Alan Lomax was a man whose boundless musical curiosity elevated folksongs to the level of “serious music.” The lasting effect of his explorations, discoveries and archives alongside the developing technology of audio recording cannot be easily overstated. Lomax started his career in the 1930s, working for his father (John Lomax) at the Library of Congress Archive of American Folksongs where he collected some 25,000 songs. In the 1950’s he traveled and recorded the volume Columbia Library of World Music. His work had a large impact on Americans' understanding of the extraordinary nature of our "ordinary" culture. Take a listen to some of his legacy.
Defining Normal After a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia, The Mayor of Oklahoma City, A New Kind of Commencement Speech
Devastating Tornado in Oklahoma City, What James Rosen Case Says About Freedom of the Press, Syrian Conflict Deepens
Why We Stay When We Know We Should Leave
The IRS Scandal: The Criminal Investigation, Afghanistan and the Struggle to Walk Away, Does Medicare Part D Care About Safety?
Defining Normal After a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia
The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.
Major funding provided by:
Comments [1]
"We now have cultural machines so powerful that one singer can reach everybody in the world, and make all the
other singers feel inferior because they're not like him ...Once that gets started, he gets backed by so much cash and so much power that he becomes a monstrous invader from outer space, crushing the life out of all the other human possibilities. My life has been devoted to opposing that tendency."
Alan Lomax
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.