Folklife Today

Tells stories about the cultural traditions and folklore of diverse communities, combining brand-new interviews and narration with songs, stories, music, and oral history from the collections of the Library of Congress's American Folklife Center.

  • Audio Recording
    Storytelling and Folktale Traditions in the American Folklife Center Archive This episode looks at storytelling and folktale traditions in the American Folklife Center archives, including “Jack Tales,” tall tales, animal tales, and other stories. Hosts Stephen Winick and John Fenn talk with AFC intern Hanna Salmon about the new guide “Folktales and Oral Storytelling: Resources in the American Folklife Center Collections.” We then listen to and discuss excerpts of tales from North Carolina storyteller…
    • Contributor: Carmen Agra Deedy - Connie Regan-Blake - Tim Tingle - John Fenn - Ray Hicks - Stephen Winick - Evelio Andux - Barbara Freeman - Evelia Andux - Hanna Salmon
    • Date: 2024-09-30
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    Cormac Ó Haodha: Kluge Lomax Fellow from Cúil Aodha in the Múscraí gaeltacht of County Cork, Ireland. This episode looks at the work of Cormac Ó Haodha, who held the 2024 John B. Lovelace Fellowship for the study of the Alan Lomax collection, a position situated within the library’s Kluge Center. Cormac comes from Cúil Aodha in the Múscraí gaeltacht of County Cork, Ireland. He came the Library specifically to study recordings Alan Lomax made in January 1951, of singers local…
    • Contributor: John Fenn - Elizabeth Cronin - Cormac Ó Haodha - Diarmuid Ó Riordáin - Máire Ní Cheocháin - Stephen Winick - Seán Eoin Ó Súilleabháin
    • Date: 2024-05-31
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    2023 Summer Interns: Reflections and Research Guides This episode looks back at the recent work of Joseph Z. Johnson and Deena Owens, interns who created research guides on African American Banjo Playing and on Sacred Harp singing for the American Folklife Center. The interns talked about their work and shared a few of their favorite field recordings from our collections.More information on the songs as well as photos of some the…
    • Contributor: Dink Roberts - John Fenn - Stranger Home Baptist Church Singers - Stephen Winick - Deena Owens - 1942 Alabama Sacred Harp Singing Convention - Elizabeth Cotton - Joseph Z. Johnson
    • Date: 2023-10-31
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    The 2023 Homegrown Concert Series This episode looks back and ahead at the 2023 Homegrown Concert series, which is currently in progress. Hosts Stephen Winick and Michelle Stefano interview the series producer Theadocia Austen and folklife specialist Doug Peach. The participants talk about the series as a whole, and each picks one or two songs for us to hear. The episode contains songs from Jake Blount, (African American folk…
    • Contributor: Christylez Bacon - Ali Doğan Gönültaş Quartet - Kristian Blak - Spaelimenninir - Stephen Winick - Charlie Pilzer - Doug Peach - Jake Blount - Sharon Weiss - Theadocia Austen
    • Date: 2023-08-24
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    Asian Pacific American Heritage In this episode for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, John Fenn and Steve Winick invite guests to talk about Asian collections in the American Folklife Center. Allina Migoni talks about the earliest known recordings of Korean music, playing segments of a lecture by Robert Provine and a song sung by Ahn Jeong-Sik. Sara Ludewig discusses the Linda LaMacchia collection, including recordings made of Tibetan singers…
    • Contributor: John Fenn - Tenzin Choegyal - Robert Provine - Sara Ludewig - Stephen Winick - Allina Migoni
    • Date: 2023-05-26
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    Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories In this episode for Women’s History Month, Allina Migoni and Michelle Stefano take a look through the collections of the American Folklife Center to find insights into how women have shaped those around them and passed down their cultural traditions, and to listen to reflections about their identities and lives. The episode honors women in the American Folklife Center archive, including homemaker and cook…
    • Contributor: Zenna Todd - Donna Choate - Miiko Toelken - Kay Turner - Sarah Sohn - Michelle Stefano - Iyo Nagashima - Mary Sheppard Burton - Geraldine Niva Johnson - Yoshiko Nagashima - David Nagashima - Theadocia Austen - Allina Migoni - Christine Cartwright
    • Date: 2023-03-31
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    Groundhog Day In this episode, John Fenn, Michelle Stefano, and Stephen Winick discuss Groundhog Day traditions. Drawing on the research of Don Yoder, they discuss the history and folklore of the holiday, including groundhog traditions among the Pennsylvania Dutch, groundhog songs, weather proverbs, and even cooking and eating groundhogs! Songs include two versions of “Groundhog,” one of “Fod,” and one of “Prowling Groundhog.” More information on…
    • Contributor: King Family String Band - George "shortbuckle" Roarke - John Fenn - Michelle Stefano - Stephen Winick - Sam Chatmon - Ernie Alston
    • Date: 2023-02-02
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    Scary Stories for Halloween 2022 In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick introduce three scary stories for you to enjoy: a witch tale told by Appalachian singer and activist Aunt Molly Jackson, a ghost story told by blues musician and gravedigger John Jackson, and the story of Jack O Lantern told by folklorist Jack Santino. Steve and John also discuss a little of the history of Halloween,…
    • Contributor: Aunt Molly Jackson - John Fenn - Jack Santino - Stephen Winick - John Jackson
    • Date: 2022-10-27
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    Caught My Eye, Caught My Ear, Staff Edition, Including Tributes to Tony Barrand and Mick Moloney In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick talk with Jennifer Cutting about items that caught their eyes and ears. Cutting discusses commercial recordings of tunes collected by Cecil Sharp, and Winick tells stories of the recording sessions, which Sharp personally supervised and described in his diaries. Cutting discusses her friend, the late Tony Barrand, an important collector of morris dances. John Fenn…
    • Contributor: Liz Carroll - Tommy Maguire - Michael Flatley - John Fenn - Victor Military Band - Stephen Winick - Jennifer Cutting - Cecil Sharp - Victor Band - Prince's Band
    • Date: 2022-09-20
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    Caught My Eye: Intern Edition! In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick interview American Folklife Center interns Bryan Jenkins and Elisa Alfonso. Jenkins discusses AFC’s Web Cultures Web Archive, and interviews AFC reference librarian Allina Migoni about it. Alfonso discusses several versions of the Latin American children’s song “Señora Santana,” and speaks of its association with the 1960s Cuban children’s exodus that later became known as Operación…
    • Contributor: John Fenn - Ramona Ramirez - Adelpha Pollato - Lottie Espinosa - Stephen Winick - Elisa Alfonso - Bryan Jenkins - Olga Acevedo - Allina Migoni
    • Date: 2022-09-12
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    Ukrainian Traditions at the American Folklife Center In this episode, hosts John Fenn and Michelle Stefano, with guest Thea Austen, explore Ukrainian materials in the American Folklife Center Archive. Interview segments include a discussion of Ukrainian embroidery and dance, between Geraldine Johnson and Taissa Decyk; and a discussion of a Ukrainian family bandura band who immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1940s, between Stephen Winick and Julian…
    • Contributor: Taissa Decyk - Solomia Gorokhivska - Andrei Pidkivka - John Fenn - Kalin Kirilov - Michelle Stefano - Stephen Winick - Julian Kytasty - Geraldine Niva Johnson - Theadocia Austen
    • Date: 2022-07-08
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    A Tribute to Irish American Women In this episode, hosts Stephen Winick and John Fenn, with guests Betsy Peterson, Jennifer Cutting, and Melanie Zeck, explore songs and music from Irish American women in the American Folklife Center archive. Performances include Maggie Hammons Parker singing “Ireland’s Green Shore,” Hattie Scott Gould playing “The Irish Washerwoman” on the fiddle, May Mulcahy playing “Nori from Gibberland” and “Put Your Little Foot Right There”…
    • Contributor: Maggie Hammons Parker - Liz Carroll - Tommy Maguire - Betsy Peterson - John Fenn - Stephen Winick - Gary Ward Stanton - Hattie Scott Gould - Jennifer Cutting - May Mulcahy - Eileen Gannon - Paula Johnson - Carrie Grover - Melanie Zeck
    • Date: 2022-03-28
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    Songs of Spring In this episode, hosts Stephen Winick and John Fenn, with guest Theadocia Austen, talk about songs of springtime, from agricultural and pastoral songs about farms and flowers to love ballads…and one dance tune. They also play the songs, including Pearl Nye’s version of “Early in the Spring,” the Copper Family’s rendition of “When Spring Comes On,” Baptiste Pierre’s version of the Haitian song “Fleurs,…
    • Contributor: Baptiste Pierre - Chicago Zither Club - Rubén Cobos - John Fenn - Bob Copper - Stephen Winick - Thea Austen - Jim Copper - Pearl Nye - Warde Ford
    • Date: 2022-02-28
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    La Llorona: Looking at a Ghost Story for Día de Muertos and Halloween This episode examines the story of La Llorona, the Weeping Woman of Mexican and Latin American ghostlore. Hosts Stephen Winick and John Fenn discuss Winick’s research into the legend for the Folklife Today blog, and interview three guests. Camille Acosta, who wrote a thesis about the Llorona legend, talks about her research and the meanings the story has for kids and adults. Allina Migoni,…
    • Contributor: John Fenn - Trio Aurora - Mamselle Ruiz - Sones De Mexico Ensemble - Navigaciones Pedro Manuel - Stephen Winick - Juan Dies - Camille Acosta - Allina Migoni
    • Date: 2021-10-27
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    The 2021 Homegrown at Home Concert Series This episode looks back at the 2021 Homegrown at Home Concert series. Hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick interview the series producer Theadocia Austen and folklife interns Kennedi Johnson and Camille Acosta. The participants talk about the series as a whole, and each picks one or two songs for us to hear. The episode contains songs from Neli Andreeva (Bulgarian traditional song), Brother Arnold…
    • Contributor: Brother Arnold Hadd - Neli Andreeva - John Fenn - Samite Mulongo - Mamselle Ruiz - Stephen Winick - Kennedi Johnson - Hubby Jenkins - Camille Acosta - Harbanger - Theadocia Austen - Radiance Choir - Martin Carthy
    • Date: 2021-09-28
  • Audio Recording
    Summer Songs Part 2 This episode continues our look at songs about summer, from the amorous adventures of young lovers to the backbreaking work done by convicts in the sun. Hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick, along with guest Jennifer Cutting, present their favorite summer songs. Songs include the English “Sweet Primroses;” the Trinidadian “One Fine Summer’s Morning” and “June Come, You No Marry;” the Tuvan “In Summer…
    • Contributor: Kara-Kys Namzatovna Munzuk - Colin Davis - John Fenn - Cephus Louis - Matias Etcheverry - James Griffin - Stephen Winick - Mrs. Francisco Etcheverry - Jennifer Cutting
    • Date: 2021-09-15
  • Audio Recording
    Summer Songs Part 1 This episode looks at songs about summer, from the amorous adventures of young lovers to the backbreaking work done by convicts in the sun. Hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick, along with guests Nicki Saylor and Jennifer Cutting, present their favorite summer songs. Songs include the Finnish “Kesa Ilta,” the Tuvan “Let The Sun Shine On My Verdant Summer,” the African American work song…
    • Contributor: Kara-Kys Namzatovna Munzuk - John Fenn - Clyde Hill - Stephen Winick - Mose Bellaire - Nicole Saylor - Jennifer Cutting - In the Willows - Aleksandr Laptan - Bascom Lamar Lunsford - Jalmar and Mamie Nukala
    • Date: 2021-08-09
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    Hidden Folklorists: Langston Hughes, with guests Langston Collin Wilkins and Sophie Abramowitz This episode looks at a “Hidden Folklorist” renowned as a poet and playwright: Langston Hughes. It includes interviews with folklorist Langston Collin Wilkins and Hughes scholar Sophie Abramowitz. Wilkins and Abramowitz show us how Langston Hughes’s folklore work was grounded in song collecting and vernacular expression, and committed to the visionary futurity of Black folkloric creativity. We also explore Hughes’s connections to the American…
    • Contributor: John Fenn - Sophie Abramowitz - Stephen Winick - Langston Collin Wilkins - Buena Flint - Mississippi John Hurt
    • Date: 2021-06-30
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    Hidden Folklorists: Becky Elzy, Alberta Bradford and E.A. McIlhenny, with guest Joshua Clegg Caffery This episode looks at three “Hidden Folklorists” from Louisiana with special guest Joshua Clegg Caffery from the Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. The Hidden Folklorists are Becky Elzy and Alberta Bradford, two spiritual singers who had been born in slavery, but who years later sang over a hundred spirituals for collectors; and E.A. McIlhenny, the head of the Tabasco…
    • Contributor: Jimmy Peters and Group - John Fenn - Alan Lomax - Stephen Winick - Alberta Bradford - Joshua Clegg Caffery - Becky Elzy
    • Date: 2021-05-28
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    "Colorado Morton's Ride" This episode Presents the poem “Colorado Morton’s Ride,” also known as “Colorado Morton’s Last Ride.” It’s a ten-minute narrative poem recited by Fred Soule at the Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp in Visalia, California on September 2, 1941. The poem was recorded on an instantaneous disc by Charles Todd and Robert Sonkin, two fieldworkers collecting folksongs for the Library of Congress. It was written…
    • Contributor: Fred Soule - Stephen Winick - John Fenn
    • Date: 2021-04-30
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    Folklife and Poetry This episode looks at folk poetry, with discussions of four poetry-themed collections in the American Folklife Center. Guest Anne Holmes of the Library of Congress Literary Initiatives Division discusses “Living Nations, Living Words,” the signature project of the Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Harjo, the first Native American Poet Laureate, has curated a collection of poetry by Native American poets, which includes recordings of the…
    • Contributor: Marjan Naderi - John Fenn - Fred Soule - Michelle Stefano - Meezie Hermansen - Stephen Winick - M.L. Smoker - Kerry Ward - Anne Holmes
    • Date: 2021-04-30
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    The Green Book and African American Travel with Candacy Taylor This episode presents an interview with Candacy Taylor, whose latest project is documenting sites associated with the Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide for African Americans during the Jim Crow era. Taylor discusses the dangers inherent in travel for Black people during an era where racial discrimination was legal and open racism was common. She fills us in on the origins of the…
    • Contributor: Nelson Malden - John Fenn - Candacy Taylor - Sampson Pittman - Enid Pinkney - Stephen Winick - Leah Chase - Calvin Frazier - Jerry Markowitz
    • Date: 2021-02-25
  • Audio Recording
    Sea Shanties This episode presents an introduction to sea shanties, including a discussion of the word “shanty” or “chantey;” a discussion of the roots of shanties; the history of shanties; the subtypes of short-haul shanties, halyard shanties, and capstan shanties; the importance of the African American and Afro-Caribbean communities to shanties; and the prevalence of women singing shanties. The episode presents six shanties, “Pay Me My…
    • Contributor: John Davis - Dallas Valley - Stephen Winick - Alex Barr - Evans Hughes - Alberta Harrigan - Eugenie Carter - Richard Maitland - Estelle Reid - Claudette Hazel ... John Davis - Dallas Valley - Stephen Winick - Alex Barr - Evans Hughes - Alberta Harrigan - Eugenie Carter - Richard Maitland - Estelle Reid - Claudette Hazel - Edith Lloyd - Leighton Robinson - Louisa Carty - Miss Finger - Arthur Brodeur - Myron Peterson - Georgia Sea Island Singers - John Fenn - Alan Lomax - John A. Lomax - Mike Bosworth - Leighton McKenzie - Edith Richardson - Florence Brooks - Charles J. Finger - Ship's Company Chanteymen - James A. Gumbs
    • Date: 2021-01-29
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    The Peaceful Transfer of Mumming: American Folklife Center 2020 Mummers' Play This episode presents the American Folklife Center’s 2020 mummers’ play, “The Peaceful Transfer of Mumming.” Every year, in the week or two before Christmas, staff members of the American Folklife Center put our research and performance skills into play, bringing collections to life in a dramatic performance that tours the halls of the Library of Congress. The performance is based on traditional mummers’ plays.…
    • Contributor: George Thuronyi - John Fenn - Michelle Stefano - Stephen Winick - Valda Morris - Paul Edmonds - Jennifer Cutting - Norman Edmonds - Hope O'Keeffe - Unknown Singers - Theadocia Austen - Stephanie Hall - Rufus Quesinberry
    • Date: 2020-12-16
  • Audio Recording
    Haunting Songs for Halloween 2020 Hosts John Fenn and Stephen Winick are joined by staff member Jennifer Cutting to discuss and play some of their favorite ballads and songs about ghosts, goblins, fairies, and elves—not to mention the Devil himself. Songs include “The Unquiet Grave” sung by Jean Ritchie; “Polly Vaughan” sung by Albert Lancaster “Bert” Lloyd; “The Three Babes” or “The Wife of Usher’s Well” sung by Isaac…
    • Contributor: Séamus Ennis - Johnny Lee Moore - John Fenn - Lena Bare Turbyfill - I. G. Greer - Henry Mason - Stephen Winick - James Carter - Jennifer Cutting - Jean Ritchie - A. L. Lloyd - Ed Lewis - Willie Greer
    • Date: 2020-10-28