
1. A Big Listening Project
1. A Big Listening Project
1. A Big Listening Project
1. A Big Listening Project
10. A Creative Incubator
Episode Summary
In the 1930s, the notion of making an incubator for creativity in a region devastated by the Great Depression got tested in Nebraska. This episode looks at what happened there when the Writers’ Project came to town, through a group of creatives from contrasting backgrounds, including a hobo, a nurse and a hardware store poet - all under the watchful eye of a university professor and a celebrated novelist.
Starting from chaos, they ignited a surprising alchemy and made the Lincoln office one of the most productive Writers' Project hubs in the country. The Season 1 finale listens in as Americans face war clouds on the horizon, and a national radio show asks, “Can we count on youth to uphold the American Way?”

Speakers
Marilyn Holt, historian
James Reidel, biographer and poet
Stephen Cloyd, librarian and historian
Douglas Brinkley, historian
Links and Resources
Rudolph Umland and the Federal Writers' Project
The Nebraska Writers' Project: Lincoln City Libraries
Mari Sandoz and the Writers' Project
Weldon Kees reads his poem, "1926"
WPA Guide to Nebraska, from University of Nebraska (Free PDF)
Further Reading
Vanished Act: The Life and Art of Weldon Kees by James Reidel
Nebraska During the New Deal by Marilyn Irvin Holt
Soul of a People by David A. Taylor
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
The Collected Poems of Weldon Kees, edited by Donald Justice
Crazy Horse, by Mari Sandoz
Credits
Hosted by: Chris Haley
Directed by: Andrea Kalin
Producers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor and James Mirabello
Writer: David A. Taylor
Editor: Ethan Oser
Assistant Editor: Amy Young
Story Editing: Michael May
Additional voices provided by:
Jared Buggage, Sam Hanks, JoJo Drake Kalin, Antonio Macias, James Mirabello, Mariko Miyazaki, Kate Rafter and Sarah Smack
Featuring music and archival material from:
Aaron Copland
Alexandria Symphony Orchestra
Joseph Vitarelli
Bradford Ellis
Mike Sayre
Ceiri Torjussen
Pond5
Library of Congress
National Archives and Records Administration
New York Public Radio Archives Collection
Nebraska Public Media
Produced with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Humanities Nebraska