PART ONE: MARIEL HERRING

As a female carpenter myself, this conversation hits very close to home.

Site-responsive artist Sonya Blesofsky and South Philadelphia carpenter Mariel Herring come together to address the ways they think about and use their bodies in their different types of work. We talk about what it feels like to pick up plywood from the hardware store as a woman, about the satisfaction of precise craftspersonship, and finding notes in the walls (or leaving them!) from past carpenters.

In today's episode, I first interview carpenter Mariel Herring. We talk about the ingenious ways she’s learned to use her body as a tool on the jobsite, how she has to dress in order to mitigate sexism, and her plans to bring more female-identifying construction workers into the field.

Music for this episode was created by Sophie White, a percussionist and professional drywaller. One of her pieces featured here mimics the sound of construction sites.

Check out our website to read more about the musicians and our guests, and to follow their collaborations together.

Thank you to technical director Eric Carbonara at NadaSoundStudio, and to the Center for Humanities at Temple University for supporting this podcast.