Review: “Food: From Source to Salespoint” a British Library Oral History Collection

May 7, 2020 Admin

Three dishes of hand-made pasta. The plate on the right is a simple spaghetti al sugo, the one on the bottom is a creamy pappardelle ai funghi porcini, and lastly the one on top is a spaghetti alla bottarga. This meal was enjoyed in the Fall of 2019… — Three dishes of hand-made pasta. The plate on the right is a simple spaghetti al sugo, the one on the bottom is a creamy pappardelle ai funghi porcini, and lastly the one on top is a spaghetti alla bottarga. This meal was enjoyed in the Fall of 2019 in Los Angeles at Pasta Sisters.
*Photo Credits: Annie Yan*

In this post, OHMA student Eleonora Anedda (2019 -2020 cohort) will give you a taste of the vast British Library Archive by exploring their oral history collection on food, the British kitchen scene, and its radical changes over the course of the last century. She wishes to apologiseapologizees in advance if this post makes you hungry.

Review: “The Lifespan of a Fact”

April 11, 2019 Michael Falco

Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale star in The Lifespan of a Fact, directed by Leigh Silverman, at Broadway's Studio 54.(© Peter Cunningham) — Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale star in *The Lifespan of a Fact*, directed by Leigh Silverman, at Broadway's Studio 54.
(© Peter Cunningham)

As oral historians we are taught to value personal truths and “mine for meaning” as Portelli once said. But in the era of “fake news” should we be so quick to dismiss facts? Current OHMA student ventured away from the library for a night at the theatre to watch this play out in “Lifespan of a Fact.”

Review: Say Something Bunny!

April 4, 2019 Michael Falco

Oral history and theatre have many natural intersections, performances crafted from interviews and then re-interpreted and embodied by actors. But what about a performance crafted from an unintentionally discovered piece of audio, whose narrators the creator has never met? In this post, OHMA student Caroline Cunfer considers how Alison S.M. Kobayashi implemented oral history-like practices in her groundbreaking performance, “Say Something Bunny!”

Review: “The B-Side: ‘Negro Folklore From Texas State Prisons’ A Record Album Interpretation"

March 5, 2019 Michael Falco

In this post, OHMA alum Bud Kliment reviews “The B-Side: ‘Negro Folklore From Texas State Prisons’ A Record Album Interpretation” a performance piece of musical theater and oral history based on the 1965 LP “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons.”

Starlives: Oral History and the Rock Interview

July 14, 2018 Admin

In this post, part-time OHMA student Bud Kliment reviews Elvis Presley: The Searcher, David Bowie: A Life, and David Bowie Is.

Alessandro Portelli and Barbara Dane: Records of resistance

March 13, 2018 Admin

In this post part-time OHMA student Bud Kliment examines the relationship of folk music to oral history through the intersecting careers of Alessandro Portelli and Barbara Dane, occasioned by the release of Dane’s retrospective Hot Jazz, Cool Blues and Hard-Hitting Songs on Smithsonian Folkways.

Mahalia and Studs, Mr. Jones and Dr. King

February 1, 2018 Admin

In this post, part-time OHMA student Bud Kliment reviews Glorious Mahalia by Stacy Harrop and Peace Be Till, by multimedia composer Zachary James Watkins as performed by the Kronos Quartet in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Review: “The B-Side: ‘Negro Folklore From Texas State Prisons’ A Record Album Interpretation"

November 16, 2017 Admin

In this post, part-time OHMA student Bud Kliment reviews “The B-Side: ‘Negro Folklore in Texas Prisons’ A Record Album Interpretation’” a performance piece of musical theater and oral history based on the 1965 LP “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons.”

An illuminating account of tango as a transnational practice: a review of Kathy Davis’s Dancing Tango

April 24, 2015 Admin

DongKue Lee is a current OHMA student. In this post, he explores Kathy Davis' account of tango as a transnational practice.

When “Telling Your Story” Jinxes Your Freedom

April 6, 2015 Admin

Benji de la Piedra is a current OHMA student. In this post, he reviews the HBO documentary series The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst as oral history.