Craftsmanship

Animals, plants, soil, and air have long collaborated to regulate our climate by stimulating “the water cycle.” They have also helped control natural disasters like the wildfires now raging in Australia — until we disrupted their partnership. The good news is that there is a clear pathway to reconciliation.

The New Water Alchemists originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on master artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge, and free of advertising.

Written by JUDITH D. SCHWARTZ

Introduction by SUMMER BROWN

Narrated by DINAH BERKELEY

Produced by LARRY ROSEN

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN OF  “THE CIGAR BOX GUITAR MAKER”

When Mae Gaines moved from Los Angeles, CA, to Boise, Idaho, she expected her life would be different. What she didn't anticipate was the response when she opened Boise's first — and only — vegan soul food restaurant. 

*Trigger warning: This episode contains an offensive racial slur, repeated by the interviewee as she describes a real-life incident of verbal assault. We chose to leave the word as spoken in the context of the story. The episode has been marked 'explicit' to ensure that listeners are aware of it; there is no other offensive language or adult content in this story. 

This podcast is a supplement to the story, Soul Food Gets the Vegan Treatment, written by Terry Collins and published in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on master artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge, and free of advertising.

Introduction by MELANIE EVERSLEY

Narrated by TERRY COLLINS & SHAKEEMA SMALLS, with MAE GAINES

Produced by CHRIS EGUSA

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN OF “THE CIGAR BOX GUITAR MAKER”

In the 1970s, Hohner, the world’s largest harmonica manufacturer, changed its flagship model, and in the process its signature sound. A few musicians and harp customizers waged a quiet rebellion. And they won.

The Return of the Harmonica originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on master artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge, and free of advertising.

Written by BEN MARKS

Introduction by SUMMER BROWN

Narrated by GORAN NORQUIST

Produced by LARRY ROSEN

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN

In a postcard-perfect valley in southern Norway, Annemor Sundbø nurtures her life’s work: old garments, paintings, and other clues to the myths and meaning woven for centuries into Norwegian sweaters. Now she’s trying to bring back the sheep that used to sustain this time-honored craft.

The Norwegian Sweater Detective originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on master artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge, and free of advertising.

Written by SARAH POLLOCK

Introduction by SUMMER BROWN

Narrated by AVANTHIKA SRINIVASAN

Produced by LARRY ROSEN

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN OF “THE CIGAR BOX GUITAR MAKER”

Marino Menegazzo hammers gold leaf by hand into sheets 200 times thinner than a human hair. He works in the same studio where Titian, one of Italy’s great Renaissance artists, once lived and painted. Now Menegazzo’s craft, where the hand can still beat a machine, is on the edge of extinction.

The World's Greatest Goldbeater originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on master artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge, and free of advertising.

Written by ERLA ZWINGLE

Introduction by SUMMER BROWN

Narrated by DINAH BERKELEY

Produced by LARRY ROSEN

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN

In a corrugated tin shed that somehow survived California’s massive fires in Sonoma Valley, Gary Freeman labors to keep old VW Beetles and vans—the cars that defined the counterculture of the 1960s—chugging along. Some become great “daily drivers” for as little as $15,000; some get auctioned for more than $200,000. It’s all part of one man’s quest for automotive immortality.

The VW Doctor Is In originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Introduction by ANH OPPENHEIMER

Narrated by GORAN NORQUIST

Produced by LARRY ROSEN

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN

Bill Black has poured his life into refining a simple piece of handmade horse gear called a hackamore. Although the device is rarely used anymore, it can teach a horse to work cattle with unusual brilliance, and beauty.

The Rawhide Artist originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Written by ANDY RIEBER

Introduction by SUMMER BROWN

Narrated by DINAH BERKELEY

Produced by LARRY ROSEN

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN OF  “THE CIGAR BOX GUITAR MAKER”

On December 31, 2017, the doors closed on North Carolina’s White Oak plant — the first, and now last, big textile mill in the U.S. to make true, vintage-style denim. Our correspondent tracked down the secret to classic blue jeans, and their unexpected future.

The Secret to Vintage Jeans originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine focused on artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Written by BRIAN HOWE

Introduction by SUMMER BROWN

Narrated by GORAN NORQUIST

Produced by LARRY ROSEN

Music by MIKE SNOWDEN

Against all odds, and despite the best efforts of Hollywood and Silicon Valley, old-fashioned, analog, motion-picture film is suddenly making a comeback. What’s the magic in this old medium that digital technology can’t seem to match?

Real Film Strikes Back, written by David Munro, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Introduction by: Anh Oppenheimer

Narrated by: Goran Norquist

Produced by: Larry Rosen

Music by: Mike Snowden

The now iconic white guitar made famous by the Disney film, “Coco,” was created in Paracho, a small Mexican town where almost every shop makes guitars. Underneath the new icon lies centuries of craftsmanship.

Mexico's Master Guitar Makers, written by Laura Fraser, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You'll find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and other resources on our site — all free of charge and free of advertising.

Introduction by: Anh Oppenheimer

Narrated by: Adriana Morga

Produced by: Adriana Morga

Music by: Mike Snowden