This week on From the Vault, we present a classic Pacifica documentary called Tales of Whales, produced in 1977 by Adi Gevins (currently PRA’s Preservation and Access Coordinator) and the late Kathy McAnally. Recorded at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on November 20, 1976, this program brings us back to the celebration of California’s first Whale Day and documents the effort to raise public consciousness about the global plight of the widely-hunted mammals back in the mid 1970’s. Performing and speaking were the likes of Joni Mitchell, Country Joe McDonald, actors Burgess Meredith and Jeff Bridges, poet Gary Snyder, pioneering researcher in dolphin communication John C. Lilly, and then-and-soon-to-be-Governor of California Jerry Brown.
But, before we trip back to 1976, we’re going to trip a bit with Pacifica Archives as they hang with their buddies at Pacifica affiliate station WOMR (Provincetown, Massachusetts) in August 2010. During the visit, KPFK-Los Angeles program host Harrison has a fascinating discussion with the captain of a whale watching boat – especially significant because this exchange was recorded during the fourth month of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill and environmental disaster.
From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners.
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