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Phone Messages
By Paul Mason FotschSociety & Culture
Phone Messages episodes
- 91 An Art Form (James 12)Back in 2006, Alison S. M. Kobayashi produced a video based on an answering machine tape she found in a thrift shop.5 min
- 90 I Don't Want a Girlfriend (Chris 17)Moses Asch created Folkways Records in 1948 to document the beautiful and extraordinary diversity of human expression through sound.10 min
- 89 Happy Birthday (Brian 5)From Chicago's Maxwell Street to Colorado's Rocky Mountains, it can be a dog eat dog world.9 min
- 88 The Article (James 11)Harvey's Chicken Shack is one of many little restaurants in Chicago's Bronzeville that may have faded from memory. But with the help of archivists like those at the Obsidian Collection, the role these small businesses played in the community might be preserved.7 min
- 87 Cooperative Living (Maura)In the 1980s, clothing was optional at Madison Wisconsin's Nottingham Coop.10 min
- 86 Dreamerz (James 10)In the late 1980s, Club Dreamerz on Milwaukee Avenue marked Wicker Park's transition from old immigrant neighborhood to trendy tech hub.6 min
- 85 Dinosaur (outgoing 18)With the help of festivals like the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Cajun music saw a revival in the 1960s and 70s. Many of the voices from this revival were captured in Les Blank's poetic J'ai Été Au Bal and Alan Lomax's more historical Cajun Country.6 min
- 84 Five of Twelve (James 9)In 1989, 1.4% of U.S. households had cell phones while 28% had an answering machine. In 2020, there are 1.29 cell phones per person in the U.S. and only 40% of households still have a landline.6 min
- 83 Softball (Brian 4)Ted Williams was a hall of fame left fielder and a Sears label for certain sporting goods, including bicycles made in Austria by Steyr-Daimler-Puch.10 min
- 82 Hey Dude (James 8)The word "Dude" had a strange historical journey before becoming a popular sign of young male solidarity, and Dudeism is now a serious philosophy inspired by the 1998 film the Big Lebowski.6 min
About Phone Messages
From the publisher's feed
This podcast will play and discuss old phone answering machine messages. In the late 1980s, while living in Chicago, I selected certain messages to be duplicated using a double cassette recorder. Playing them back leads me to explore the intersection of personal history and the larger social and cultural context through the lens of an outdated technology.
New episodes will be posted Sundays.