Material Memory

We 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.

Cradle of Student Protest 06/15/2022

Cradle of Student Protest Travel 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/23382410

Sankofa 06/01/2022

Sankofa Travel 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/23285981

By Actions and Not by Words 05/18/2022

By Actions and Not by Words Dive 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/23096768

If Walls Could Talk 05/04/2022

If Walls Could Talk Learn 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/22996103

Walking on Sacred Ground 04/20/2022

Walking on Sacred Ground Morgan 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/22852079

Cadence to the Rhythm of Life 04/13/2022

Cadence to the Rhythm of Life Kofi 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/22772756

There's Magic in Creating Something from Nothing 04/06/2022

There's Magic in Creating Something from Nothing Librarian 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/22694144

Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams 03/23/2022

Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams This 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/22538063

Season 3 Trailer: HBCU Library Alliance Tour 02/28/2022

Season 3 Trailer: HBCU Library Alliance Tour In 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/22285043

Crisis as Catalyst: Notes from DCDC 06/10/2021

Crisis as Catalyst: Notes from DCDC Special 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/19423232

What We've Learned and What We Can Do 04/29/2021

What We've Learned and What We Can Do What did we learn? What can we do? In the season 2 finale, /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/18903929

Heritage Has a History 03/31/2021

Heritage Has a History Anthropologist 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/18546227

The Home of Memory 03/09/2021

The Home of Memory Where 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/18249296

Living Heritage 02/12/2021

Living Heritage Intangible 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/17920976

Climate Displacement and Cultural Resilience 01/21/2021

Climate Displacement and Cultural Resilience Victoria 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/17635040

How We Tell the Story of Disaster 12/18/2020

How We Tell the Story of Disaster Anthropologist 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/17250281

Archivists Against the Climate Crisis 11/10/2020

Archivists Against the Climate Crisis Archivists 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/16747655

Does it Matter? Cultural Memory and the Climate Crisis 11/10/2020

Does it Matter? Cultural Memory and the Climate Crisis Climate 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 the coming episodes. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/16747415

Sound and Meaning: Preserving Native American Voice and Song 04/24/2020

Sound and Meaning: Preserving Native American Voice and Song In 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/14131514

"Hello, Friends" The Story of the Indians for Indians Radio Hour 03/18/2020

"Hello, Friends" The Story of the Indians for Indians Radio Hour In 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/13599386

Not Even in the Dictionary 02/26/2020

Not Even in the Dictionary Iñupiaq 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/13316027

The Duty of Memory 12/19/2019

The Duty of Memory Radio 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/12470363

Connected to the Legacy 12/09/2019

Connected to the Legacy In 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/12339266

The Ethics of Access 12/09/2019

The Ethics of Access How 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/12333362

Keeping Cultural Memory Alive: What's at Stake? 11/16/2019

Keeping Cultural Memory Alive: What's at Stake? Kathlin 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. /episode/index/show/material-memory/id/12058616

Material Memory

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