Libraries: Not Just Books!

Podcast Recommendations on Libraries: Not Just Books!

April 07, 2022

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Curator

Why did you choose this theme?The overlap between podcast-listeners and library-lovers is pretty high, and there are some really great book podcasts produced by public libraries. But libraries are more than just books: they’re our last truly free and democratic institutions, and some pretty amazing things are happening at them. These podcast episodes feature amazing things that libraries do—collect the stories of the community, preserve podcasts from digital decay, speak truth to power, and even help people solve murders!

PODCAST PICKS:Click on the podcast art to listen 👂

BorrowedOur Garbage, Ourselves

This podcast, produced and co-written by EarBuds curator Virginia Marshall for Brooklyn Public Library,

 brings you stories that start at the library and take you somewhere new. This episode starts at Dead Horse Bay, where the show's creators explore what trash can tell us about structures of power, and ends in 1960s Brooklyn neighborhood Bed-Stuy, where the local Civil Rights Movement took on a surprising enemy: garbage collection.

The Borough We Became: Queens Residents On Life During COVID-19AdjustmentThe Queens Memory Project (by the Queens Public Library) has been collecting oral histories from residents for the past decade. When their borough became an epicenter at the start the COVID-19 pandemic, the team at Queens Memory jumped into gear, collecting stories from first responders and everyday people whose lives were turned upside-down from the virus. This episode is the first in the podcast series they created to highlight some of the most impactful and emotional stories.

The Kitchen Sisters PresentThe Dark Side of the Dewey Decimal System

Hosts Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson have been collaborating on radio stories since the 1980s, and to this day, they produce some of the best audio in the business. This episode from "The Keepers" series tells the story of how Dewey Decimal Classification perpetuates racial bias.

Anything But SilentUncovering Mysteries and SecretsThis delightful podcast comes from the British Library and certainly makes a strong case for libraries as places of discovery and action or, as their tagline goes: “libraries are alive, and they’re anything but silent.” In this episode, we follow the stories of librarians sleuthing through the archives to piece together suffragist writings on toilet paper and solve a decades-old murder case!

Preserve This PodcastTime to Take Notice

This last recommendation is a bit meta … but an important topic! Most podcasters don’t realize that they should be taking steps to preserve their work “against the threats of digital decay.” So, the Metropolitan New York Library Council put together a podcast (here’s where it gets meta) to help podcasters save their sound. Gotta love librarians!

SPONSOR:

🧑‍🤝‍🧑Connect with fellow podcast lovers at a Kradl Podcast Party

"Podcast party” is an event-series where curious people gather to learn from podcasts. Each Wednesday at 6pm CET, the attendees listen to an episode on their Discord server and discuss what they liked about it or found interesting.

these weekly podcast musings!

🚀LWC Studios just launched a new show,How to Talk to [High Achievers] About Anything

...and they need you! LWC Studios is interviewing Black and brown professionals about their triumphs — and where they sometimes still trip up. They want to speak with folks achieving new heights, either in their personal or professional lives, and who are looking for ways to keep leveling up.

 If this is you, or someone you know, please contact producer Virginia Lora at [email protected] to talk about scheduling an interview.

Advertise your podcast or business here starting at $75/week.

FEEDBACK WITH EARBUDS:

This week on Feedback...Hear from this week's curator, Virginia Marshall, about her podcast picks. Learn about her passion for libraries and her work as a podcast associate at the Brooklyn Public Library.

PLUS: Podcast parties, becoming a guest on LWC's new show, and this week's Spotlight pick, The Accidental Activist.Feedback with EarBuds drops on Tuesdays!

COMMUNITY:

📰Lauren Passell's 'Podcast The Newsletter': Look under your seat… it’s a new podcast! From Kellie Carter Jackson (This Day in Esoteric Political History) and Leah Wright Rigueur comes Oprahdemics, an academic look at the queen of talk TV.

✍️On April 13, MIC's Podcast Club is hosting a "Back To Basics QnA," which will demystify the steps to starting a podcast. It's a free, live, online chat with the Podcast Club community that'll cover where to start, audio kits, how to publish, and getting those first listens. Register now.🌎The World Future Council consists of 50 eminent global change-makers working to pass on a healthy and sustainable planet with just and peaceful societies to their children and grandchildren. Their podcast, The Good Council, documents  conversations between their senior members and young entrepreneurs and activists from around the globe.

✨Keep sending updates for us to include in our Community section: in-person events, Twitter spaces, paid courses, and more. Submit!

CLASSIFIEDS:

🥊Battle Tactics For Your Sexist Workplace is a delightful podcast about the depressing topic of sexism at work. In each episode, co-hosts Jeannie Yandel and Eula Scott Bynoe look at different aspects of workplace sexism, and give actionable tactics you can use to push back. Episodes out every other Monday.📘The brand new issue of Pod Bible magazine is out now, featuring interviews with cover stars Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davies from Wolf and Owl and Cariad Lloyd from Griefcast. If you’re looking for reviews, recommendations, interviews, and podcast news, this issue has it all!

Advertise your podcast or business here starting at $45/week.

PODCAST SPOTLIGHT:

The Accidental Activist

For journalist Isha Sesay, being surrounded by news of activism was the norm. But becoming an activist herself was never a role she envisioned—until now. In this new series, Isha sits down with cultural icons who have also found themselves unexpectedly inhabiting a role as “activist.” She explores the motivations behind their passions and reveals the human condition that unites us all: a desire to make a difference in the world.

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