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More Audio, Video Resources at the Library
About Folklife Today

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.
For full audio of items excerpted in the podcast, and more great folklife content, visit the Folklife Today blog.
Folklife Today
Title: “The Candidate’s a Dodger”: An American Folksong from Oral Tradition to Aaron Copland and Beyond
Speakers: Stephen Winick, Theadocia Austen, Jennifer Cutting, Wayne Shirley, Thomas Hampson, Pete Seeger, Mike Seeger, Peggy Seeger, Emma Dusenbury, Myra Pipkin, Neal Morris, Minnie Floyd, Nancy Humble Griffin
Date: November 26, 2019
Running Time: 53:59
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Title: Scary Stories for Halloween 2019
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Jackie Torrence, Mary Celestia Parler, Connie Regan Blake
Date: October 28, 2019
Running Time: 30:15 minutes
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Title: Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Ann Hoog, Ralph Metcalfe Jr., James Mack, Carl Fleischhauer, John Katsikas, Jens Lund, Paul Sveinbjorn Johnson, Mrs. Johnson, Gamaliel “Bobby” Ramírez, Michelle Stefano, Beverly Robinson, Margaret Burroughs, Edith Wilson, Magic Slim.
Date: September 30, 2019
Running Time: 55:16 minutes
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Title: More Hidden Folklorists
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Jennifer Cutting, Charles J. Finger, John A. Lomax, Alan Lomax, Clark Kenyon, John Sawyer, Archer Gilfillan, Paul Martin.
Date: August 28, 2019
Running Time: 39:00 minutes
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Title: "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Plague?" A Look at Children's Songs.
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Carolyn Bennett, Henry Truvillion, John A. Lomax, Hasel Futch, Corine Jackson, Herbert Halpert, Unidentified Children.
Date: July 29, 2019
Running Time: 36:31 minutes
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Title: Occupational Folklife
Speakers: Billy Bragg, John Fenn, Stephen Winick, David Taylor, Archie Green, James "Blind Jim" Howard, Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Groce, Pat Jasper, Gilda Ramirez, Betsy Peterson, Tom Lightsey, Nicole Saylor, Terry James Thibodeaux, Melissa Lindberg, Kelly Revak, Barbara Miller Byrd, Kelly Pace
Date: June 28, 2019
Running Time: 56:57 minutes
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Title: Agnes Vanderburg's Outdoor School for Traditional Indian Ways
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Stephanie Hall, Judith Gray, Carl Fleischhauer, Trelani Duncan, Marjorie Hunt, Agnes Vanderburg, Rachel Bowers, Kay Young, unidentified boy, Mary Trotchie
Date: May 31, 2019
Running Time: 39:30 minutes
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Title: Hidden Folklorists
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Michelle Stefano, Stephanie Hall, Muhannad Salhi, Solomon HaileSelassie, Bahiya Jamali, John Burgess, Jeannie Robertson, Hawaiian Qunitette, Unukupukupu ensemble, E. K. Rose, Kenan Adnawi, Phil Wiggins, Rick Franklin, Marcus Moore, Junious Brickhouse, Ledward Kaapana
Date: April 30, 2019
Running Time: 46:06 minutes
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Title: The Origin of All Folklore Everywhere
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Michelle Stefano, Stephanie Hall, Jennifer Cutting
Date: March 28, 2019
Running Time: 26:14 minutes
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Title: Civil Rights History Project
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Elaine Nichols, Elizabeth Peterson, Kelly Navies, Guha Shankar, Joe Mosnier, Kelly Revak, Julia Kim, David Cline, Carlos Montes, Charles McDew, Ruby Sales, Freeman Hrabowski, Emilye Crosby, Worth Long, Timothy Jenkins, Trelani Duncan, and Ellie Dahmer
Date: February 25, 2019
Running Time: 54:16 minutes
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Title: Kumbaya: Stories of an African American Spiritual
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Judith Gray, Todd Harvey, Jennifer Cutting, Joe Hickerson, Griffin Lotson, Henry Wylie, Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, Bessie Jones, Ethel Best, McIntosh County Shouters, Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, The Folksmiths, Paul Williams, Pete Seeger
Date: January 22, 2019
Running Time: 41:14 minutes
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Title: Christmas Songs from the American Folklife Center
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Stephanie Hall, Nancy Groce, Jennifer Cutting, Aunt Molly Jackson, Burl Ives, Jilson Setters, Jean Ritchie, Samuel Martinez Y Lavadí, Adolfo Chavez, Julian Lobato, The Silver Star Singers, The Davies Hill School Chorus, Bessie Jones, Exilia and Moise Bellaire, and the AFC Mummers
Date: December 17, 2018
Running Time: 28:37 minutes
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Title: Festive Foods and Menus
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Megan Harris, Mackenzie Kwok, Albert Allen Jr., Anna M. Ruiz
Date: November 19, 2018
Running Time: 19:15 minutes
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Title: Haunting Tunes for Halloween
Speakers: John Fenn, Stephen Winick, Jack Santino, Nancy Groce, Carl Fleischhauer, Jennifer Cutting, Nicole Saylor, Gerret Warner, Jeff Warner, Ian Fitzgerald, Burl Hammons, Pablo Ruthling, Kilby Snow, Fred Carriere, Vera Ward Hall
Date: October 29, 2018
Running Time: 39:46 minutes
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