To mark the beginning of Women’s History Month, From the Vault features a recording of Gloria Steinem, one of America’s best-known feminists. Through her writing and activism, and her work with Ms. Magazine (the international feminist bi-monthly that she co-founded in 1972), Steinem has created meaningful channels of communication around the world to champion women’s voices that call for recognition, equality, and justice – and she has remained committed to the creation of organizations that aim to widen and deepen opportunities, fairness and inclusion for women everywhere. In this 1997 recording from the Kennedy Lecture Series at Ohio University, Steinem explains the critical importance of patience and long-term goals for activists who have chosen to embrace the social and political struggles of feminism.

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.

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Julius Lester helps us conclude our celebration of Black History Month with an interview done specifically for this episode of From the Vault. Lester recounts, among other things, his earliest memories of the Civil Rights Movement, his time at WBAI in New York, the genesis of the term “Black Power,” and his reasons behind writing To Be A Slave as a children’s book. We then transition into the final episodes of Pacifica’s compelling radio adaptation of To Be A Slave, which weaves together the culture, history, and personal stories of American slavery, chronicling the slave experience on a very intimate level. Lester’s 1968 work – brought to life in this production – challenges the emotional and moral boundaries of listeners with first-person accounts of slavery using original language and language patterns as written by abolitionists, historians, and slaves themselves over the past 200 years. This radio adaptation was originally produced in the 1980’s by Ahna Armour for the KPFK radio series Morning Reading, and is now broadcast again for the first time in nearly thirty years.

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.

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We continue to celebrate Black History Month on From The Vault by presenting the next two episodes of a compelling radio adaptation of WBAI-Pacifica Radio host Julius Lester’s book To Be A Slave, which weaves together the culture and history of American slavery through voice readings from a compilation narrative of ex-slaves. Chronicling the slave experience on a very intimate level, this audio production of Lester’s 1968 work challenges the emotional and moral boundaries of listeners with first-person accounts of slavery – incorporating original language and language patterns as written by abolitionists, historians, and slaves themselves over the past 200 years. This program was originally produced in the 1980’s by Ahna Armour for the KPFK radio series Morning Reading, and is now broadcast again for the first time in nearly thirty years.

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 Black History Month on From The Vault by presenting the first two episodes of a compelling radio adaptation of WBAI-Pacifica Radio host Julius Lester’s book To Be A Slave, which weaves together the culture and history of American slavery through voice readings from a compilation narrative of ex-slaves. Chronicling the slave experience on a very intimate level, this audio production of Lester’s 1968 work challenges the emotional and moral boundaries of listeners with first-person accounts of slavery – incorporating original language and language patterns as written by abolitionists, historians, and slaves themselves over the past 200 years. This program was originally produced in the 1980’s by Ahna Armour for the KPFK radio series Morning Reading, and is now broadcast again for the first time in nearly thirty years.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 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.

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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.

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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.

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