Best Council on Library and Information Resources Podcasts (2025)

1
Cradle of Student Protest 38:48

3y ago38:48

38:48

Travel to Nashville, Tennessee, “the cradle of student protest,” to learn about Fisk University’s activist legacy–from the Jubilee Singers in the 1800s to the sit-ins of the 1960s to Black Lives Matter today.By CLIR

1
Sankofa 31:55

3y ago31:55

31:55

Travel to the Lowcountry of South Carolina to learn about the Mather School, founded after the Civil War to serve the newly freed, and the Gullah Geechee people, whose traditional way of life is threatened by gentrification.By CLIR

1
By Actions and Not by Words 34:40

3y ago34:40

34:40

Dive into Tuskegee University’s vast collections, from the notebooks of George Washington Carver to archival speeches from luminaries Myrlie Evers, Shirley Chisholm, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Jackie Robinson, and Muhammad Ali.By CLIR

1
If Walls Could Talk 30:13

3y ago30:13

30:13

Learn about Alcorn State University student life–and civil rights protests–in the 1960s, and how a community-centered approach to librarianship has made Alcorn indispensable to the people of Lorman, MS.By CLIR

1
Walking on Sacred Ground 32:12

3y ago32:12

32:12

Morgan State University archivist Ida E. Jones discusses the history of Maryland's largest HBCU and how it is deeply entwined with the history of Black politics, activism, and media, particularly in Baltimore.By CLIR

1
Cadence to the Rhythm of Life 16:43

3y ago16:43

16:43

Kofi Amu Horne, who created the theme music for this season, started drumming with his Ghanaian mother before he was two. Here, he talks about drumming as a spiritual practice and its importance to the African diaspora.By CLIR

1
There's Magic in Creating Something from Nothing 32:12

3y ago32:12

32:12

Librarian and curator Erika Witt speaks about Southern University at New Orleans’s African art collection, a transformative trip to Egypt, and how GLAMs can and must make themselves more inviting and accessible to BIPOC.By CLIR

1
Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams 31:44

3y ago31:44

31:44

This season, we’re taking a tour of the treasures housed in HBCU libraries and archives. Meet two women instrumental to the HBCU Library Alliance: executive director Sandra Phoenix, and recent board chair Monika Rhue.By CLIR

1
Season 3 Trailer: HBCU Library Alliance Tour 2:43

3y ago2:43

2:43

In this season of the Material Memory podcast, we're taking an audio road trip to explore the libraries, archives, and museums at six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Hear briefly from our guests in this season's introduction. View the video trailer at material-memory.clir.org.By CLIR

1
Crisis as Catalyst: Notes from DCDC 54:49

4y ago54:49

54:49

Special episode! Three stories about crisis as catalyst: capturing NHS COVID-19 stories; rethinking anti-racism and anti-ableism at the Wellcome Collection; & toward a climate action plan at the National Library of Scotland.By CLIR

1
What We've Learned and What We Can Do 39:34

4y ago39:34

39:34

What did we learn? What can we do? In the season 2 finale, host Nicole Kang Ferraiolo and producer Lizzi Albert share their biggest takeaways, from climate change’s unequal impacts to the importance of finding your role.By CLIR

1
Heritage Has a History 27:51

4y ago27:51

27:51

Anthropologist Dr. Blessing Nonye Onyima discusses the effects of colonialism and climate change on Nigeria’s cultural heritage, from the changing migration patterns of Fulani nomads to the looting of African antiquities.By CLIR

1
The Home of Memory 25:19

4y ago25:19

25:19

Where do we house our memories? What does it mean to lose our records? Drawing on her experience as an archivist and as a hurricane evacuee, Itza Carbajal speaks about the impacts of the climate crisis on our recorded memory.By CLIR

1
Living Heritage 23:03

4y ago23:03

23:03

Intangible or “living” cultural heritage includes folk arts, food, and other traditions. Host Nicole Kang Ferraiolo talks to media scholar Saiful Alam Chowdhury about how climate change affects living heritage in Bangladesh and how to protect it.By CLIR

1
Climate Displacement and Cultural Resilience 23:56

4+ y ago23:56

23:56

Victoria Herrmann, president of the Arctic Institute, discusses climate displacement in the United States, the risks it poses to communities and traditions, and how cultural memory builds resilience.By CLIR

1
How We Tell the Story of Disaster 20:54

4+ y ago20:54

20:54

Anthropologist and emergency management specialist Dr. Crystal Felima speaks about her work on climate hazards, disaster narratives in Haiti and Puerto Rico, and the role of libraries.By CLIR

1
Archivists Against the Climate Crisis 23:27

4+ y ago23:27

23:27

Archivists Eira Tansey and Ben Goldman discuss their research on the impact of climate change on U.S. archives. They share their approaches to climate activism and the superpowers librarians can bring to the fight for environmental justice, both within and outside of their employer institutions.By CLIR

1
Does it Matter? Cultural Memory and the Climate Crisis 19:53

4+ y ago19:53

19:53

Climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity—but how does cultural heritage fit in? Hear from all seven of this season’s guests as they weigh in on why culture matters, what’s at stake, and where we'll be headed in the coming episodes.By CLIR

1
Sound and Meaning: Preserving Native American Voice and Song 1:04:24

5y ago1:04:24

1:04:24

In this episode of Material Memory, we return to the Autry Museum of the American West in southern California, where a project is underway to preserve audiovisual materials documenting Native American voice and song. We’ll learn about the vital process of community-building and the relationships forged along the way.…

1
"Hello, Friends" The Story of the Indians for Indians Radio Hour 57:05

5y ago57:05

57:05

In this episode of Material Memory, we talk with a staff member at the University of Oklahoma who has been working to preserve the recordings of the Indians for Indians Radio Hour program, a long-running broadcast that started in the 1940s at the university’s WNAD station. We’ll hear about the show’s founder, the complications of dealing with a wel…

1
Not Even in the Dictionary 1:02:44

5y ago1:02:44

1:02:44

Iñupiaq dialects—spoken by people in the northernmost parts of Alaska—are considered “severely endangered,” with about 2,000 native speakers of these dialects alive today. In this episode of Material Memory, we chat with the people who are preserving, transcribing, and translating collections of audio and video recordings of Iñupiaq dialects. They …

1
The Duty of Memory 1:01:56

5+ y ago1:01:56

1:01:56

Radio Haiti, the nation’s first independent radio station, gave people a voice in speaking out against government oppression while speaking up for human rights and democracy. In this episode of Material Memory, we talk with the Duke University Libraries staff who have been working to preserve a large collection of tapes of programming broadcast bef…

1
Connected to the Legacy 55:34

5+ y ago55:34

55:34

In this episode of Material Memory, we talk to experts at the Amistad Research Center who are working to digitize the audio field recordings of African-American academic and linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner. His work established a connection between the languages of West Africa and African Americans living in the low countries and sea islands of South C…

1
The Ethics of Access 46:57

5+ y ago46:57

46:57

How can recordings of indigenous languages be made accessible to the communities they represent? In this episode of Material Memory, we talk to experts about the ethical considerations and complexities of providing broad access to recordings that may be culturally sensitive—sacred sounds, songs and language—and why it’s important to reconnect peopl…

1
Keeping Cultural Memory Alive: What's at Stake? 21:34

5+ y ago21:34

21:34

Kathlin Smith introduces the Material Memory podcast in a conversation with CLIR President Charles Henry about the threats to our cultural record and what is at stake if it's lost.By Kathlin Smith

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Council On Library And Information Resources Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Material Memory

CLIR

1
Cradle of Student Protest 38:48

1
Sankofa 31:55

1
By Actions and Not by Words 34:40

1
If Walls Could Talk 30:13

1
Walking on Sacred Ground 32:12

1
Cadence to the Rhythm of Life 16:43

1
There's Magic in Creating Something from Nothing 32:12

1
Our Ancestors' Wildest Dreams 31:44

1
Season 3 Trailer: HBCU Library Alliance Tour 2:43

1
Crisis as Catalyst: Notes from DCDC 54:49

1
What We've Learned and What We Can Do 39:34

1
Heritage Has a History 27:51

1
The Home of Memory 25:19

1
Living Heritage 23:03

1
Climate Displacement and Cultural Resilience 23:56

1
How We Tell the Story of Disaster 20:54

1
Archivists Against the Climate Crisis 23:27

1
Does it Matter? Cultural Memory and the Climate Crisis 19:53

1
Sound and Meaning: Preserving Native American Voice and Song 1:04:24

1
"Hello, Friends" The Story of the Indians for Indians Radio Hour 57:05

1
Not Even in the Dictionary 1:02:44

1
The Duty of Memory 1:01:56

1
Connected to the Legacy 55:34

1
The Ethics of Access 46:57

1
Keeping Cultural Memory Alive: What's at Stake? 21:34

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