1: could use. And um, you know, Story Corps has done 444 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: a marvelous job of of making it possible, you know, 445 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: democratizing the whole notion of of of preserving stories. And 446 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: um there there interface for recording is really really good. 447 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: But you can get a pretty decent recording if you 448 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: have an iPhone with um um Voice Memo. So Voice 449 00:29:54,680 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 1: Memos is a perfectly good recorder. On this podcast, I 450 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: try to What I try to do is sort of 451 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: create a kind of audio archive of underrepresented people and 452 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: their contributions to technology, to digital culture, to Internet culture specifically, 453 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: because I feel those things can be kind of ephemeral. 454 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: They can, you know, the Internet changes so quickly and 455 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: people forget about what came before, and so, um, I 456 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,760 Speaker 1: wanted to chronicle some of this. What would you be 457 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: your advice be to make sure that more underrepresented communities 458 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: and voices are having their stories included in records and archives. 459 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: Um So that we know they existed well, particularly with 460 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: UM podcasts. There are a number of people who are 461 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 1: developing UM UM podcast archives and UM seeking those folks 462 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: out is important. But also public libraries are are are 463 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:02,000 Speaker 1: undertaking some UH audio preservation. We work with the Green 464 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: County Public Library here to UM preserve some of the 465 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: digitized material from UM the w Y s O Collection 466 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: which UM UH which includes UH oral histories and and 467 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: so forth from the civil rights era. So so making 468 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: sure that you you know, approach your existing institutions to 469 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,640 Speaker 1: be able to UM make sure that they're including your 470 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: materials in their collections as as a member of that 471 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: community UM, I think is an important important thing to 472 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: do UM. And I think that that's something that archivists 473 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 1: as a profession are looking at more of knowing that 474 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: they are gatekeepers for cultural materials and knowing historically what 475 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: that has meant, which has meant which in which you know, 476 00:31:53,840 --> 00:32:00,160 Speaker 1: white supremacy has created barriers too that UM material all 477 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: being collected and preserved. So you know, there are many 478 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:13,080 Speaker 1: many archival projects and archives that are I think opening 479 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: their collecting um UH. You know, policies to UH to 480 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,840 Speaker 1: right wrongs that have been perpetrated in the past. So 481 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 1: I think it's a changing um situation. But but certainly again, 482 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: you know, the HBCU community is a place where our 483 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: stories are are are important in our are considered, uh 484 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:43,240 Speaker 1: you know, worthy of preservation. And once again I can't 485 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 1: seeing the praises of something like a community based project 486 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,520 Speaker 1: UM that I'm doing UM at West State and Stories, 487 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:56,240 Speaker 1: which is working with the African American communities in in 488 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:01,520 Speaker 1: in Dayton, Ohio to collect and preserve stories or um 489 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:05,680 Speaker 1: uh what story Corps can do with community based projects? UM, 490 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: they have a whole tutorial that can teach an organization 491 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: about how to collect and gather stories and preserve them 492 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,959 Speaker 1: through the Story Corps at the Library of Congress or um, 493 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 1: you know, through their own means in the libraries or 494 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: what have you, in the in the community. So UM, 495 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,000 Speaker 1: you know there's that, But I think part of it 496 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 1: too is there's an understanding, UM you know that that 497 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: materials are UM a somewhat ephemeral um themselves. Uh you know, Uh, 498 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 1: magnetic tape deteriorates, uh, color photographs fade um you know, 499 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: Uh film uh sticks together and can no longer be 500 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: played or even digitized, and the whole digital environment also, 501 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 1: um is not permanent there. You know, if you have 502 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:02,680 Speaker 1: materials that are preserved, so so you think on a 503 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 1: hard drive and that hard drive fails, that material has 504 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: gone forever. So you know, digital preservation is as the 505 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: whole world unto itself, and um, you know, look for 506 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:22,319 Speaker 1: libraries often will have um, you know, little preservation workshops 507 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 1: for families and individuals and and sometimes there's a lot 508 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,000 Speaker 1: to be found there. But then there are some wonderful 509 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:32,280 Speaker 1: websites that have um, you know material uh that people 510 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: can um uh read to to figure out how to 511 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: preserve their photographs or preserve their old tapes or or 512 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 1: or what have you. And the Library of Congress has 513 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,879 Speaker 1: a really good website for that, so you know there's 514 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,759 Speaker 1: there's information out there. Um. But it really does help 515 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,960 Speaker 1: to talk to somebody who's in the know. And oftentimes 516 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: that's you know, somebody you can find at your local library. 517 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: I love how oftentimes it always comes back to library 518 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: is like we forget what a resource they are. Oh, 519 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: they're they're so important, you know, um yeah, they are 520 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: community touchstones for sure, and in many communities, and you know, 521 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,240 Speaker 1: it's it's really one of those places where where civic 522 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,680 Speaker 1: life can can take place UM. And that's their charge, 523 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: and that's that's what they're there for. So it's not 524 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:27,240 Speaker 1: just a repository for for books but UM and reading material, 525 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: but there's so many other things. In today's libraries are 526 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:35,359 Speaker 1: places where there are maker spaces, and they have podcasting 527 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,360 Speaker 1: studios and they do training and podcasting and or audio 528 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:42,719 Speaker 1: or oral history gathering and all of those things. So 529 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:46,640 Speaker 1: you know, they're really great resources for for all of it. Yeah, 530 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you're a great resource too. You've really created 531 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,719 Speaker 1: this model of how institutions can be thinking about preservation 532 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: and how all of us can be thinking about preserving 533 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,160 Speaker 1: the stories for our own families and our own communities 534 00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,359 Speaker 1: so the next generation can learn from them and we're gone. 535 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,000 Speaker 1: So you know, to that end, what do you hope 536 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,839 Speaker 1: that people say about your work a hundred years from now? Well, 537 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:10,480 Speaker 1: I hope that for one thing, that that the HBCUM 538 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:15,320 Speaker 1: materials are are still available and accessible to students and 539 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:20,840 Speaker 1: researchers and UM community members to to to tap into 540 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:25,080 Speaker 1: two to know what life was like UM in some 541 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:29,319 Speaker 1: respects before you know, the Civil rights movement was able 542 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:34,800 Speaker 1: to UM turn a tide of experience for black people 543 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,640 Speaker 1: in America and what happened throughout that and and then 544 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:43,840 Speaker 1: beyond and um. You know, if you don't pay attention 545 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: to history, you're doomed repeated of course, and and and 546 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 1: that's something that I think we're realizing today that we 547 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:56,080 Speaker 1: are experiencing UM because we haven't paid good, paid good 548 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,000 Speaker 1: enough attention. We haven't paid attention well enough to do 549 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:01,960 Speaker 1: what's happened in the past and and and what's been 550 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,400 Speaker 1: done in the past, and and you know, that's an 551 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,799 Speaker 1: important thing to do. So, you know, a hundred years 552 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,520 Speaker 1: from now, I wanted to start with the HBCUs, But 553 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: I'm also hoping that that the model that we set 554 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:19,440 Speaker 1: through the projects that UM are about preserving UM radio 555 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:24,600 Speaker 1: material from historically black colleges and universities, it was a 556 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:28,160 Speaker 1: model for for others to follow, and that other marginalized 557 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: and um uh, you know, others whose whose voices have 558 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 1: been left out of the American dialogue have have have 559 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:42,560 Speaker 1: a a template to follow so that they two can 560 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:48,359 Speaker 1: can preserve their voices. Our voices and our stories matter. 561 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,200 Speaker 1: Preservation isn't just for institutions. We should all be thinking 562 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 1: about preserving the stories and our communities and our families 563 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,719 Speaker 1: for future generations to come. Don't let them fade away. 564 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,120 Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed this special celebration of women making 565 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:06,480 Speaker 1: change at HBCUs. We'll be back with more. There Are 566 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: No Girls on the Internet. Soon. Got a story about 567 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 1: an interesting thing in tech, or just want to say hi, 568 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,320 Speaker 1: You can reach us at Hello at tangodi dot com. 569 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,720 Speaker 1: You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangodi 570 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,880 Speaker 1: dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was 571 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,279 Speaker 1: created by me Bridget Tod. It's a production of I 572 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Unboss creative Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer. 573 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,480 Speaker 1: Terry Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Amato 574 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Tod. If 575 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:35,839 Speaker 1: you want to help us grow, rate and review us 576 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 577 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:41,439 Speaker 1: check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever 578 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.