Folklife Today Podcast

This episode looks at the work of Cormac Ó Haodha, who held the 2024 John B. Lovelace Fellowship for the study of the Alan Lomax collection, a position situated within the library's Kluge Center. Cormac comes from Cúil Aodha in the Múscraí gaeltacht of County Cork, Ireland. He came the Library specifically to study recordings Alan Lomax made in January 1951, of singers local to the Múscraí Gaeltacht. The episode includes one song sung in Irish and one in English by Cormac Ó Haodha, along with three of Lomax’s field recordings from January 1951.

This episode looks back at the recent work of Joseph Z. Johnson and Deena Owens, interns who created research guides on African American Banjo Playing and on Sacred Harp singing for the American Folklife Center. The interns talked about their work and shared a few of their favorite field recordings from our collections.

This episode looks back and ahead at the 2023 Homegrown Concert series, which is currently in progress. Hosts Stephen Winick and Michelle Stefano interview the series producer Theadocia Austen and folklife specialist Doug Peach. The participants talk about the series as a whole, and each picks one or two songs for us to hear. The episode contains songs from Jake Blount, (African American folk music), Spaelimenninir (Scandinavian folk music), Christylez Bacon (Hip Hop and human beatbox), Ali Doğan Gönültaş (Kurdish music from Turkey), and Hudaki Village Band (Ukrainian music from the Carpathian mountains). It also features interview segments with Blount and Bacon.

In this episode for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, John Fenn and Steve Winick invite guests to talk about Asian collections in the American Folklife Center. Allina Migoni talks about the earliest known recordings of Korean music, playing segments of a lecture by Robert Provine and a song sung by Ahn Jeong-Sik. Sara Ludewig discusses the Linda LaMacchia collection, including recordings made of Tibetan singers in India. Steve discusses Asian and Pacific Island collections in the Homegrown concert series, and plays a song, a story, and a flute composition by Grammy-nominated Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal. More information on the performers and the selections can be found at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife

In this episode for Women’s History Month, Allina Migoni and Michelle Stefano take a look through the collections of the American Folklife Center to find insights into how women have shaped those around them and passed down their cultural traditions, and to listen to reflections about their identities and lives. The episode honors women in the American Folklife Center archive, including homemaker and cook Yoshiko Nagashima, craftsperson Iyo Nagashima, farmer Sarah Sohn, quilters Donna Choate and Zenna Todd, hooked rug artist Mary Sheppard Burton, and ethnographers Theadocia Austen, Geraldine Niva Johnson, Kay Turner, Miiko Toelken, and Christine Cartwright. More information on the performers and the selections can be found at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife

In this episode, John Fenn, Michelle Stefano, and Stephen Winick discuss Groundhog Day traditions. Drawing on the research of Don Yoder, they discuss the history and folklore of the holiday, including groundhog traditions among the Pennsylvania Dutch, groundhog songs, weather proverbs, and even cooking and eating groundhogs! Songs include two versions of “Groundhog,” one of “Fod,” and one of “Prowling Groundhog.” More information on the performers and the selections can be found at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife.

In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick introduce three scary stories for you to enjoy: a witch tale told by Appalachian singer and activist Aunt Molly Jackson, a ghost story told by blues musician and gravedigger John Jackson, and the story of Jack O Lantern told by folklorist Jack Santino. Steve and John also discuss a little of the history of Halloween, and introduce the Library of Congress’s updated Halloween research guide. More information on the performers and the selections can be found at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife.

In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick talk with Jennifer Cutting about items that caught their eyes and ears. Cutting discusses commercial recordings of tunes collected by Cecil Sharp, and Winick tells stories of the recording sessions, which Sharp personally supervised and described in his diaries. Cutting discusses her friend, the late Tony Barrand, an important collector of morris dances. John Fenn discusses the Nagra IV portable tape deck, and Winick discusses a picture of the late Mick Moloney using the Nagra in 1977. Winick discusses Moloney, and they play music recorded by Moloney on the Nagra, including jigs played on fiddle and accordion by Liz Carroll and Tommy Maguire, and reels played on the flute by Michael Flatley. More information on the performers and the selections can be found at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife.

In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick interview American Folklife Center interns Bryan Jenkins and Elisa Alfonso. Jenkins discusses AFC’s Web Cultures Web Archive, and interviews AFC reference librarian Allina Migoni about it. Alfonso discusses several versions of the Latin American children’s song “Señora Santana,” and speaks of its association with the 1960s Cuban children’s exodus that later became known as Operación Pedro Pan. The episode presents several versions of the song from Cuban, Mexican, and Spanish Americans in Florida, Texas, and California. More information on the performers and the selections can be found at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife.

In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Michelle Stefano, with guest Thea Austen, explore Ukrainian materials in the American Folklife Center Archive. Interview segments include a discussion of Ukrainian embroidery and dance, between Geraldine Johnson and Taissa Decyk; and a discussion of a Ukrainian family bandura band who immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1940s, between Stephen Winick and Julian Kytasty. Musical selections include a song with bandura accompaniment by Kytasty and a set of instrumental tunes by Gerdan ensemble. More information on the performers and the selections can be found at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife.