Communication technology is advancing faster than ever in our digital world, so why is the Pitt's Center for Creativity and University Library System so excited about the arrival of a printing press from the 1960s? In this episode, we talk with our friends in the University of Pittsburgh English Department about letterpress printing on the Pittsburgh campus and what value we can find in this slow, manual craft. 

Thanks to our guests, Dr. Jeff Aziz and Tim Appleton.   

Processing... is a production of the Center for Creativity at the University of Pittsburgh. Many thanks also this season to our partners at the University Library System as well as Archives & Special Collections. More information about the new Text & conText Lab can be found at creative.pitt.edu/text-context-lab.  

In this episode
01:15 Brief history of printing press technology
03:00 The Vandercook Company
05:40 Interview with Dr. Jeff Aziz and Tim Appleton
08:45 A letterpress arrives in the English Department
11:50 The value in manual activities like printing by hand
15:04 New technology meets old  
16:35 Collaboration in the print shop

External Links: 

• An excellent resource for Vandercook Co. history: vandercookpress.info 
• An article with videos describing Bi Sheng’s and Gutenberg’s early innovations: medium.com/@RossAlTejada/movable-type-the-very-first-printer-and-a-brief-look-at-its-history-4228bde57e9a 
• ULS Archives & Special Collections: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections 
• Pitt Vibrant Media Lab: vml.pitt.edu 

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue Additional music by the Edna White Trumpet Quartette, from the Public Domain: archive.org/details/78_the-lost-chord_edna-white-trumpet-quartette-sullivan_gbia0069824a/The+Lost+Chord+-+Edna+White+Trumpet+Quartette.flac