6.4: Christina Ward: Punk Rock Publishing, Outsider Literature & the Secret Revolutionary History of Food

I love Christina Ward. And I love the work she does.

I am lucky enough to know some really brilliant and wonderful women. Christina? She is absolutely top shelf.

As an author, she does outrageously cool writing on food and food history. Canning and food preservation? She’s got you. The relationship between food, cults and class? Read her work. It will blow your mind.

Christina also has another gig: she is one of the primary folks at a publishing company known as Feral House. Around since 1989, FH has certainly courted controversy, being one of the very first publishers to release texts on such taboo subjects as black metal, punk, death culture, conspiracies and cults. But FH does not center itself on shock; it works on examining outsider perspectives and the work that Christina and the team there do is vital to our thorough understanding of the world.

I invite you to listen to my conversation with Christina Ward in which we discuss all these things and more. The books and writing that they platform place them solidly against misogyny, colonialism, capitalism and classism, making them an incredibly valuable publisher in this day and age.

As usual, bio is below the podcast link. Links to various subjects from our conversation are embedded in the bio so be sure to click on those and check’em out!!

Christina Ward is an author, editor, and seeker. She had the distinct pleasure of riding around town in the Wienermobile with Padma Lakshmi on the hottest day in July of 2019 for “Taste the Nation.” Her newest book, Holy Food: Recipes and Foodways from Cults, Communes, and New Religious Movements, will be published in early spring of 2023. Her previous book, American Advertising Cookbooks-How Corporations Taught Us To Love Spam, Bananas, and Jell-O, earned positive notice from Florence Fabricant in the New York Times, Christopher Kimball of Milk Street Radio, and numerous other journalists and readers.

Christina makes regular guest expert on Milwaukee television programs and public radio stations across the United States, delighting in ‘working blue’ before 8 am. She is also the Vice President of Feral House, a publisher noted for their books on outré topics. She contributed to and edited the 2021 book Bawdy Tales & Trifles of Devilries for Ladies and Gentlemen of Experience under her nom d’amour, Lady Fanny Woodcock. She has guided, edited, contributed to, and in a few (unnamed) instances, rewritten, over fifty books.

She has an interest in the lives of forgotten “difficult women” and bringing their stories to readers. Christina regularly contributes to academic and educational conferences on the topic of transgressive art. In her spare time, she is the certified Master Food Preserver for South East Wisconsin and always picks up the phone to answer pressing questions about jelly that won’t set and soft pickles.

Christina’s book on food preservation: Preservation The Art and Science of Canning, Fermentation and Dehydration

Book on Maila Nurmi aka Vampyra!

As mentioned, Four White Horses and a Brass Band – the story of Violet McNeal!!!

Definitely check out Dirty Helen Cromwell in Good Time Party Girl

Great book- You Can’t Win by Jack Black (no, not THAT Jack Black)

As mentioned, Roving Bill Aspinwall

Also- for those punks out there like me who are interested in punk crime lore and thorough about their history…I think this looks interesting and it’s got Raymond Pettibon art… Disco’s Out…Murder’s in!

S6.2: Raphael Rashid: Human Rights Journalism, Twitter Activism & “Agendas”

My friend Raphael is remarkable.

It’s hard for me to properly describe what he does except to say that he writes wonderfully about all the truly problematic areas in Korea.

You should just listen to the episode. It’s a really great conversation.

Do I love Korea and living in Korea? Sure. There’s a lot to love. But no country is without its problems. And what I know is that what Raphael is doing is critical to my survival here. He keeps me updated and informed.

I know that I’m not alone in this. While (as we discussed) some (a “vocal minority”) may think that his twitter feed has an “agenda,” his only agenda is providing real, honest journalism. It’s mostly human rights-related information but his work spans all kinds of topics in Korea and that’s why reading him is really great.

No one is doing what Raphael Rashid is doing and I feel so lucky to know him.

Please enjoy our conversation and follow him on Twitter. And if you don’t have Twitter, just go there every so often to see his posts!!!

And if you read Korean….he’s got a new book out!! Let’s hope that it gets translated into English *crosses fingers*

As usual, links and bio under the episode….

Bio: Raphael Rashid is a freelance journalist in Seoul and has been based in South Korea for over a decade. His writings have appeared in publications including The Guardian, The New York Times, and Nikkei Asia, with a focus on societal issues. He is the author of a recently published book examining conformity and unhappiness within South Korean society.

Raphael’s recent book can be found here: http://kyobo.link/vaZR

AND HIS AMAZING TWITTER CAN BE LOCATED HERE: https://twitter.com/koryodynasty

S4.8: Candace Ming: Immediate Access, Weird Collectors, and the Necessity of Personal Time

As usual these days, I’m behind. I keep feeling like I’m going to catch up with myself and the podcast and maybe I will but it seems like life and this horrible pandemic and Other Stuff keep coming up.

But I want to reiterate that this podcast is still important to me and I am still extremely dedicated to it, even in the middle of whatever chaos is happening.
As usual, thank you for your patience and continued listening. I believe in you, these guests, and every conversation and issue that we discuss. It’s just that whole…life thing, amirite?

THAT SAID, I want to bring you an incredible conversation with an invaluable member of our archiving and preservation community, Candace Ming. When I first met them, I was so excited! To me, just hearing the name “Candace Ming” attached was legendary- they had always felt like superstar-tier. And then I got to hang out with them at an AMIA conference and it was so cool! I just felt like a million bucks!

Recording this was an absolute blast. And I really hope that you enjoy it and get as much out of it as I did. Candace is authentically one of the best humans with some GREAT things to say.

Two quick things:
-this was recorded before the elections so some of the conversation is a *wee* bit dated. This is what happens when life (my life) gets in the way of my podcast and a brilliant conversation. Again- apologies all around.
– please note that I used the pronouns “her/she” in the introduction and beginning of the show. These are not Candace’s preferred pronouns. The correct ones are they/them and those should be used going forward.

And now…Please enjoy the amazing Candace Ming on Archivist’s Alley! As usual, bio and copious links are below the podcast!

Candace Ming is the Media Conservation and Digitization Specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.  They are a graduate of NYU’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program. They have a wealth of experience as an archivist (Carnegie Hall Archives, Alaska Film Archives, Missouri History Museum) and as a film projectionist (Landmark Theaters in their native St. Louis). They are the former Project Manager/Archivist of the South Side Home Movie Project where they were responsible for digitizing and preserving all home movies donated to the SSHMP and also conducted community outreach. They are on the Board of Directors for the Center for Home Movies and the Association of Moving Image Archivists. they also serve as Secretary for the International Association of Audiovisual Archives Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.

LINKS! CHECK ‘EM OUT!!!


https://sova.si.edu/record/NMAAHC.SC.0001?s=0&n=10&t=C&q=great+migration&i=0


https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/initiatives/great-migration-home-movie-projecthttps://www.centerforhomemovies.org/


https://sshmp.uchicago.edu/https://sshmpportal.uchicago.edu/

S4.7: Ferrin Evans : Queer Loss, Marginalized Experiences and Demanding a Seat at the Table

Once again, I must apologize for the long period it has been between recording this and it going live.
I fear that the entirety of Season 4 is going to have some…bumps…in it because there were many moments in the last 6 months where I did not feel comfortable posting a new episode and having any attention taken away from a) what was going on in the news (the protests, etc) or b) lessen the wonderful words of my guests. So you’ll have to just sorta deal with the fact that some of the topics on here are a little dated but it’s interesting to consider them in light of what then occurred AFTER this conversation, for better or worse.
Whatever life is, it is far from boring….

I will also apologize for myself. I got far too excited during this podcast episode and I think I spoke over Ferrin too much and I regret that because while editing it, I realized that there was so much more I wanted to know about and wanted to ask him but I was having such a good time with the kind of energy that he exudes, even over a vocal virtual communication system that I almost forgot what we were there for.
I will have him on again and I promise to be a much better listener next time. Wow am I embarrassed! But it just goes to show Ferrin’s charisma and brilliance. What an incredible human being. I hope you all can get a feel for the groundbreaking work he is doing, the passion he has for life and living and the way he conquers his (and the) world. It’s stunning. Like him.

As usual, bio and links under the podcast!

Ferrin Evans is a Master of Information candidate at the University of Toronto.  He currently has two media archiving contracts at the university: at the Media Commons Archive and at the Sexual Representation Collection.  In the past, he has worked with the Gay Archives of Quebec, Inside Out Toronto, Toronto Queer Film Festival, Cinema Politica, and the MIX New York Queer Experimental Film Festival, where he served on the Board of Directors.  He is currently completing an oral history-centered thesis about risk, desire, and loss on Fire Island during COVID-19.

LINKS:

Article related to my most current media archival work at University of Toronto:http://sds.utoronto.ca/news/new-acquisitions-at-the-sexual-representation-collection/
SAA Community Reflection on Black Lives and Archives (June 2020):https://www.pathlms.com/saa/events/1996/video_presentations/162192
“Treat Them with the Reverence of Archivists”: Records Work, Grief Work, and Relationship Work in the Archiveshttps://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13699

S4.3: Stephany Kim: Filmmakers of Color, Daily Activism and Pushing Boundaries to Work For a Better Future

I could fill this page and 50 more with words of praise for Stephany Kim.

I miss our lunches at Musso & Frank’s. I miss our laughs and inside baseball talks about archiving, Hollywood and Korean culture.
I never thought she would come on the podcast but finally it happened and more importantly, she came on to discuss the current situation in the US with the protests and #BlackLivesMatter and systemic oppression.
This episode is a little longer than normal (please forgive us) but I think you’ll agree that we had a lot of ground to cover.

I also want to point out that since the time of our recording, three more Black men have been lynched. 5 Black men hung from trees in just a little over a week. The police want to call them suicides.
No Black person looks at a tree and thinks: yeah, that’s how I’m gonna off myself. Just like how all the white folks used to kill my ancestors way back when.
NOT A SINGLE BLACK PERSON IN EVER.
While people protest for BLM, there are calculated publicly visible murders being carried out. Yeah.

And less and less white people are paying attention to the people who are protesting because they have the added distraction of having the US opening up again for business which (inevitably) will only lead to a lot more COVID cases.

That said…Stephany and I had an amazing conversation about what education had missed in the way of POC in film, our varied local experiences of the recent BLM protests, Karen Eruptions and what the archives world is(n’t) doing.
Check it out!
And don’t miss the bio below as well as the mad amounts of links!

Stephany Kim is a Coordinator, Restoration and Preservation at The Walt Disney Studios. She received a BA in Film Studies from Smith College and a MA in English (Media Preservation) from the University of Rochester. Her film-related interests are in the history of silent film intertitles and modern day approaches to intertitle recreation, preservation of home movies and family histories of people of color in the United States, and the celebrity image and its relation to parasocial interactions during the silent film era.

Her free time is usually dedicated to Polaroid portraitures, staring at pie designs (one of her favorite Instagram accounts is @crumbcrush), and daydreaming about fluffy animals and carne asada tacos. She is overly invested in THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF even though she doesn’t bake.
Stephany was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley and is unapologetic for her Valley Girl accent and usage of Valspeak.

Links and references from the ‘cast

The racist history of tipping: https://afropunk.com/2018/04/the-racist-history-of-tipping/

Black crime fiction writers

Chester Himes: https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2017/fall/chester-himes-lonely-crusader-african-american-fiction-writer/

Walter Mosley: http://www.waltermosley.com/

Iceberg Slim: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/books/review-street-poison-the-biography-of-iceberg-slim-studies-the-life-of-a-pimp.html

Barbara Neely: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/11/814603243/remembering-barbara-neely-a-pioneer-in-crime-fiction

Here’s a full list of Black-owned bookstores to support right now:

HTTPS://WWW.TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM/LEISURE/ARTS-AND-CULTURE/G32782756/BLACK-OWNED-BOOKSTORES/

Some ways you can show up for Black Trans Folks: http://www.tgijp.org/from-words-to-action-showing-up-for-black-trans-women.html

A collection of Black-led Queer and Trans orgs to support: https://www.bustle.com/p/32-black-led-queer-trans-organizations-to-support-22959025


And finally…for those wondering about James Wong Howe…
there actually are a few books about him! Check ’em out here:

James Wong Howe, Cinematographer
by Todd Rainsberger

James Wong Howe The Camera Eye: A Career Interview
by Alain Silver