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#45 – Typing Through Democracy, Fear & Free Speech | Sheryl Oring

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Manage episode 492374802 series 2860866
Content provided by Contrarian Aquarian Media and Rob Lee. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Contrarian Aquarian Media and Rob Lee or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

What happens when a typewriter becomes a tool for collective memory? In this episode, Rob Lee reconnects with interdisciplinary artist and activist Sheryl Oring—first featured on the podcast in 2023. Sheryl returns with updates on I Wish to Say, her decades-long public performance project where thousands have dictated postcards to the U.S. president. What began as a solo typewriter setup is now an evolving civic archive—and a way to resist censorship, document the moment, and hold space for unheard voices.

This conversation follows a pivotal year for Sheryl—marked by the sudden closure of University of the Arts in Philadelphia—and explores how loss, listening, and literal paper trails have shaped her latest work.

  • Resisting censorship: serving as the first artist on the board of the National Coalition Against Censorship
  • Typing on tour: collecting messages from parks, libraries, and campuses during an election year
  • Analog permanence: archiving 5,000+ typewritten postcards and the invisible labor of cultural memory
  • Post-UArts Philly: navigating grief, disillusionment, and artistic renewal after institutional collapse
  • Fear and self-censorship: how public expression is shifting for immigrants, youth, and marginalized communities
  • Libraries as sanctuary: preserving democratic space as book bans and closures escalate
  • Art as care: on fermenting, gardening, and rituals that ground a life in transition

Sheryl first appeared on The Truth in This Art in 2023—listen to that conversation [here].

This episode was recorded during a season reflecting on archives, resilience, and artists working at the intersection of public space and democratic expression.


Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

Support the podcast

★ Support this podcast ★
  continue reading

871 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 492374802 series 2860866
Content provided by Contrarian Aquarian Media and Rob Lee. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Contrarian Aquarian Media and Rob Lee or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

What happens when a typewriter becomes a tool for collective memory? In this episode, Rob Lee reconnects with interdisciplinary artist and activist Sheryl Oring—first featured on the podcast in 2023. Sheryl returns with updates on I Wish to Say, her decades-long public performance project where thousands have dictated postcards to the U.S. president. What began as a solo typewriter setup is now an evolving civic archive—and a way to resist censorship, document the moment, and hold space for unheard voices.

This conversation follows a pivotal year for Sheryl—marked by the sudden closure of University of the Arts in Philadelphia—and explores how loss, listening, and literal paper trails have shaped her latest work.

  • Resisting censorship: serving as the first artist on the board of the National Coalition Against Censorship
  • Typing on tour: collecting messages from parks, libraries, and campuses during an election year
  • Analog permanence: archiving 5,000+ typewritten postcards and the invisible labor of cultural memory
  • Post-UArts Philly: navigating grief, disillusionment, and artistic renewal after institutional collapse
  • Fear and self-censorship: how public expression is shifting for immigrants, youth, and marginalized communities
  • Libraries as sanctuary: preserving democratic space as book bans and closures escalate
  • Art as care: on fermenting, gardening, and rituals that ground a life in transition

Sheryl first appeared on The Truth in This Art in 2023—listen to that conversation [here].

This episode was recorded during a season reflecting on archives, resilience, and artists working at the intersection of public space and democratic expression.


Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

Support the podcast

★ Support this podcast ★
  continue reading

871 episodes

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