This week From the Vault celebrates the release of Redefining Black Power: Reflections on the State of Black America, published by City Lights Books, which addresses key issues for Black America: mass incarceration, media portrayal, the role of black leadership, democratic participation and economic disparity. Edited by From the Vault collaborator and BBC Radio 5 Live host Joanne Griffith, this book utilizes Pacifica Radio’s classic Civil Rights and Black Power recordings, such as W.E.B Dubois, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Audre Lourde as a context for a new conversation on the state of Black America with contemporary educators, activists, and philosophers. Contributors include Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow), Van Jones (former White House adviser and president of ‘Rebuild The Dream’), Dr. Vincent Harding (founder of Veterans of Hope and speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), Dr. Julianne Malveaux (President of Bennett College in North Carolina), Linn Washington (lawyer and weekly columnist for the Philadelphia Tribune), and Esther Armah (journalist and host on WBAI 99.5 FM- New York).

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

From the Vault invites you to the legendary La Bastille Jazz Club in Houston, circa 1973, for a concert by prodigious trumpet-man and Grammy Award-winner Freddie Hubbard, who played for the benefit for Pacifica radio station KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston. Hubbard, at this point in his life, had several decades of classic material to work with at this show – and subsequently delivered to the Pacifica audience a night to remember.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Muckraking, a term coined in 1906 by Teddy Roosevelt to describe journalists exposing the corruption of the barons of industry, has been a rich tradition for the free press for over a century – serving to put forth ideas and truths that may upset those in power or offend the establishment. This week on From the Vault we pay homage to Pacifica Radio’s rich muckraking legacy, starting with Upton Sinclair’s fiery 1962 address, Changing America, recorded at Pomona College in southern California, then turning to a 1989 forum entitled “The Art of Muckraking,” featuring stand-out investigative (and muckraking!) journalists of the day, including Christopher Hitchens, Mark Hertsgaard, Jessica Mitford, Robert Scheer, and Alexander Cockburn.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Poverty, urban problems, and social progress generally are ignored when the guns of war become a national obsession.
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This week on From the Vault we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by digging deep into our historic audio collection and presenting two recordings of Dr. King in his own voice. First, Mark Maxwell, host of Rise on KPFK-Los Angeles, will introduce us to an excerpt of Dr. King’s speech, Dimensions of a Complete Life, from January 14, 1962 at Battell Chapel, Yale University. In it, Dr. King demonstrates his expertise at the pulpit, using biblical references to help teach us to work towards bettering humanity. Then we’ll hear a selection of Dr. King’s speech on the domestic consequences of the Vietnam War entitled Domestic Urgency vs. Military Costs, recorded at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on February 25, 1967. Finally, we jump to New York’s Central Park April 5th, 1968… the day after Dr. King’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. There, in an impromptu gathering of rage and sorrow, thousands mourned along with Ossie Davis, Pete Seeger, Ritchie Havens, Dr. Spock, and Pacifica Radio. When WBAI-New York broadcast The Memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it brought the experience of collective rage and grief to the listeners not able to be there in person. Today, Pacifica Radio Archives is proud to present select portions of this historic broadcast.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

From the Vault this week features recordings that have been digitized and preserved thanks to our most recent grant funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and Pacifica Radio Archive donors. Our first selection is from July, 1994, in Central Park, New York: A live performance from late poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron, famous for his 1970 spoken word counter-culture anthem, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” Next, we sample the sound of Big Mama Thornton, a blues singer from Houston, Texas, who wrote and recorded “Ball of Chain,” made popular by Janis Joplin in 1967. We end this episode with a priceless awkward moment caught on tape, as Woody Allen is asked by a WBAI reporter, “Why aren’t there any black people in your movies?”

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On October 9, 2010, Pacifica radio station KPFK in Los Angeles produced 12-hour broadcast celebrating John Lennon’s 70th birthday. The idea was the brainchild of KPFK Music Director Maggie LePique, who, with the support of KPFK programmers, the musical community, and Yoko Ono to put together a fantastic day of programming. In this episode of From the Vault, we present highlights from this historic celebration.

Contributors to the day-long celebration included Jon Wiener, Professor of History at the University of California at Irvine, author of Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon Files, musicians Jackson Browne, John Densmore, Quartetto Fantastico, Shiela Nichols, Tom Morello, and longtime John Lennon friend and publicist Elliot Mintz.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Part one of this episode of From the Vault features an original radio drama written by KPFK host Julio Martinez which traces the history of Santa Claus through a contemporary lens. It stars Nicholas, Bishop of Smyrna, John Winthrop, the Puritans of 1647, The Saxons, the Vikings, ChristKleinlein from Germany, Pere Noel from France, Washington Irving, John Pintard, the Montgomery Ward staff who brainstormed the Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer for their holiday catalog in 1939, and Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

Part two is radio adaptation of O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi, the story a young couple, Jim and Della, who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas gifts. Unbeknownst to Jim, Della sells her most valuable possession, her beautiful hair, in order to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim’s watch; while unbeknownst to Della, Jim sells his own most valuable possession, his watch, to buy jeweled combs for Della’s hair.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We celebrate the holidays this week on From the Vault with a 1983 documentary on the traditions of Christmas – host Steve Allen (on the piano) weaves together short stories about the adventures of December.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week on From the Vault, we conclude our Shakespeare tribute with part three of a three-part series on probably one of the most ambitious works in the Pacifica Radio Archives. In 1964, on the 400th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, KPFK- Los Angeles producers Ruth Hirschman and Lee Whiting, in collaboration with John Monteverdi, presented a comprehensive program exploring the personal life, work and legacy of William Shakespeare called William Shakespeare, This Was A Man. This program was awarded the 1965 Ohio State Award for Broadcast Journalism — and thanks to a Preservation and Access Project grant award from the GRAMMY Foundation, we now can listen again to one of the earliest documentaries ever produced for public radio. We also like to remember that this program was edited on reel to reel tape using razor blades and splicing tape; the complex edits you can hear are truly a tribute to the craft of early radio production!

Actor and Shakespeare instructor Marc Singer introduces us to Part 3, which contains the final two segments of the Shakespeare: This was a Man. The first segment examines Shakespeare’s private life as revealed in his sonnets, his return to Stratford-on-Avon, and his success as a man of property. The second segment studies Shakespeare’s later years and offers a brief appreciation of his work.

View the original 1964 KPFK Folio celebrating the 400th birthday of William Shakespeare.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week on From the Vault we delve into the visual arts and present two painters in two very different ways.

Part one of this program features Roy Lichtenstein, known for his ‘comic strip’ style, interviewed by Jeanne Siegel in late 1967 or early 1968 – quite early in the artist’s career.

Part two is a dramatic presentation of the personal correspondence of Vincent Van Gogh adapted from the Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh, published by the New York Graphic Society in 1958. Produced by David Rapkin and adapted for the radio by Bonnie Bellow and Terry Shtog with musical direction by James Irsay, this recording is a wonderful example of radio as an artistic medium. Mr. John Lithgow plays Vincent Van Gogh.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download