The UConn Archives & Special Collections podcast d’Archive will release it’s 50th episode on April 24th, 2023 with a live broadcast at 10am EST on 91.7fm WHUS. Beginning in August of 2017, the Archives staff began expanding its outreach program to the airwaves by training on sound engineering and radio protocols in order to effectively bring its collections to new audiences. Since then the radio program and podcast has featured weekly episodes drawing from countless collections held by the Archives & Special Collections and amplifying the expertise of over 60 collaborators ranging from past and present archives and library staff, artists, journalists, curators, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, high school students, visiting fellows and international students, activists, alumni, collectors and donors, family, and friends.
The podcast (discoverable on apple podcasts, spotify, whus.org, player fm, and others) has integrated recorded studio interviews, field recordings of events and gatherings, oral histories, archival audio collections, and participant media. Bringing the archives to the airwaves has been a labor of love for its host and colleagues, graphic designers, intro/outro musicians, station managers, and talk department directors.
Episode 50 features a new format for the program, integrating field recordings of research sessions within collections to develop critical thinking and information literacy around specific topics of interest. This episode titled ‘Hippie Hobbits’ investigates a research question that came out of a donation to the Alternative Press Button Collection in 2022, stemming from the Atlas Obscura article covering these UConn collections. The episode takes a deep dive to investigate the intersection of J.R.R. Tolkien fandom and the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture.
During the month of April, the d’Archive radio program on WHUS has been airing musical selections inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the author’s death in 1973. See the playlists featuring archives and personal collections of these works below:
April 3rd, 1960s/1970s Psychedelic Progressive Rock, Tolkien Songs and Poems by Donald Swann
April 10th, 1990s/2000s Power Metal, New-Age, and Howard Shore Soundtracks
April 17th, 1970s/2020s Moog, Dungeon Synth, and Black Metal
Stay tuned to 91.7fm and wherever you get your podcasts for more archives on the radio. If you would like to engage with our podcast, please leave a review on the platform you listen on as it helps other listeners find UConn Archives programming. Or contact the host directly: graham.stinnett@uconn.edu