This week on From the Vault, we honor a man many consider an intellectual, sage, spiritual leader, a leading voice of our time. But he’s also a person we call friend: Dr. Cornel West. A professor of African American and Theological Studies at both Princeton and Harvard Universities, many have come to look for guidance from Mr. West on the diverse issues which we sample in this episode.

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

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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.

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This week on From the Vault, we enter the field of music as one of the great expressions of the creative spirit.

KPFK Music Director Maggie LePique interviewed 93 year old Les Paul before his weekly performance at the Iridium Club in New York City on April 7th, 2008. On a chilly Monday afternoon before his first set, Les Paul was in great form… what started out as a friendly conversation becomes a whirlwind overview of this legendary guitar player and inventor. From his early hard body electric guitar invention to the Les Pulverizer to his first ever multi-track recording to his blistering guitar technique, Les Paul is the original Guitar Hero.

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

LISTEN to this episode.

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 marches on as Pacifica Radio Archives staff prepares for our annual one-day on-air fundraiser (Save the Date! November 18, 2008).

On this special edition of From the Vault we pay tribute to Mama Africa, Miriam Makeba who died Monday November 10th, 2008.

Banned from her home country of South Africa because of her open criticism of apartheid, Makeba found a home in the United States thanks to the efforts of Harry Bellafonte and others who helped establish her on the performance circuit. First, we present a special live performance by Miriam Makeba from a KPFK fundraiser on April 3rd, 1968 at the Coconut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel – Los Angeles, introduced by Lena Horne. Then we hear a Miriam Makeba salute presented by KPFK’s Global Village music host Betto Arcos presented on Tuesday November 11th. And finally, KPFK morning show Uprising with host Sonali Kolhatkar pays tribute to Miriam Makeba with special guest Gerald Lamelle, Executive Director of Africa Action.

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

LISTEN to this episode.

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 marches on as Pacifica Radio Archives staff prepares for our annual one-day on-air fundraiser (Save the Date! November 18, 2008).

“How do you ask a man to be the last soldier to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” ~ John Kerry

Pacifica Radio Archives presents the From the Vault: The American Soldier, a special review of the recordings that helped define the legacy of Pacifica Radio’s coverage of war throughout the decades.

This week we’ll hear Dale Minor reporting from a battle zone in Vietnam for Pacifica Radio, John Kerry testifying before members of Congress during the Winter Soldier Investigations, and excerpts from an archival recording entitled War, Peace and Pacifica.

We’ll also listen to late Congressman William Fitts Ryan, a New York Democrat, interviewing retired USMC Four-star General David M. Shoup about Shoup’s outspoken views on American foreign policy in Southeast Asia. This interview, originally broadcast on WBAI in December 1967, finds its relevance once again in this new time of war.

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

LISTEN to this episode.

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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STUDS TERKEL 1912-2008

Stud Terkel, a great American has passed. In Stud’s memory, therefore, and culled from the vault of the Pacifica Radio Archives we present a compilation of Studs Terkel’s work. Told in the first person by Studs himself, his narrative takes us from the birth of the recording industry through the great depression; from the rise of unions, through two world wars, Korea, and the McCarthy era; from the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, through the war in Vietnam.

As a tribute to Studs Terkel whose life was dedicated to chronicling American history in the moments of its creation and who recounted it with great insight, wit and humor, the Pacifica Radio Archives is proud to present Studs Terkel: The Spoken Century.

We will miss him.

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

LISTEN to this episode.

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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