DC Public Library Podcast

In this episode celebrating 250 years of America, we explore how the nation’s identity has been shaped locally and nationally. First, Olubunmi Bakare talks with Monica Miller about the DC Public Library’s new exhibition, “District Vibes: American Pride – How DC Changed American Culture.” Then, Chris Stevenson interviews David McKean and Todd Bennett about their book “The Flag Was Still There,” exa...

This Month we talk to  Emily Mitchell about her new book The Divine Church of Electricity (UW Press) and to Tyler Dempsey, host of Another F@cking Podcast.   Credits: All music is from Pixabay and is used in their content license .  Chill Trip Hop (Short Version) by BoDleasons https://pixabay.com/music/beats-chill-trip-hop-short-version-401932/   Velvet Silence (Ambient Pop) by 9JackJack8 https://...

In this episode, Chris Stevenson talks to four writers with emphasis on why they write and what to do about it.  We also get to hear excerpts from Tracy Cross’s A Gathering of Weapons and Lacey N. Dunham’s The Belles.    Credits: Tracy Cross Melissa Flores Anderson Lacey Dunham Spencer Fleury   Music:  All music is from Pixabay and is used in their content license .    Psychedelic Chilled Trip Hop...

Please be advised that this episode contains explicit language.  Join us this month as  we talk to "Sarah Gray, who has a memoir out with HarperOne titled, A Life Everlasting: The Extraordinary Story of One Boy's Gift to Medical Science – A Powerful Memoir of Loss, Discovery, and Organ Donation ." We also have the director of my old Alma Mater, the Jimenez Porter Writers House at the University of...

Join us this month as we talk with author Denise S. Robbins who has a new book out called The Unmapping; the Washington Writers Publishing House co-president Caroline Bock and Jona Colson, who are celebrating WWPH’s 50th anniversary; author Rion Amilcar Scott who reads from his book, The World Does Not Require You ; and indie lit legend Brian Allen Carr, author of Bad Foundations ,  Opioid, Indian...

Join us as we celebrate the publication of Grit and Gravity, volume 11 of the Grace and Gravity series, a series dedicated to women writers in the DC area.  Christina Tudor and Cynthia Via are two of the excellent writers in the series. (and are both alums of the DC Public Library writers workshops). We chat briefly with Melissa Scholes Young, the editor of the series. As part of a new spot on wri...

This month we have local writers Austin Ross and Joey Hedger, both with books out with Malarkey Books. We also have Alan Good, editor of Malarkey Books, who has published a slew of DC writers.    Credits   Java Pop by Spires That in the Sunset Rise  is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License . https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Spires_That_in_the_Sunset_Ris...

***From 2019*** In this episode, host Victor Benitez interviews Jean Badalamenti,  Health & Human Services Coordinator for the DC Public Library and Peer Outreach Specialists Jerome and Renee  to talk about about the library's role in assisting DC's most vulnerable and at-risk residents.  

Join as Margaret Roberts Drucker returns with another scary story, Chris makes a soothing song for these troubling times,  and Ivy Grimes reads her piece about someone swallowing a glass piano.  Credits Re-Function! by junior85 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Life’s Small Pleasures by Christopher Stevenson: DC Metro - Interior 1 by crashoveride6 is licensed under CC0 https://freesou...

In this episode Carla Wills and Negest Rucker joins host Olubunmi Bakare to discuss their family connections to slavery in Maryland and the Catholic Church. Recommended books related to this episode: The 272 : the families who were enslaved and sold to build the American Catholic Church / Rachel L. Swarns. The ledger and the chain : how domestic slave traders shaped America / Joshua D. Rothman Sla...

In this episode, we revisit the reading of Reverend Martin Luther King’s 1963 "Letter From A Birmingham Jail". It was performed annually as a staged reading in the Great Hall of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library prior to the library's renovation. Today, we continue that tradition in virtual form, blending voices familiar and new, including DC Public Library staff and community members.

Join us with the opening episode of the year as we join local writers Hannah Grieco and Rose Solari as we discuss writing, teaching, and running a small press in Washington, DC.  Credits: Java Pop by Spires That in the Sunset Rise is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Spires_That_in_the_Sunset_Rise/Curse_the_Traced_B...

In celebration of Go Go preservation week at the DC Public Library, Montu Mitchell joins host Olubunmi Bakare to discuss his Love DC Go Go clothing campaign and its connection to the culture of Washington, DC. Music by BOPD elevator by BOPD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

In this episode DC based writer Kristi Ferguson discusses writing, growing up in Brazil and the DC writing scene. Also joining the podcast is Baltimore based writer Stephanie Parent. She talks about sex work and her memoir My Dungeon Love Affair. Credits: Start to Finish by C. Scott is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/C_Scott/Stage_Theory_Be...

*Original air date: January 29, 2020.*Paul Coates is owner and operator of Black Classic Press, one of the oldest Black publishing companies in the U.S. He joins host Olubunmi Bakare to discuss his life, publishing company and how books shaped his life.

Join us for our August episode, featuring interviews with George Mason Professor Michael Don and DC Library worker and poet Jessica Harris. Also, the bulk of the music on this episode comes from C. Scott's album Beats Vol. 3, a trip hop album in CCO, often used in tween games. Credits What A Beautiful Sunset is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 https://soundcloud.com/user-659340737/w...

Credits: Dark Ambient Music (Death And Forever) by TheBoseDeity is licensed under the Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 License. https://freesound.org/people/TheBoseDeity/sounds/395691/ DC Metro - Interior 1 by crashoveride6 is license under CC0 https://freesound.org/people/crashoverride6/sounds/219233/ Washington, DC by The Nighttime Adventure Society is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-Sha...

Join us as we explore what librarians and libraries do. Did you know for example that you can read The Paris Review on PressReader if you have a library card? Also, keeping in theme, we hear from Takoma Park librarians, Writer and Adult Librarian George Koors about his novel Always the Wanderer, and writer LJ Pemberton, whose acclaimed novel Still Alive is in our digital collection. Credits Dream...

In this episode, host Olubunmi Bakare speaks with Kamau Sadiki. Kamau is a Board of Directors member and Lead Instructor with Diving With A Purpose (DWP), an organization committed to resurrecting the stories of shipwrecks involved in the Transatlantic Era of African Enslavement (TEAE) through maritime archaeology. They discuss his mission to find and document vessels of enslavement. "DESCENDANT"...

In this epsiode, we tackle Cryptocurrency with guest Adam Zarazinski. Adam is the CEO of Inca Digital, a local Veteran-owned and run company that helps businesses understand and use Cryptocurrency and related technologies. In our interview, Adam breaks down cryptocurrency- what it is, how it works, how to avoid crypto scams, and more. Have you been the victim of a crypto scam? Inca Digital is coll...

credits: swirling winter wind gusty grains sand.flac by Kyles is licensed under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license. https://freesound.org/people/kyles/sounds/454213/ Arctic by Sonically Sound is licensed under the Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 License. https://freesound.org/people/sonically_sound/sounds/612871/ Hand Bells, Low-C, Single.wav by Inspector J is licensed...

Join us as we explore the winter holiday season. We hear from writers Kim Renay Anderson and Rev. Veronica Graves, listen to the ending of The Dead by James Joyce and ruminate over what it is that’s so important about these days. Is it just the food? Is it the religious aspects? Is it family? What is it? Credits The Lass of Aughrim. Traditional. Performed by Christopher Stevenson. Performance is i...

In this episode Erin Garnaas-Holmes lead climate adaptation planner with the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment's Urban Sustainability Administration joins host Olubunmi Bakare to discuss climate change and the effects it will have on the District. Bus Stop by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Website...

Get Lit with Halloween this year as we take a look at why people like scary stories, then hear an eerie story from local writer Margaret Roberts Drucker and listen to a poems from Adelaide Crapsey and Anne Boleyn. Credits  Halloween Episode Horror Background Atmosphere For Suspenseful Moments   by UNIVERSFIELD Is licensed under   4.0 DEED Attribution 4.0 International https://freesound.org/people/...

In our third episode of "What the Tech", we learn about Extended Reality (which includes Virtual and Augmented Reality) from local expert Joseph Cathey of Capitol Interactive. We discuss what it is, some examples of how it's being used locally for education and art, and where it might be going in the future.