In this episode of Recurrent, host and producer Jaime Roque delves into the rich cultural heritage of Pacoima's community barbershops, starting with StylesVille Barber Shop and Beauty Salon. Through conversations with Greg Faucett, a second-generation barber, Jaime uncovers how these spaces function as cultural hubs, preserving traditions and fostering deep community bonds. The episode not only explores the history of StylesVille but also reflects on Jaime’s own experiences with barbershops, from his high school years to adulthood, emphasizing their role as sanctuaries of history, culture, and personal connection.

ReCurrent illustrates the vital role barbershops play in maintaining cultural continuity and supporting community identity.

Find out more about the barbershops mentioned in the episode and see a full list of credits at Getty Podcasts.

On this episode of ReCurrent, Jaime Roque explores the music and instruments of the Florentine Codex, a 16th-century manuscript that recorded the life and culture of Mesoamerica at the time.

A family home video floods host Jaime Roque with memories and emotions as he recounts how on that particular day, his love of music was sparked.

This week, we're exploring the rich and resonant history of music from our past and how it continues to resonate with us today.

Learn more about the Digital Florentine Codex.

To see photos of the instruments discussed and to learn more about this episode, its guests, and more visit Getty Podcasts.

On this episode of Recurrent, Jaime Roque explores the hidden story of América Tropical, a mural painted by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1932 on Olvera Street, Los Angeles. Commissioned to depict an idyllic tropical scene, Siqueiros instead delivered a politically charged image featuring a crucified indigenous figure overshadowed by an American eagle, sparking immediate controversy and eventual censorship. Jaime interviews local historians and community members, delving into the mural’s impact on cultural identity and its role in inspiring the Chicano mural movement.

As Jaime walks through Boyle Heights, he discusses the effects of gentrification and mural whitewashing with local poet and activist Viva Padilla, emphasizing the ongoing struggle to preserve cultural heritage. Reflecting on how public art serves as both a canvas for resistance and a means of education, Jaime and his guests explore the resilience of cultural memory in urban spaces. This episode not only uncovers the story of a censored artwork but also invites listeners to consider the broader implications of art in shaping and maintaining community identity.

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In this inaugural episode of ReCurrent, host and producer Jaime Roque shares a heartfelt journey through his family’s history and the role of food in preserving cultural heritage. Jaime takes listeners into his mother Gabriela’s kitchen where she recounts her early days in Guerrero, Mexico, helping her mother sell homemade bread and tamales. The kitchen, filled with memories of four generations, is where Jaime’s childhood unfolded, enriched by family traditions and stories. Jaime also reflects on the deep impact his mother had on his life, especially during her last days, and his ongoing efforts to understand and carry forward the cultural heritage through both physical and spiritual legacies left by past generations.

For more information on this episode and its guests, visit Getty Podcasts.

Starting from his own mom’s kitchen, Jaime ventures out to uncover the hidden tales that lie in everyday places—from lively murals in downtown Los Angeles that tell our collective history, to ancient sacred sites filled with the echoes of indigenous voices, to cozy barber shops teeming with stories passed down through generations.

In each episode, Jaime delves into the personal struggles, triumphs, and deep-rooted traditions that define who we are. He shows us how even simple things like a family recipe can unlock a world of cultural insights. Join Jaime as he uncovers the profound impact of keeping the past alive in the present, and discover the treasures of our heritage.

ReCurrent is available now wherever you get your podcasts.

Find out more at Getty Podcasts.

In this special live episode of Recording Artists, season two host Tess Taylor speaks with Getty Research Institute curator Pietro Rigolo about the making of the series, what she discovered through the letters, and artists’ stories and letters that didn’t make the cut. Author Maya Binyam joins them to bring the letters to life via dramatic readings.

This program is co-presented with the Los Angeles Review of Books.

The Getty Patron Program is a proud sponsor of this podcast. Learn more about the Getty Patron Program.

In 1975, Meret Oppenheim’s small painting Würgeengel, or Angel of Death, is included in a sprawling exhibition organized by famous curator Harald Szeemann. She had painted it over 40 years earlier, when she was only 16 years old. The only problem now is that the curator has totally misunderstood her artwork—and placed it in a sexist context in the show. Rather than meekly accept this, Oppenheim writes Szeemann a deeply personal letter. Across five pages, she details the challenges she faced as a young woman who didn’t want children and was trying to make it as an artist in a heavily male sphere. Writing at age 63, Oppenheim speaks to burgeoning feminist ideals after decades of fighting back against sexist stereotypes.

In this episode of Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses, you’ll hear Oppenheim’s little-told story: an artist best known for lining a teacup in fur but who never stopped innovating, who socialized with the Surrealists as a teenager and kept a pistol in her studio to fight Nazis, and who took up the feminist cause towards the end of her career. Anna Deavere Smith reads the letter. Curator Bice Curiger, Oppenheim’s biographer, shares stories of Oppenheim’s life while artist Barbara T. Smith provides insight into the challenges facing women artists, particularly in the mid-20th century.

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In the mid-1960s, Nam June Paik is living in a run-down studio in SoHo, struggling to make ends meet. But even as he jokes about his ongoing battle against cockroaches, he is building his network, seeking out support for his artist friends, and always experimenting with form. Paik’s vibrant personality is on full display in a letter from this period to musician David Tudor. Partially typewritten, partially handwritten, and full of wild punctuation and inside jokes, the letter’s main purpose is to help find work for his friend, Japanese musician Takehisa Kosugi.

In this episode of Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses, you’ll meet the wildly charming artist whose theories on technology and our relationship to it remain eerily prescient today; the man who coined the phrase “electronic superhighway” and advocated for artists to be at the vanguard of using the newest tech; and the person who tirelessly looked out for his friends. Host Tess Taylor unpacks some of Paik’s best-known artworks and traces his evolving thinking about art and tech. Anna Deavere Smith reads the letter. Korean American artist Sueyeun Juliette Lee and art historian and conservator Hanna Hölling help you make sense of Paik’s networks—both personal and electronic—and his legacy.

The Getty Patron Program is a proud sponsor of this podcast.

On May 20, 1962, the morning after his first child is born, Benjamin Patterson writes a touching birth announcement to his own parents. The letter covers all the usual details—the baby’s weight and height, how the birth went, what the hospital is like—but its form is totally unique. Most of the letter is written in the voice of his newborn son, Ennis. Patterson, then a young, struggling musician and composer living as an American expat in Paris, shows off his creativity and experimental writing in this letter. He has been honing these skills making unusual musical scores for instruments, for paper, for bodies moving through a city.

In addition to marking a personal milestone, this moment coincides with a turning point in his career: four months after his son’s birth, Patterson will help launch the first festival of Fluxus, a loose collective of avant-garde artists. And shortly after that, he will move back to the US as he tries to find ways to support his family as an artist.

In this episode of Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses, you’ll trace Patterson’s move from classical bassist to Fluxus composer, and from his retirement from art at the height of his career to his return to music 20 years later. Host Tess Taylor unpacks the challenges Patterson faced as an artist, a father (the only parent featured this season), and a Black man in a largely white art world. Anna Deavere Smith reads the letter. Art historian julia elizabeth neal and musicologist, composer, and historian George Lewis contextualize the work, unusual career trajectory, and importance of this understudied artist.

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By 1956, M. C. Richards has earned a PhD in English, taught poetry at Black Mountain College, gotten married (and divorced) twice, dedicated herself to pottery, helped found an artists’ cooperative alongside creators like John Cage, and become deeply romantically involved with avant-garde musician David Tudor. Tudor is often on the road, but luckily Richards is an incredible letter-writer. In her notes to him, she plays with language and sends messages of love, all while keeping Tudor up to date on his business as a touring musician, which she often seems to be managing, and on life back home.

Although Richards is relatively unknown today, she was a key connector in a circle of some of the most impressive artists, dancers, and musicians of her day. Her letters paint a picture of a lively and magnetic artist. She would go on to write a groundbreaking book on her philosophy of craft that continues to deeply influence contemporary artists.

In this episode of Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses, host Tess Taylor illuminates this vibrant and underrecognized artist, highlighting the many ways in which she was a woman ahead of her time. Anna Deavere Smith voices the letter. Art historian Jenni Sorkin and potter and dancer Ashwini Bhat, both of whom have been inspired by Richards’ philosophies of craft and approach to life, share their insights into her life and work.

The Getty Patron Program is a proud sponsor of this podcast.