WNYC's Chief Concert Engineer Edward Haber recorded Richie Havens for WNYC and had this recollection.

During World War II, rationing became not only accepted, but a symbol of patriotism for most Americans. Listen to Oscar Brand in this never-broadcast documentary on how the government —and WNYC— helped foster that sentiment.

The broadcast above comes from a rare shellac radio transcription disc dated March 26, 1933. The program, The News Parade, consists of several news stories, including the one above dramatizing the Nazi persecution of Jews. It's particularly notable since Adolph Hitler had only become German Chancellor on January 30th, less than two months earlier. 

In the 1980s, WQXR's This is My Music featured at least 20 famous folks (from politicians to fashion models) who included a Bach piece in their all time top 4 musical pieces.

In March, 1972, reporter Eleanor Fischer interviewed Congresswoman Bella Abzug as she was fighting to hold on to her congressional district in Manhattan encompassing, in part, the Battery, the Lower East Side, Little Italy, Chinatown, Greenwich Village and Chelsea. Representative Abzug talks about this effort to marginalize her. She also calls for pulling U.S. troops out of Vietnam, endorses Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm's campaign for the Presidency and (there may be some debate over it) lays claim to starting the honorific "Ms."

Marcus Garvey, the promoter of Pan-Africanism and black pride, had a vision of economic independence for his people. Those who followed him were called Garveyites. He was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, (UNIA) the single largest black organization ever. In the 1920s and 30s, the UNIA had an estimated six million followers around the world.

Hall-of-famer Monte Irvin talks about his time in baseball during a round table discussion led by host Walter James Miller.

It was the Great Depression. Nine young black men were hoboing, riding a freight train to Memphis, Tennessee in search of work, but their ride was cut short. At Scottsboro, Alabama the police hauled them off the train: the young men, ages 13 to 21, were accused of raping two white women who were on the train. For black men in the 1930s in the Deep South, such a charge could be fatal. Like so many others who had died by trial or lynching, the Scottsboro Boys (as they came to be called) were falsely accused, a fact that meant almost nothing. In March, 1931 eight of them were sentenced to death, while the fate of the ninth, 13-year-old Roy Wright, hovered dangerously close to life in prison before ending in a mistrial.

In this episode of New York Considered, hear excerpts from New York City Mayor Ed Koch's community meeting in Jackson Heights. The Mayor speaks about issues concerning the city, with particular emphasis on Queens: immigration, housing, street safety, transportation.

New York Considered was a public affairs series produced by Marty Goldensohn and Peter Freyberg.

In 1961, a radio reporter named Eleanor Fischer spoke to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for a CBC called Project 62. As far as we know, these unedited interviews have never been presented in their entirety until now.

What were the signs and symptoms of influenza in 1951? Join Dr. Naltoney to find out.

Patricia Marx interviews Danny Kaye about humor, accents, and music.

Sol Yurick discusses his novel The Warriors and its film adaptation.

Congressman Edward I. Koch speaks on a telephone interview about rent control, including an upcoming rally.

In this 1978 episode of Reader's Almanac, host Jack Sullivan interviews Richard Price, 28, on the publication of his third novel, Ladies’ Man.

In newly recovered audio from our collections, Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses a Books and Authors Luncheon audience. Historian David Pietrusza weighs in on the surviving audio from the Nov 23, 1948 speech.

Host Steve Sullivan brings legendary jazz drummer Pete La Roca onto Around New York for an interview about a life and career in jazz. 

In this 1959 episode of Recordings, E.T.C., Host Edward Tatnall Canby presents the "voices" of two canonical storytellers: Mark Twain and Hans Christian Andersen. Neither Twain nor Andersen is actually featured on these recordings, but Canby delights in the authenticity of Hal Holbrook's portrayal of Twain and Boris Karloff's readings of Andersen's tales.

Longtime New York Public Radio engineer Jim Stagnito, a.k.a. Stag, bid the station farewell last week.