This episode of Data Remediations features the voices of residents of South Philadelphia, long home to what was, until it blew up last year, the world’s longest continuously operating petroleum refinery. Residents talk about life with the refinery, scientists and public health experts weigh in on the environmental and health impacts it has caused. Everyone considers the futures beyond refining they’d like to see transform this sacrifice zone. In February, bankruptcy court approved the purchase-sale agreement of the massive site along Philadelphia’ rivers to a Chicago-based developer, Hilco, Earlier this month (April 2020), amidst a global pandemic and shelter in place orders, Hilco botched a demolition in Chicago and dust and debris settled across the local neighborhood. With Hilco’s plans largely unknown, Philadelphians are getting ready for a new chapter in the struggle for environmental justice.

This episode of Data Remediations features the voices of residents of South Philadelphia, long home to what was, until it blew up last year, the world’s longest continuously operating petroleum refinery. Residents talk about life with the refinery, scientists and public health experts weigh in on the environmental and health impacts it has caused. Everyone considers the futures beyond refining they’d like to see transform this sacrifice zone. In February, bankruptcy court approved the purchase-sale agreement of the massive site along Philadelphia’ rivers to a Chicago-based developer, Hilco, Earlier this month (April 2020), amidst a global pandemic and shelter in place orders, Hilco botched a demolition in Chicago and dust and debris settled across the local neighborhood. With Hilco’s plans largely unknown, Philadelphians are getting ready for a new chapter in the struggle for environmental justice.

This episode of Data Remediations features a special interview with Philadelphia-based documentary filmmaker, Bilal Motley. For nearly 15 years, Bilal worked in management at the Philadelphia refinery. He offers us a glimpse into the everyday world of a petroleum refinery, and we talk about what it was like to work there and how it felt to be there the night last June when it blew up and why he decided to put his filmmaking skills--and experiences as a stand-up comedian--to make a documentary about a really scary event.

CREDITS:

Image: Bilal Motley

This episode was produced by Jasmine Erdener, and written by Bethany Wiggin.

MUSIC:

Sudan Archives - Green Eyes

Sudan Archives - Ballet of the Unhatched Twins I

Sudan Archives - Paid

Free Nationals, JID, Kadhja Bonet & MIKNNA - On Sight

Photay - Outre Lux (feat. Madison McFerrin)

POLIÇA - Driving

Charlotte Day Wilson - Work

Solange - Feelin' You, Pt. 2

Byther Smith - The Man Wants Me Dead

FEEDBACK

Comments? Suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DataRefuge, or send us a note to [email protected].

In Episode 7, Bethany Wiggin, Katie Collier, and Piotr Wojcik speak with Nathaniel Popkin to talk about their participation in the live performance of a data storytelling and climate sensing art work, a hybrid virtual reality and live performance called The Altering Shores, conceived and directed by Roderick Coover in late November 2019.

In Episode 6, Bethany Wiggin and Meg Arenberg discusses the ways that academics and activists in Houston, a “city entwined with petroleum,” address environmental and climate (in)justices. First, Dominic Boyer considers the emergency of Houston as a frontline city and shares what he’s learned about the slow recovery process post-Hurricane Harvey. Then, activist Yudith Nieto shares her experiences with community organization, urgent collaborations with sciences, and the importance of working creatively towards Another Gulf.

CREDITS:

Image: Neighborhood mural, made by artist Yudith Nieto and children in Manchester for their neighborhood recreational center

Dominic Boyer is Professor of Anthropology at Rice University and the Founding Director of CENHS (Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences). He is also a Data Refuge storytelling partner for Houston.

Yudith Nieto is an award-wining activist from the Manchester neighborhood outside of Houston who now lives in New Orleans as part of the “Another Gulf” collaborative initiative. Grist named her one of 50 Fixers of 2018 and the Houston Peace and Justice Center honored her with a Peacemaker Award.

This episode was produced by Jasmine Erdener, and written by Patricia Kim and Bethany Wiggin. Interviews were conducted by Bethany Wiggin.

MUSIC

Ghostland Observatory - Silver City

Lead Belly - Midnight Special

DeVotchKa - Done With Those Days

Crooked Still - Wading Deep Waters

Blind Willie Johnson - Dark was the night...

Erik Hokkanen - Hill Country Waltz

Lidya Mendoza - Palida Luna

Chavela Vargas - Paloma Negra

DeVotchKa - La Llorona

The Bells Of Joy - I'm Gonna Press On

Dead Man's Bones - Buried in water

Clifton Chenier - 'Zydeco sant pas sale'

Lightnin' Hopkins - Houston Bound

FEEDBACK

Comments? Suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DataRefuge, or send us a note to [email protected].

What’s your climate story? In Episode 5, hosts Patricia Kim and Bethany Wiggin discuss the kinds of stories we need to compel climate action and introduce Data Refuge’s new climate storytelling campaign. Since late 2016, Data Refuge has deeply engaged with the necessity for accessible archives and open data. But the question of open access and open data also concerns who can contribute to archives, whose data matter. Listen and learn as we speak with open data experts and one artist about what it takes to create open archives that address the environmental challenges of our present moment.

Click here to contribute your Climate Story to our growing Data storybank!

CREDITS:

Image: Climate Strike, Philadelphia. Rachel Ishikawa.

Heather Joseph is the Executive Director of SPARC, or Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Tweet Heather @hjoseph.

Daniel Castro is the director of the Center for Data Innovation and vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Tweet Daniel @castrotech.

Amy Balkin is an artist based in the Bay Area. Visit A People’s Archive of Sinking and Melting here.

This episode was produced by Jasmine Erdener, and written by Patricia Kim and Bethany Wiggin. Interviews were conducted by Patricia Kim and Bethany Wiggin.

MUSIC

Wu-Tang - Slow Blues (Instrumental)

The Postal Service - We Will Become Silhouettes

Sona Jobarteh - Jarabi

MGMT - Little Dark Age (Matthew Dear Remix)

Cesaria Evora - Sodade (20th Anniversary Edition)

Kurup - Joeira

FEEDBACK

Comments? Suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DataRefuge, or send us a note to [email protected].

What’s the lifecycle of data?

In this episode, hosts Patricia Kim and Bethany Wiggin explore the liveliness of government data—its lifecycle from birth through its death, or afterlives. Listen to librarians and government data experts Jefferson Bailey, Abbie Grotke, Jim A. Jacobs, and James R. Jacobs as they discuss the challenges associated with preserving, web archiving, and stewarding government data and digital assets for present and future communities across the nation and the globe.

To learn more about government data, visit www.freegovinfo.org and www.pegiproject.org.

CREDITS:

Image: Naomi Waltham-Smith (2017)

Jefferson Bailey is the Director of Web Archiving & Data Services at the Internet Archive. Tweet Jefferson @jefferson_bail.

Abbie Grotke is the Web Archiving Team Leader at the Library of Congress.

Jim (James) A. Jacobs is the Data Services Librarian emeritus at UCSD.

James R. Jacobs is US Government Information Librarian at Stanford University. Tweet James @freegovinfo.

This episode was written by Patricia E. Kim and produced by Aaron Shapiro.

MUSIC

“Dreamy” by J Dilla (intro)

“BREAKDANCE LESSON N.1” by Kaytranada

"Swung from the Gutters" by Tortoise

"Smell Memory" by Múm

"Leave House" by Caribou

"vibrationz" by Javelin

"An Eagle in your Mind" by Boards of Canada

"Hambro" by J Dilla

"Dance of the Obscure" by Kabanjak

“Heat in the Streets” by Tommy Guerrero (outtro)

FEEDBACK

Comments? Suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DataRefuge, or send us a note to [email protected].

In part 2 of episode 3, host Patricia Kim and student intern Grace Boroughs talk to Philly-based scientist Peter DeCarlo and artist Roderick Coover about the ways that they address issues of data poverty and patchiness by ground-truthing. Although they approach Philadelphia’s riverine refinery landscapes using different research methods, their work collectively demonstrates how various modes of study complement one another. Tune in as Grace asks Peter about his research on the river and with The Schuylkill River and Urban Waters Research Corps. Then, listen as Patricia talks with Roderick Coover about his imaginative works around the Delaware Estuary in an era of sea-level rise, about the potential of arts-driven inquiry, and about cultural heritage.

Click here to learn more about the Schulkill River and Urban Waters Research Corps.

To engage with the installation Date/um, and see DeCarlo’s Streaming Velocities (2016), click here.

CREDITS:

Image: Memorial Day on the Delaware River, print.  ⓒRoderick Coover.

Candis Callison is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia. Follow Candis @candiscallison

Roderick Coover is an artist and professor at Temple University, where he directs the DAER and DAVR Programs. He is currently the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities artist-in-residence.

Peter DeCarlo is Associate Professor at Drexel University and director of the Drexel Air Resources Research Laboratory in the College of Engineering. Follow Pete @ProfPeteD.

This episode was produced by Jasmine Erdener, and written by Patricia Kim. Interviews were conducted by Grace Boroughs and Patricia Kim.

MUSIC:

Stereolab - Metronomic Underground

Sona Jobarteh - Gambia

Christine and the Queens - Tilted (Instrumental)

9th Wonder - ChunkySoul!!!

9th Wonder - SisterChoppin!!!

Kraftwerk - The Man Machine

Metric - Now or Never Now

Oddisee - After Thoughts 

Oddisee - Brea

J Dilla - Life (Instrumental)

FEEDBACK

Comments? Suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DataRefuge, or send us a note to [email protected].

In this two-part third episode, we learn about “ground truthing” in the city of brotherly and sisterly love, Philadelphia. In Part 1, we talk to scholar Candis Callison, artist Roderick Coover, and Sustainability Director Christine Knapp about the problem of uncertain futures, and the ways in which scientific data and digital assets need personal experiences and stories, or ground truths. Then we meet the residents of Eastwick, a neighborhood in southwest Philadelphia. Eastwick neighbors Leonard Stewart, Margie and Nancy Cobb, and Earl Wilson teach us about the ways that they brought model truths and ground truths together to make environmental changes in their neighborhood.

This episode was made possible by the work of Mary Cerulli and the generosity of the Eastwick Friends and Neighbors Coalition. To learn more about the various environmental histories and memories of the neighborhood, check out the Eastwick Oral History Project. Read the IPCC Special Report of 1.5ºC.

CREDITS

Image: Lower Eastwick Public Land Strategy, Interface Studio (2019)

Candis Callison is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia.

Mary L. Cerulli is a current Masters of Social Services candidate at Bryn Mawr and an alum of the National Health Corps and the University of Pennsylvania. Her professional and personal interests include community/public health and the power of story-sharing and listening to shape healing, knowledge, and society. (Contact: [email protected])

Margie and Nancy Cobb are members of the Eastwick Friends and Neighbors Coalition.

Roderick Coover is an artist and professor at Temple University, where he directs the DAER and DAVR Programs. He is currently the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities artist-in-residence.

Christine Knapp is the Director of Sustainability for the City of Philadelphia.

Leonard Stewart is a member of the Eastwick Friends and Neighbors Coalition.

Earl Wilson is president of the Eastwick Friends and Neighbors Coalition.

This episode was produced by Jasmine Erdener, and written by Patricia Kim and Bethany Wiggin.

MUSIC

Alice Coltrane - Stopover Bombay

Alice Coltrane - Turiya And Ramakrishna

Cut Copy - Need you now

Mavis Staples  - We Shall Not Be Moved

Mount Kimbie - SP12 Beat

The Roots - Break You Off (instrumental)

The Roots - In The Music (instrumental)

The Roots - The Next Movement (instrumental)

Scrapper Blackwell - Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out

FEEDBACK

Comments? Suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DataRefuge, or send us a note to [email protected].