In 1991, producer Judy Ehrlich brought the history of conscientious objection in America to Pacifica listeners in a radio documentary called Against the Tide. The program traced the subject of those who refuse to fight due to their conscience from the Revolutionary War to the 1991 Gulf War. In this week’s episode of From the Vault, we’ll sit with Judy Ehrlich, as she recalls how she initiated the 1991 radio project and the subsequent 2001 film adaptation entitled The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It, in which Ehrlich teamed up with filmmaker Rick Tejeda Flores to adapt Against the Tide for film. (The film was released around the time of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.) This year, the film’s producers re-released the DVD, including special features that address the current conflict in the Middle East, as well as new interviews with Daniel Ellsberg, Studs Terkel, James Farmer, Ambassador Max Kampleman, and the poetry of William Stafford. Pacifica Radio Archives is proud to feature selections of these important productions that beautifully encapsulate the original mission of Pacifica Radio’s co-founder, Lew Hill.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Against the Tide: Conscientious Objection in America:

SZ0720.01 Colonial Dissent Through WWII / produced by Judith Ehrlich MORE INFO

SZ0720.02 The Vietnam Era / produced by Judith Ehrlich MORE INFO

SZ0720.03 The ’80s and the ’90s / produced by Judith Ehrlich MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of 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.

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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 continue to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by digging deep into our historic audio collection and presenting two more 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 as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode:

BB3438 The Dimensions of a complete life / Martin Luther King. MORE INFO

BB4470.04 The casualties of the war in Vietnam / Martin Luther King. MORE INFO

BB3172 Martin Luther King memorial in Central Park / produced by David Rapkin. MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of 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.

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This week we present excerpts from Pacifica Radio Archives’ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. five-hour radio special. The original program features Dr. King recordings spanning 11 years from 1957 to just a few weeks before his death in 1968; in this episode of From the Vault, we’ll excerpt three of the most enduring. We begin this broadcast with longtime Pacifica producer Ambrose Lane, who introduces the earliest surviving record of Dr. King recorded by Pacifica Radio – June 24th 1957 – when Pacifica station KPFA- Berkeley recorded Dr. King at the Wheeler Hall at the University of California- Berkeley, where he delivered a speech entitled The Power of Peaceful Persuasion to students and faculty. Then we’ll hear from KPFK-Los Angeles producer Margaret Prescod who introduces an exerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech America’s Chief Moral Dilemma from May 17, 1967 at the University of California- Berkeley. Finally, host Jerry Quickley of Pacifica Radio KPFK-Los Angeles / Beneath the Surface introduces Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech in Los Angeles, Men and Women In the Arts Concerned with Vietnam, from March 16, 1968.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Martin Luther King, Jr.:

BB0115 On the power of peaceful persuasion / Martin Luther King ; introduced by U.C. Berkeley’s Dean Hart ; interviewed by Charles Levy. MORE INFO

BB1195 America’s chief moral dilemma / Martin Luther King. MORE INFO

BB4661 Men and women in the arts concerned with Vietnam : benefit for Martin Luther King. MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of 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.

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Pacifica Radio Archives’ Haunani Singer welcomes guesthost journalist Joanne Griffith (BBC’s Up All Night) to celebrate an international group of educators, authors and activists dedicated to healing our planet before we destroy it completely. Featuring the voices of: scientist and ecologist Rachel Carson, whose singular book Silent Spring launched environmental awareness worldwide; renowned physician and famed anti-nuclear advocate Dr. Helen Caldicott; physicist Vandana Shiva, director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy; author/activist Arundhati Roy, winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small Things; and Wangari Maathai, recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Green Belt Movement. Drawn from the Pacifica Radio Archives’ prestigious collection of historic recordings, From the Vault proudly presents Ringing Testimonies: Women of the World Speak Out.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Women of the World:

BB0430 Rachel Carson: A Memorial Appreciation MORE INFO

SZ0689.01 Our Wounded Planet Needs a Healing Touch / produced by Helene Rosenbluth MORE INFO

(no archive #) Profiles in Peace: Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai

PZ0534 The Ecology of Globalization / Vandana Shiva MORE INFO

(no archive #) Uprising! with Sonali Kolhatkar: Interview with Vandana Shiva

BB2332 An Interview with Madame Nguyen Thi Bihn / Interviewed by Madeline Duckles ; Interpreted by Madame Le Thi Cao MORE INFO

PZ0533 Confronting Empire / Arundhati Roy MORE INFO

(no archive #) Democracy Now! / Interview with Arundhati Roy, 2006

Compact disc duplicates of the recordings listed above may be purchased online with a credit card or PayPal account by clicking on ‘MORE INFO’ next to the title.

To order by phone, call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262. To learn more about these archival programs, visit Pacifica Radio Archives Home Page and click “Search Our Collection.”

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of 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