Episode

This week on From the Vault, we celebrate we celebrate the life of Al Jarreau, who had a connection with Pacifica beginning in 1968 that held strong until his death on February 12, 2017. There is no one better to help weave Jarreau’s early beginnings than Pacifica host Julio Martinez – musician, writer and host of…

This week on From the Vault we spend an hour with Dr. Bonnie Morris, who has devoted the last three decades to documenting and preserving the culture of the women’s music movement. Morris, whose book Eden Built by Eves (1999) was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards, and was the first comprehensive volume on women’s music festivals and…

This week on From the Vault we present a special interview with musician Van Morrison from 1971. Van Morrison, after spending the 1960’s in New York, headed west to Marin County, California – just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and started recording his Tupelo Honey album. It was then that KPFA’s Dan McCloskey caught up with…

This week on From the Vault we tackle the discussion on comprehensive immigration reform legislation… from a ‘then and now’ perspective. In 1982, Armando Valdez, the Director of the Center for Chicano Research at Stanford University, hosted a discussion exploring the historical, emotional and legal issues raised by immigration reform; panelists included Joaquin Avila (President and Lead…

This week on From the Vault, we mark the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s address, America’s Chief Moral Dilemma, on the steps of Sproul Hall on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. Sproul Hall, the undergraduate admissions building that became internationally known as the nexus of the 1964 Free Speech Movement lead…

Fifty years ago, in 1967, one of Pacifica’s most iconic figures, Alan Watts, gave a lecture titled Zen Bones – about the temporal nature of life and about the need for Americans to readjust their priorities. Watts had gained popularity as one of the original early hosts on Pacifica Radio’s flagship station KPFA in Berkeley, California; his…

This week on From the Vault, we celebrate the birthday of one of America’s most gifted playwrights, Lorraine Hansberry.  At the age of 28, Hansberry became the youngest playwright (and first black dramatist) to win the 1958-1959 New York Drama Circle Critics Award for her play, A Raisin in the Sun; a year or so…

On this episode of From the Vaultwe celebrate one of the great creative musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix, through the sounds of a four-part documentary titled Jimi Hendrix. In 1982, twelve years after Hendrix’s untimely death at the age of 27, a team of talented producers (including Bari Scott, Craig Street and Don West) from…

On this episode of From the Vaultwe celebrate one of the great creative musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix, through the sounds of a four-part documentary titled Jimi Hendrix. In 1982, twelve years after Hendrix’s untimely death at the age of 27, a team of talented producers (including Bari Scott, Craig Street and Don West) from…

This week on From the Vault we present two recordings from Pacifica Radio Archives featuring Fidel Castro. First, we share a short excerpt of Castro addressing the United Nations General Assembly in 1960, where he focuses on Cuba’s relations with the United States and Cuban support for Third World independence movements. Then we jump to 1995, where…