Public Song Project 2026 Radio Special

The Public Song Project presents An Odyssey in the Public Domain!

Hear the 2026 winners of the Public Song Project discuss their songs alongside more submissions to this year's project in a journey through the public domain.

Starring the 2026 Winners of the Public Song Project

• Lila Bloom and Devon Yesberger for their cover of "Blues Skies" by (Irving Berlin, 1926) [begins at 7:10]
• Gabrielle and Dexter-Marie for "Now You Know," their remix of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (recorded by Marian Anderson, 1925) [begins at 16:40]
• Sammy Mellman for "The Old Ball Game," his adaptation of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, 1908) [begins at 28:00]

Featuring

• Nick Offerman (actor, author, woodworker) as the Bard
• Jennifer Jenkins (Director of Duke University's Center for the Study of the Public Domain) as Athena
• Brewster Kahle (founder of the Internet Archive) as the Librarian (an Alcinous type, let's say)
• Simon Close (producer of the Public Song Project) as Nobody

The Crew

Mixed by Amber Bruce

Produced and edited by Simon Close

Music Credits

The soundtrack to the public domain odyssey was provided in large part by submissions to the Public Song Project. Their submitters are credited here, roughly in order:

Act 1

Invocation of the Muse/Poetry Shipwreck:

• The Astronaut Earth: The Ocean Liner (a bridge in increments) [The Lost World, Harry O. Hoyt, 1925]
• Joey Curtin: Wade in the Water [Wade in the Water, spiritual first published 1901]
• Clare Steffen: The Water is Wide [The Water is Wide, traditional published 1906]
• Giles Boothe: The Water is Wide [The Water is Wide, traditional published 1906]
• Hallie Spoor: Shenandoah [Shenandoah, folk song first published 19th century]
• Vania Junco: Pas de deux [The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act II: No. 14a, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1892]
• Leslie Lancaster: Physica ["Physica" from Schriften by Hildegard of Bingen, 1158 (German translation 1922)]
• Luke Hamerton: The Poet [The Poet, Aleister Crowley, 1907 (recorded 1920)]

Act 2

Re-Invocation

• Tommy Mackay: Aeolus [Ulysses, James Joyce, 1924]
• Martin Tugade: On First Looking into Keats' Chapman's Homer [On First Looking into Chapman's Homer, John Keats, 1816]
• Spiritual Conspiracy: Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen [Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, spiritual recorded by Marian Anderson, 1925]

A Man's Own Country (250 Theme)

• Syante: Pioneers [The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863; The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson (primary author), 1776]
• Ang Buxton: March of the Womxn [The March of the Women, Ethel Smyth, 1911]
• Liz Wojtal: Our America the Beautiful [America the Beautiful, Katherine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward, written 19th century published 1910]
• Miguel Ayala: Ball Out to the Take Me Game [Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, 1908]
• Kallisti Bangaru-Brown: Georgia On My Mind [Georgia On My Mind, Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, 1930]
• treya lam: Colossus [The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus, 1883]

Act 3

Re-Invocation (Reprise)

• Bruce Gordon: A rhyme [a Rhyme about an Electrical Advertising Sign, Vachel Lindsay, 1928]

(Digital) Library of Alexandria

• My Country of Illusion: Long Distance [Long Distance, 1941]
• Leslie Lancaster: Physica ["Physica" from Schriften by Hildegard of Bingen, 1158 (German translation 1922)]

Nostos (Homecoming)

• Louis Apollon: My People [The Weary Blues, Langston Hughes, 1926]
• the_eternal_paradox: The Old Beloved Home [Columbia, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, 1859]
• Emily Bengels: The Little Nation That Could [The Little Engine That Could et al, Watty Piper, 1930]
• Sam Thacker: Sunshine (Wind in the Willows Theme) [Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame, 1908]
• Allie Chip: Grandfather's Love [Grandfather's Love, Sara Teasdale, 1911]
• The Mandoleers: Ger-Ma-Nee [Ger-Ma-Nee, A.J. Weidt, 1914]
• Thomas Feng: Ruins of Balbaak [Ruins of Balbaak, Alexander Maloof, 1917]
• Tom Malcolm and Michael Goldring: Onward I Go! [L'Elisir d'Amore, Gaetano Donizetti, 1832]
• John Miksza: After You've Gone [After You've Gone, Turner Layton and Henry Creamer, 1918]
• Louie Zong: Ain't Misbehavin' [Ain't Misbehavin', Fats Waller, 1929]
• Marquis Dawkins (EmKō): [Ain't Misbehavin', Fats Waller, 1929]
• Kallisti Bangaru-Brown: Georgia On My Mind [Georgia On My Mind, Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, 1930]
• Oliver Demers: Dry Bones [Dry Bones, folk song recorded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford published 1929]
• Ivy Something: Recovery Music for Hearts [Nocturne in B Flat, Ignace Jan Paderewski, 1922]

*Voiced Notes submitted by:

• Mike Agranoff
• Vitaliy Shtapura
• Martha Elizabeth Miller
• David Tane
• Thomas Feng
• Vania Junco
• Kallisti Bangaru-Brown
• Louie Zong
• Emko
• Martin Tugade
• Allie Chip
• Danny Brownridge
• Ivy Something

Chorus of voices: Hanna Seabright, Matt Gutierrez, Eli Bass, Maddie Bustamante, Kousha Navidar, Elise Navidar, David Gebel, Mona Madgavkar, Juliana Fonda, Lulu Miller

Sounds Provided by Tony Schwartz

Many thanks to Tony Schwartz, a onetime WNYC employee and true audio hero. His legacy provided the soundscape for so much of this public domain odyssey.

The Tony Schwartz collection, held by the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center at the Library of Congress, includes motion picture materials, sound recordings, and personal papers documenting the life and work of this unique and innovative individual who changed the face of electronic media. Perhaps best known for the “Daisy” television advertisement, made for Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 presidential campaign, he also hosted regular radio programs on stations WNYC and WBAI, and pioneered in the field of soundscape recordings. These soundscapes can be heard on several LP releases for Folkways and Columbia, and are best exemplified by Columbia’s "New York Taxi Driver" which includes sounds of New York traffic, car horns, taxi meters, and snippets of interviews with drivers. (From the Library of Congress)

Sounds provided by this collection:

• The Fair Use Aegis is the sound of Tony Schwartz's answering machine! Hear for yourself: Tony Schwartz answering machine outgoing message
• The organ during Jennifer Jenkins's appearance: Virgil Fox/organ : reel 2, 1963-02-12
• Birds, rain, children playing, and more: Listening game #2; Loops (open); Games and play; Night, 1963-02

(My gratitude to Citizen DJ for ease of access to these archives: Citizen DJ Project, Tony Schwartz Collection at the Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Other Sounds of the Public Domain

Shipwrecked Poets:

• Homer, The Odyssey
• Walt Whitman, "O Captain! My Captain!"
• Herman Melville, Moby Dick
• Langston Hughes, "Sea Calm"
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• John Masefield, "Sea-Fever"
• James Joyce, Ulysses
• Sara Teasdale, "Sea Longing"

Act 1

• Happy Birds Waltz [Eduard Holst and C.T. Steele, 1897, recorded by Joseph Belmont and Victor Orchestra, 1905]
• Various organ pieces [Virgil Fox, recorded by Tony Schwartz, 1963]

[The following under the Aegis of Fair Use]

• Oraison [Olivier Messiaen, 1937]
• Blackbird [The Beatles, 1968, performed by New York Vocal Collective]
• The Rip [Portishead, 2008]

Act 2

• Deep River [spiritual arranged by Henry Burleigh 1916, recorded by Marian Anderson 1923]
• Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen [spiritual recorded by Marian Anderson, 1925]
• America the Beautiful [Katherine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward, written 19th century published 1910, recorded by Shannon Quartet, 1924]
• Take Me Out to the Ballgame [Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, recorded by Haydn Quartet, 1908]
• The Swan [Camille Saint-Saëns, 1922, performed badly by Simon Close]

Act 3

• Home Again Blues [Irving Berlin and Harry Akst, recorded by Original Dixieland Jazz Band, 1921]