Listening to the Protest Singer

This month we are reading The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger by Alec Wilkinson.  This is a book you need to listen to with a soundtrack. Now, if your old Pete Seeger records are unplayable due to the fact that you no longer own a turntable to play them on, you can go to the Smithsonian-Folkways website and click on the "radio" button and chances are Pete will show up sooner or later and you'll discover some other unique musicians on your way there.

I'm sure many of our Loyal Readers have already seen the Pete Seeger PBS American Masters documentary The Power of Song, but take note that Smithsonian-Folkways offers three podcast series combining musical selections and interviews and each one has a special Pete Seeger episode available. You can listen online or search iTunes to download. 

The "Folkways Collection" series explores the history of Folkways records and an overview of the record label's vast holdings. Episode 12 is dedicated to Pete Seeger, but several of the others, such as those on music of the labor and civil rights movements and the episode on children's music also feature our friend Pete.  Well worth a listen.






Episode 20 "Pete Did That?" of the Sounds to Grow On series also explores the many sides of Pete Seeger's music. Loyal Readers may also be interested in some of the other programs in this series, for example "Songs of Struggle and Protest" or "Sacco and Vanzetti."

Finally, the Sound Sessions series also has a Pete Seeger episode in addition to features on Seeger friends Woody Guthrie and Paul Robeson. Happy listening!

Troy Davis and more Human Rights Podcasts

Another in our series of posts on podcasts for human rights activists, I thought I should put a plug in for our friend Sonali Kolhatkar's radio show Uprising which is available via podcast for those who are out of range (or can't remember when to tune in!). This week one of her featured segments is an interview with Laura Moye, Deputy Director of Amnesty's Southern Regional Office regarding the case of Troy Davis which we blogged about earlier and featured in our June newsletter. Give Sonali a listen and take action for Troy!

Human Rights Podcasts

I've mentioned two sources for human rights-themed podcasts recently, the Irrepressible.info series from Amnesty International and PEN Center's event series. Here are two more: The University of Chicago Human Rights Program podcasts its lecture series and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a weekly program of interviews called Voices on Genocide Prevention. Needless to say, much of the focus is currently on the campaign for Darfur with much useful information-- and inspiration-- for activists.

Spoken Here: Mohawk

Time to visit Canada on our Spoken Here journey. Start with Omniglot's Mohawk page or links from Native American Langage Net. Here's a cool idea-- Mohawk lessons via podcast. Or visit the Kahnawake Language Center. Recommended features: Photo archive and radio, just to hear what the language sounds like. There's also a bit of Mohawk in this audio documentary about Mohawk ironworkers who worked on the World Trade Center from Lost and Found Sound.