In this episode of From the Vault, we’ll explore an aspect of the Pacifica Radio Archives that is often overlooked — comedy. Drawing from unique programs within our collection, we are able to revisit some of the funniest folks of years past. The first selection is from a 1961 panel discussion on censorship in comedy recorded at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles — the panel includes Carl Reiner, Steve Allen, Groucho Marx, Robert Young, and Los Angeles Times columnist Cecil Smith. (The moderator tries to start a discussion, and of course the comedians resist!) Then we’ll shift to 1968, when Pacifica Radio recorded Pat Paulsen’s 89-cent fund raising dinner –introduced by Carl Reiner — held in the midst of his satirical presidential campaign. Finally, we’re treated to the forefather of the ‘socially conscious’ comedian, Lenny Bruce, by means of a 1963 documentary on Bruce by Albert Goldman — and then from Bruce himself, in a 1963 performance entitled Lenny Bruce Comes Clean, in which he examines the comedian’s struggle for free speech on stage, reminding us of the challenges facing community media today.

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

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Comedy:

BB4681 Pat Paulsen 89-cent Testimonial Dinner MORE INFO

BB5006 Teevee comedy panel / Groucho Marx and Steve Allen MORE INFO

BB0382 Lenny Bruce: A Profile MORE INFO

BB1120 Lenny Bruce Comes Clean 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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From the Vault goes green this week for something other than the environment — St. Patrick’s Day! In recognition of Pacifica Radio Archives’ newly released Irish Adopt-a-Tape Catalog, this week’s episode features recordings of the Irish and Irish-American experience through the community radio perspective. We’ll listen to a broad survey of Pacifica Radio’s Irish collection, including audio of Nell McCafferty, Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, William Butler Yeats and other Irish authors featured in program called “Themes of Blarney,” and excerpts from a curious recording entitled “Feminist View of St. Patrick’s Day.”

LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS: Join Pacifica Radio Archives on Monday, March 17th, 2008 for “St. Paddy’s All-Star Improv Revue,” a one-night-only evening of improv benefiting the Archives’ Irish audiotape collection. (CALL 323-934-4747 FOR INFO) The unique event is the official launch of the Irish Adopt-a-Tape Catalog, featuring historic audio such as the first public radio broadcast of James Joyce’s Ulysses, and other recordings that detail the Irish and Irish-American experience through a range of subjects from history and politics to music and literature. The Saint Paddy’s All-Star Improv Revue takes place at the Groundlings Theater and will be directed by Patrick Bristow. Perhaps best known for his supporting role on the successful television show “Ellen,” Bristow will also be performing alongside special guests including Michael McDonald (Mad TV), Mike Hitchcock (Best in Show), Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers), Karen Maruyama (Whose Line is it Anyway?), Ted Michaels (And God Spoke), Jeremy Rowley (Reno 911), and others. Refreshments will be served. CALL 323-934-4747 FOR MORE INFO.

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

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, St. Patrick’s Day and the Irish Experience:

AZ0618 The Pat-Ri-Arch: A Feminist View of St. Patrick MORE INFO

BB0817 Six Variations on a Theme of Blarney / produced by Readers Theatre MORE INFO

SZ0536.05A The Blessed Virgin Did a Gig in Ireland: She Winded, She Waved, She Shimmied MORE INFO

PZ0228 Ireland, Human Rights, and the New World Order / Bernadette Devlin McAliskey 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 on From the Vault, we celebrate the beginning of Women’s History Month, and International Women’s Day on March 8, by joining our sisters’ voices from history, brought to life once again and broadcast for all the world to hear thanks to the ongoing preservation efforts by the Pacifica Radio Archives. Gleamed from the vast expanse of unique and important recordings of women safeguarded in the temperature- and humidity-controlled vault, this week’s episode features the spirit of ‘resistance,’ showcasing women have stood their ground for rights of their sisters everywhere. We’ll sample a recording of Bernardine Dohrn, former leader of the 1960’s and 1970’s revolutionary anti-war group the Weathermen, and other women of that group reading their poetry — at an International Women’s Day celebration in 1975. Also featured is a documentary called Out of the Kitchen and into the Sweatshops, where we’ll learn about women who struggled to alleviate the horrendous working condition of working class Americans, like Emma Goldman, Rose Schneiderman, Mother Jones, Jane Adams, and Sabina Virgo. Finally, we draw from a 1982 International Women’s Day special titled Women of Color: Voices of Resisistance to complete this special episode.

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

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, International Women’s Day Special:

KZ1210 Women of Color: Voices of Resistance MORE INFO

BC2225 Poems by Women in the Weather Underground MORE INFO

PZ0431.01 Club Evolution: May Day And The American Labor Movement With Sabina Virgo MORE INFO

AZ0471.05 Out of the Kitchen and into the Sweatshop 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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For this last week of National Black History Month, From the Vault brings you a startling rarity from deep within the collection – a recording that might have been lost forever if not for Pacifica Radio Archives’ ongoing preservation efforts. The efforts include the 1968 Project, an initiative that has saved hundreds of significant recordings from that tumultuous and pivotal year, including the tape that inspired this week’s episode. Jump back a bit, to 1966, when Donald Harper and Ken Dewey — program producers for WBAI-New York — set out to catch a natural perspective of America by visiting Chicago to examine conditions of minorities in the city. The voices Don and Ken gathered became part of fascinating audio experiment – a portrait of a city in rage, of real people speaking their minds. Although recorded in 1966, the program found itself broadcast only once, in the summer of 1968, as the Democratic National Convention in Chicago exploded onto the world stage. Today, this extraordinary sound lives again, as these voices sew the social fabric of America forty years past.

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

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Chicago Voice Project – Portrait of a City in Rage:

BB3550 Chicago Voice Project / Produced by Donald Harper and Ken Dewey 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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