In my folklore work, I’ve been exploring ways to reignite public folklore’s engagement with labor, so I was particularly excited when a rep from the National Rural Letter Carrier’s Association (the rural letter carriers union) reached out to me a few months ago after reading my Jacobin piece on the potential impact of US Postal Service privatization on rural communities.
As a result of that conversation, I’ll be participating in two NRLCA events next week in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the USPS, in Jefferson County, West Virginia, where Rural Free Delivery delivery was born 129 years ago.
On Thursday 7/24, colleagues at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Iowa Historical Society, and I will be presenting on the history and contemporary iteration of rural mail at the Shepherdstown Opera House. On Friday 7/25, I’ll be moderating a panel on the vital role of rural mail carriers in their communities with two West Virginia rural mail carriers, policy experts, and the president of the NRLCA Don Maston at Shepherd University’s Byrd Center.
You can find more info and register to attend in-person or online here: https://www.protectpostalworkers.com/usps-250th-anniversary-event-registration
Long live the USPS!
Center for Craft 2025 Craft Research Fund
Thank you to the Center for Craft for awarding me a 2025 Craft Research Fund for the project, The Multi-Stranded History of Hand Knitting in Appalachia. This research will explore the underdocumented cultural history of hand knitting in Appalachia through archival research, community surveys, and fieldwork with contemporary practitioners in Appalachia and Northern Ireland. The project will result in a publicly accessible archival collection, article, and conference presentation.
The Female Bob Dylan Podcast Featured on Bandcamp Daily
Bandcamp recently featured our new podcast The Female Bob Dylan and gave us the floor to pick and write a few words about some favorite albums on the platform. I chose Natalia Beylis’ Variations on a Sewing Machine, Cath and Phil Tyler’s The Ox and The Ax, Fawn Wood’s Kikāwiynaw, and Norma Tanega’s I’m the Sky: Studio and Demo Recordings, 1964-1971.
You can check Sophie and Sarah’s excellent picks, our blurbs about each, and Mariana Timony’s full write-up here.
Grist: "As climate change fractures communities, folklorists help stitch them back together"
Grateful to Katie Myers for talking with me about visionary folklore and for amplifying the work other folklorists like Maida Owens and Kimi Eisele do in collaboration with cultural communities impacted by climate change.
Read the full article in Grist here
Smithsonian Folkways Goes Foodways Playlist
Under the auspices of SPINSTER, I curated a foodways themed playlist for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (my old employer and first favorite record label!). With thematic connections to SPINSTER's recent release, Measure, Pour & Mixtape: Music for Cooking, the playlist brings together food songs from across the Folkways catalog for a sonic meal of snap beans, potatoes, cornbread, pie, singing turkeys, and more, paired with blueberry wine and served by a well-tipped waitress.
I also love the graphic by D. Norsen Design, which evokes early Chez Panisse and Moosewood signage, and connects to my inspirational motto for the selections: "What if Les Blank soundtracked a (another) foodways film."
Listen to the playlist here.