This week on From the Vault we celebrate the work of legendary Pacifica journalist Chris Koch, whose recordings reflect some of the most historically significant audio footage held in the collections of Pacifica Radio Archives. Koch, who began his career at KPFA in 1960 under Arts and Literature Director John Leonard, was quick to make a name for himself on the airwaves, transitioning from the drama department to news and public affairs; his coverage, along with fellow Pacifica legend Dale Minor, of the Civil Rights and Voter Registration Movements in the South was spellbinding, as was his work as the first American journalist to report from inside North Vietnam in 1965. Koch's storied career resulted in award-winning pieces likeFreedom Now, This Little Light, and 60 Seconds to Midnight, and included interviews with some of the era's greatest luminaries and revolutionaries, such as James Baldwin and Che Guevara. Chris Koch joins us in studio as we examine his amazing run with Pacifica Radio.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the GRAMMY Foundation and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives and Records Administration, and past grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners. We also thank our partners and collaborators at the Pop-Up Archive, Amara, Other Minds Archives, George Blood Audio, and the California Audio Visual Preservation Project.
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