A Giant Listening Project

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