The People’s Recorder Podcast: Deep in Turpentine
While working on the WPA Florida guidebook, the Federal Writers’ Project team – including Zora Neale Hurston and Stetson Kennedy – documented a wide range of life from prison camps…
Where the $ symbol actually comes from
Why is the $ sign an S? What does 'dollar' even mean? In this video, I answer both of those questions, while also explaining what the British pound is a…
How Muslims Influenced Thomas Jefferson and America’s Founders | American Muslims
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of the Qur’an? That George Washington owned enslaved people who were Muslim? And that a Muslim diplomat broke his Ramadan fast…
From Slavery to Freedom: The Untold Story of America’s First Muslims
Even before the United States was founded, tens of thousands of Muslims were already present, captured in West Africa and brought to colonial America in chains. Host Asma Khalid (NPR’s…
Reclaiming the Banjo’s Black Roots | In the Making
Follow Hannah Mayree, musician, banjo maker, and founder of the Black Banjo Reclamation Project, as they organize workshops and performances celebrating the banjo’s Black history.
Cloth and Complicity: Seth Rockman on Plantations, Textiles, and the Art of Weaving
Some people might think this book offers a smoking gun of complicity: Aha, those sanctimonious New Englanders were just as tied to slavery as the Southerners! But complicity seems too…
The People’s Recorder: A Lost Cause?
This episode looks at communities that have suffered neglect from official history, and the example of African American landmarks and burial grounds in Virginia. Some families and communities have pushed…
The People’s Recorder: A New Kind of History
The Federal Writers’ Project set out to create a series of books that held up a mirror to America, and chronicled communities that had long been ignored. Howard University professor…
Vodou: Haiti’s African-Derived Religion
Religion for Breakfast