En Masse (Podcast Series)
Launching on International Workers' Day (5/1/2020)
To listen and learn more, go to enmassepodcast.com
Stories of struggle and hope from the working class
AMPLIFYING STORIES OF STRUGGLE AND HOPE FROM THE WORKING CLASS
I spent my childhood around Syracuse and Binghamton, in New York’s rust belt. When I moved to Central Vermont 4 years ago, I was drawn to Barre, VT. It reminded me of home. Barre is a distinctly working-class town that underwent an economic transformation that is recognizable in deindustrialized towns all across the United States..
For the Northeast, this transformation precipitated during the Great Depression. Concern about the disappearance of manufacturing jobs was already prevalent among the working class before the infamous period of mass deindustrialization starting in the 1970s. That same concern arose again during the Great Recession, when millions of manufacturing jobs were lost. Today, ten years after the Recession, anxiety about work is still felt by the working class. However, despite many defeats, the working class continues to be a bedrock of strength and possibilities. My experiences as a working-class person -- living, organizing, and creating within my communities -- has shown me the enormity our dignity and perseverance.
Using original and archived oral histories, I am producing a new podcast series called En Masse that will bring together stories of struggle and hope from the working class. The first season, titled "Bedrock", will consist of 12 episodes featuring stories from Barre, VT, the “Granite Center of the World." Stories that are raw, real, and at times poetic, will come together in new and surprising ways, revealing social and economic transformations on intimate and global scales.
In 2017, I conducted over 16 oral histories with workers in Barre. The positive feedback I received inspired me to find a way to popularize their stories. Extensive discussions with interviewees and my peers led me to the idea of launching a podcast centered on the performance of oral histories.
Each episode will feature a performed oral history, framed with commentary from the performer and me, the host. During the performer’s commentary, they will have a chance to relate their own story, creating an embryonic gesture towards class consciousness and empathy.
The individual stories contribute to a bigger story about Barre over time. Recurrent issues of poverty, xenophobia, racism, and sexism are mapped through personal experiences. Using the framework of class, the podcast will show both the commonality of our experiences, as well as the differences when class intersects with other forms of oppression.
My time spent in Central New York and in Central Vermont has shown me that there is a little rust belt in every working-class town. But under all of the rust is a strong foundation -- a bedrock -- of hope, resistance, and inner strength against economic pressure and a political environment that wants to ignore us.
SEASON ONE: BEDROCK
Barre, VT was once called the “Granite Center of the World." Quarries wide and deep gave rise to an industry that promised to bear the task of immortality. Granite of exquisite quality augured not only exceptional monuments and memorials but exceptional lives for generations to come -- free from the privations of the old country -- or so it was thought.
There are hundreds of years worth of granite left in Barre’s quarries, but now they only employ a few people. Today, some refer to the town as “Scary Barre” -- its history as a center of industry and radical labor politics overshadowed by its sinking economy and struggles with poverty.
Using performances of oral histories, we will witness how work has changed through economic crises, how those changes are still unfolding, and how they have affected us all.
CREATIVE PARTNERS
Andrew Sullivan for editorial advice. Dylan Kelley, editor of the Herald of Randolph, for production support; and WGDR, Goddard College Community Radio, for use of their production studio. Special thanks to our storytellers and narrators.
I spent my childhood around Syracuse and Binghamton, in New York’s rust belt. When I moved to Central Vermont 4 years ago, I was drawn to Barre, VT. It reminded me of home. Barre is a distinctly working-class town that underwent an economic transformation that is recognizable in deindustrialized towns all across the United States..
For the Northeast, this transformation precipitated during the Great Depression. Concern about the disappearance of manufacturing jobs was already prevalent among the working class before the infamous period of mass deindustrialization starting in the 1970s. That same concern arose again during the Great Recession, when millions of manufacturing jobs were lost. Today, ten years after the Recession, anxiety about work is still felt by the working class. However, despite many defeats, the working class continues to be a bedrock of strength and possibilities. My experiences as a working-class person -- living, organizing, and creating within my communities -- has shown me the enormity our dignity and perseverance.
Using original and archived oral histories, I am producing a new podcast series called En Masse that will bring together stories of struggle and hope from the working class. The first season, titled "Bedrock", will consist of 12 episodes featuring stories from Barre, VT, the “Granite Center of the World." Stories that are raw, real, and at times poetic, will come together in new and surprising ways, revealing social and economic transformations on intimate and global scales.
In 2017, I conducted over 16 oral histories with workers in Barre. The positive feedback I received inspired me to find a way to popularize their stories. Extensive discussions with interviewees and my peers led me to the idea of launching a podcast centered on the performance of oral histories.
Each episode will feature a performed oral history, framed with commentary from the performer and me, the host. During the performer’s commentary, they will have a chance to relate their own story, creating an embryonic gesture towards class consciousness and empathy.
The individual stories contribute to a bigger story about Barre over time. Recurrent issues of poverty, xenophobia, racism, and sexism are mapped through personal experiences. Using the framework of class, the podcast will show both the commonality of our experiences, as well as the differences when class intersects with other forms of oppression.
My time spent in Central New York and in Central Vermont has shown me that there is a little rust belt in every working-class town. But under all of the rust is a strong foundation -- a bedrock -- of hope, resistance, and inner strength against economic pressure and a political environment that wants to ignore us.
SEASON ONE: BEDROCK
Barre, VT was once called the “Granite Center of the World." Quarries wide and deep gave rise to an industry that promised to bear the task of immortality. Granite of exquisite quality augured not only exceptional monuments and memorials but exceptional lives for generations to come -- free from the privations of the old country -- or so it was thought.
There are hundreds of years worth of granite left in Barre’s quarries, but now they only employ a few people. Today, some refer to the town as “Scary Barre” -- its history as a center of industry and radical labor politics overshadowed by its sinking economy and struggles with poverty.
Using performances of oral histories, we will witness how work has changed through economic crises, how those changes are still unfolding, and how they have affected us all.
CREATIVE PARTNERS
Andrew Sullivan for editorial advice. Dylan Kelley, editor of the Herald of Randolph, for production support; and WGDR, Goddard College Community Radio, for use of their production studio. Special thanks to our storytellers and narrators.
