Archivist's Alley

Please welcome the wonderful Dr. Michelle Caswell to Archivist's Alley! An incredible author and speaker, she is also a teacher, the co-founder of the South Asian American Digital Archive (more information on which can be found at the website blog on this podcast) and the director of the UCLA Community Archives Lab.  She is also AMAZINGLY fun and cool to talk to! We had a blast! As expected, so many important things discussed and so many more left for a next visit! Please visit the website for links!

My final podcast from the AMIA conference in November, 2018 was actually the first one that I did and it was with the invaluable and fabulous Bob Curtis-Johnson.  We had a great time talking about his work in Alaska and the monumental outreach and critically important indigenous collections that he handles and assists with. Bob is seriously one of the most fun guys to hang out with and one of THE most dedicated dudes in the field. I was SO THRILLED to record this conversation with him & could've talked to him so much more. I definitely hope to have him on again!

Meet Marti Clemmons & Erin Yanke of KBOO Radio! This is Pt2 of my 3-Pt AMIA 2018 Series, where I spoke to people at the annual conference in Portland. Our conversation travels through all the amazing and varied programs offered on KBOO, the political landscape and history of Portland as well as some of the cataloging and preservation tactics they have had and were hoping to take when working with the Community Archiving Workshop. Enjoy! 

This is the first podcast of a 3-part series I did while at the AMIA (Association of Moving Image Archivists) conference in Portland, OR. My first conversation is with Claire Fox, an absolute joy and fabulous person I got to know this year. I am looking forward to seeing her work in this field (she's already WELL on her way to greatness). Subjects include: graduate student-ing, navigating professional conferences, access, archival labor, finding queer community and emotional connections. Enjoy!

Please welcome Anna St. Onge, from York University in Toronto! Anna and I discuss the challenges of consciously platforming archival stories that generally get less institutional attention or funding, such as indigenous and regional communities and why she does it. We talk about archival labor, invisibility, Nice White Lady-ism and how the right kind of outreach can change archival structures and archives in general. Join us!

My friend and colleague Ashley Blewer is one of the most inspirational people I know. She makes hard things seem simple because she enjoys them so much. She has this brilliant gift of being talented at digital preservation and moving image archiving yet not coming off as intimidating or pretentious. She always seems willing to answer questions you might have and goes out of her way not to make you feel stupid for asking.  Ashley has spent countless hours working on projects that provide educational access to folks who might want to learn about moving image archiving but may not have the funds to do so.  

Please welcome the incredible PATRICIA LEDESMA VILLON to Archivist's Alley! Currently an intern at The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Patricia and I discuss the pure pleasures and intricate negotiations that take place when working with home movies as well as examining ideas of class, race and cultural values. While this is a special Home Movie Day episode, Home Movie Day is really every day and Patricia's work with CAAM and elsewhere illustrates the powerful archiving future that we have to look forward to!

Please welcome the immensely wonderful Genevieve Weber, archivist of the BC Archives, part of the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, Canada to Archivist's Alley this week. Join us as we discuss important issues of agency, repatriation and collection processing in regards to materials of First Nations and Indigenous peoples.  The work being done by Genevieve and her colleagues at the BC Archives is critically important. I invite you to check it out through this conversation.

Please welcome the amazing Jordan Hale to Archivist's Alley! Another one of my brilliant Canadian colleagues, Jordan's work and perspectives are critically important and should be heard, respected and considered regularly in our professional work. Listen as we talk about going viral, the ethics of doxxing, being kind in the archival community and the simple (or not-so-simple) desire to be respected and treated humanely for having a critically formed and researched approach to a topic.   

Season 2's opening episode talks with Lynne Kirste of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences about Home Movies, representation, classic Hollywood and the importance of preservation. We examine why inclusion and diversity is so critical and why discussing Hollywood's historical erasure of race, gender and labor can be uncomfortable but is necessary in order to achieve a better world. Exciting discussions abound regarding active and progressive work being done in the home movie archival space!!  

For my last episode of S1, I have the AMAZING Courtney Dean on to dig deep into issues very close to my heart.  We chat about punk and metal archives, information worker solidarity and bonding, and the desperate need for better labor practices. I want everyone that listens, even partially, to sign the letter/petition that is on the blog for this episode on the Archivist's Alley website, www.archivistsalley.com Archivist's Alley will be back in a few weeks! Thanks for listening! 

Rolling into July with some great guests from the Dirty Looks On Location series of events that is happening all month in Los Angeles! Meet Bradford Nordeen, Bret Berg and Joe Rubin and listen to our conversation. We talk about queer images and culture, media presentation and locational importance as well as debates on nostalgia, the preciousness of art in art spaces and so much more! Guest cameo by my cat Wallach. :D

For the final episode of Pride Month, I am thrilled to welcome Brendan Lucas, Taylor Morales and Alice Royer to Archivist's Alley. While I have known these fab folks for years, they all have one supercool thing in common: they all either currently serve or have served as the Outfest Legacy Project Manager. The Outfest Legacy Project is the preservation-related arm of the larger Outfest, a LGBTQ+ film festival-centered organization that does critical work for the community. Check out this episode to learn more and get to know these amazing folks!  

For the 3rd episode of Pride Month, I am honored to present a conversation with the brilliant and sassy Dr. T.J. Tallie. Currently positioned as Assistant Professor of African History at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, Tallie will begin as an Assistant Professor of History at the University of San Diego in the fall.  T.J.'s perspectives on blackness, queerness and the need for radical readjustment through historical knowledge are so inspirational. Also? No one wears a monocle like him or can karaoke Missy Elliot like this badass.  Listen in as we discuss archival access and international archives, the glory of Zotero and strength through the work.

This month I decided that I was going to celebrate Pride Month and in doing so center a queer archivist or organization every week. Please welcome the magnificent Magnus Berg for episode 11! They are truly an inspiration on a multitude of levels and they haven't even graduated!!! We approach transgender identity in the archival community, cataloging and the LCSH, pronouns and cishet privilege and the SUPER AMAZING thesis that Magnus is currently writing!  Check this out! It's a great conversation! We need more folks like Magnus in the community!  

Meet Anne Marie Kelly, one of the Program Specialists at the USC Shoah Foundation. In Episode 10, Anne kicks off Pride Month with me as we talk about a variety of issues that tie into marginalized communities. Oral history, genocide, queerness in the archive/preservation. She is an incredible asset to our community and I am so excited to have her here to celebrate the 10th episode AND to amplify the voices of the amazing queer preservationists and information professionals in this wonderful landscape.   

In this episode, I talk about turning 40 with my mom. She talks about being an actress & a librarian, her dad/my grandfather, Fannie Lou Hamer, and why she never censored anything my brother & I ever read (also my book tantrums).

Meet Rachel E. Beattie, amazing archivist, fabulous film fan and a true asset to the archives & preservation landscape. Her passion for archival work is matched only by her undying love for social action and joy in seeing more communities benefit from media preservation. Enjoy our conversation- it covers the gamut from David Cronenberg and film festivals like TIFF and Hot Docs to lost silent films.

This week I talk with one of the hardest working women in show business, Millie De Chirico, programmer of TCM, Filmstruck and TCMFF, a film festival happening THIS WEEK! Get ready for a wild ride through Joseph Losey's BOOM, a feminist critique on the current state of the film exhibition scene and watching films cuz you love 'em not to laugh at 'em. Let's celebrate this FAB rockstar Millie & hear about her hard work at the best film fest & classic film channel that has ever film fest-ed or channel-ed!!

This week I talk with the wonderful Erica Lopez who is just completing her thesis at the Moving Image Archive Program (MIAP) at NYU.  Our discussion is an exciting adventure, journeying from the examination of Erica's original work on Mexican American home movies and research methodologies to how her own cultural identity and background has informed her personal character and career choices.  Every point Erica raises on class, gender, economics or culture is critical and I am thrilled to have been able to document this digitally. Please enjoy.  For more on Erica and some extra links, please check out the full blog post on this episode here: