The Ear

Welcome back to The Ear, The Eye’s podcast dedicated to documenting, detailing, and excavating Columbia’s history!

In this mini-episode of The Ear, reporter Luke Cregan remembers the Grove. Before the construction of Mudd, Pupin, Uris, and the Northwest Corner Building, there was an open space at the north end of campus. A statue of the god Pan relaxed in this idyllic atmosphere; students played games and held dances. The Ear asks: What disappeared with the Grove, and what has it left behind?

Music Credits

Rope Swing - Podington Bear;

Relinquish - Podington Bear;

We Always Thought The Future Would Be Kind of Fun - Chris Zabriskie;

That Kid in Fourth Grade Who Really Liked the Denver Broncos - Chris Zabriskie.

Welcome back to The Ear, The Eye’s podcast dedicated to documenting, detailing, and excavating Columbia’s history!

Urban light pollution has never stopped Columbia students from looking at the stars. Reporter Amy Rupert revisits a total solar eclipse nearly a century ago that dominated campus. She finds that even though eclipses are exceptionally moving events, interest in astronomy on campus is commonplace. Since the 1925 eclipse, organizations, researchers, and students have all found themselves looking skyward from Columbia’s campus.

Music Credits

Chris Zabriskie - Wonder Cycle;

Chris Zabriskie - Heliograph;

Billy Murray - The Streets of New York;

Billy Murray - The Gaby Glide;

Chris Zabriskie - Everybody's Got Problems That Aren't Mine;

Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Six;

Chris Zabriskie - The Dark Glow of the Mountains;

Chris Zabriskie - Brethren, Arise;

Chris Zabriskie - Out of the Skies, Under the Earth;

Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Two;

Chris Zabriskie - What True Self? Feels Bogus, Let's Watch Jason X;

Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Nine;

Chris Zabriskie - The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan

Welcome back to The Ear, The Eye’s podcast dedicated to documenting, detailing, and excavating Columbia’s history!

This week’s episode is the second in a two-part series about the historical role of chaplains at Columbia. Grace Holleman follows Bill Starr’s continuing legacy at Columbia, which spanned nearly all of the second half of the 20th century. During his tenure, Starr provided meeting spaces and support to student activists and served as a singular model of social and spiritual guidance.

Episode Notes

In this episode, Bill Starr was voice-acted by Luke Cregan; William Dodge and Samuel Johnson by Sara Bell; James Rea by Eliza Ducnuigeen.

Music Credits

Snow Monkeys - Candlegravity;

You Are Not Alone - Candlegravity;

Other Sources - Candlegravity;

With Many Tears (Instrumental) - Candlegravity;

Stages of Awakening - Podington Bear;

I’ll Carry You, You’ll Carry Me - Candlegravity;

Love Breaks - Candlegravity;

Pulsars - Podington Bear.

Thanks to Explorations in Black Leadership, an oral history project co-directed by Phyllis Leffler and Julian Bond, for permission to use the clip of Ben Jealous’ oral history interview.

If you haven’t, go back and listen to AJ’s first episode in this two-part series, read up on The Eye’s coverage of Columbia’s religious history, and check out past seasons of The Ear.

Starr’s Wars: Episode II

Act I: What Happens at Earl Hall?

Act II: Among the Students

Act III: Epischameleon

This week’s episode is the first in a two-part series about the historical role of chaplains at Columbia. Reporter AJ McDougall investigates the legacies of John D. Cannon and Bill Starr, Episcopal priests who shaped organizing efforts in the ’60s and ’70s. She explores their impact on Columbia student groups, including the Student Homophile League (the first LGBTQ college student group in the United States) and Students for a Democratic Society; discusses their participation in 1968; and reflects on why Starr, in particular, is seemingly left out of Columbia’s institutional history.

In this episode, Mark Rudd’s email was read by Jared Rush. Philip Zabriskie was voice acted by Sal Volpe, Bill Starr by Francisco Alvidrez, Stephen Donaldson by Adam Glusker, David Truman by Gus O’Connor, Grayson Kirk by Will Cagle, Cindy Read by Oona Mackinnon-Hoban, and John D. Cannon by Xander Browne.

Music Credits

Candlegravity—Tomie's Bubbles

Candlegravity—You Are Not Alone

Candlegravity—I'll Carry You, You'll Carry Me

Candlegravity—Always

Candlegravity—Junpei

Candlegravity—With Many Tears (Instrumental)

Poddington Bear—Pulsars

Charlotte Morris—Postcrypt Performance

Morehouse College Glee Club—We Shall Overcome

Whenever you walk to your class in Pupin Hall, you’re strolling on top of nuclear history. Yet unlike the other institution famously involved in the Manhattan Project, the University of Chicago, Columbia has made little effort to commemorate its role in the creation of nuclear power, even destroying the main artifact of atomic research from the 1940s. In this week’s episode of The Ear, reporter Arminda Downey Mavromatis endeavors to understand Columbia’s erasure of its nuclear past.

Music Credits:

A List of Ways to Die - Lee Rosevere;

Expectations - Lee Rosevere;

Small Steps - Lee Rosevere;

March - Podington Bear;

Steps - Podington Bear;

Across the River - Podington Bear;

The Cyclotronist’s Nightmare - Arthur Roberts, physicssongs.org;

The End is Near - Gunnar Olsen.

In this week’s episode of The Ear, reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz travels back to the beginning of Columbia’s history—the alma mater of our alma mater: King’s College. Is King’s College a part of Columbia’s history or just a distant ancestor that we have incorporated in our narrative?

Music Credits:

Revolutionary War Music - Simon Broucke;

No Cheating - Thomas VanOosting;

Sailor’s Lament - Jashon Shaw;

Iron Horse - Kevin MacLeod;

Curious Process - Podington Bear;

In My Head - Podington Bear;

Pulsars - Podington Bear;

Angry Mob - Benjamin Harvey Design;

Paddle Boat on Water - SpliceSound, FreeSound.org.

If you’ve ever wondered why Columbia’s sundial can’t tell time, then you’re in the right place. Reporter Kara Schechtman traces the story of the campus landmark, uncovering its hidden history.

MUSIC CREDITS:

Theme Song - Coleman Hughes; Prism Tone - Podington Bear, Free Music Archive; Columbia Revolt, Parts I and II: Newsreel, Archive.org; Curious Process - Podington Bear, Free Music Archive; The Python King - Thomas VanOosting; Scheming - Setuniman, FreeSound.org; Patience - Setuniman, FreeSound.org; Pulsars - Podington Bear, Free Music Archive