Metropolitan Library System Podcast

Ever wonder what a makerspace is or what you can do in one? Lindsay, Nell, Reagan, and Alex from the Metropolitan Library System's makerspaces talk about the many things you can do in our wonderful makerspaces, and about the upcoming MakerFest program at the Belle Isle branch.

April is poetry month, so on this month's podcast we talked to Betty Blanks, author of Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel. Miss McDaniel was an Oklahoma born poet that moved to California during the Great Depression, but never stopped writing about her home in Oklahoma. Betty Blanks was kind enough to talk to us about her new biography of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel and her work.

Did you know that March is craft month, or that the library offers lots of programs teaching different crafts? On this month's podcast we talk about some of the resources you can use through the library to help learn how to do a wide variety of crafts.

Erin Brown from the Oklahoma Territorial Museum tells us the stories of Oklahoma's first African-American territorial legislator Green Currin, and Oklahoma's first State Legistlator A.C. Hamlin.

Kristine from the library's Collection Development department talks about some of the new books we'll be getting in 2025.

Looking for something interesting and different to read during the upcoming holiday season? Librarians Lindsay, Maddie, Reagan, and Tyler share some recommendations from the library's collection of Christmas and winter related horror and mystery novels, graphic novels, and novellas.

Did you know that Bethany has a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian coming soon? Librarian Anna from the Bethany Library tells us all about the Smithsonian's exhibit "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" coming to the library, the upcoming festivities surrounding the exhibit, and a few interesting facts about the history of voting and democracy in Oklahoma.

Local author and expert in all things haunted in the state of Oklahoma Jeff Provine talks with us about his top five favorite haunted places around the state. If you'd like to learn more about Jeff's books or take one of his ghost tours, you can find him at http://www.jeffprovine.com/  

In this month's podcast Oscar Hokeah talks with us about his PEN/Hemingway Award winning novel, Calling For A Blanket Dance. 

Did you know there's a Museum of Telephone History in Oklahoma City? What about the Pigeon Museum? In this month's podcast, self-proclaimed museum nerd Meg from the library's Special Collections Departments tells us about some of the many interesting and unique museums in Oklahoma City that she's visited. If you'd like to hear more about interesting places around the city and around the state, check out Meg's podcast, OK By Me, also made available by the Metropolitan Library System. https://okbyme.libsyn.com/   

July is Parks and Recreation month, so we thought it might be fun to make book recommendations based on some of our favorite characters from the show Parks and Recreation. As always, if you want to check out any of our recommendations, you can find them on the library's catalog. https://catalog.metrolibrary.org/?browseCategory=staff_picks  And if you'd like to find out which Parks and Rec character is most like you, feel free to take the quiz below. https://www.buzzfeed.com/angelicaamartinez/parks-and-rec-personality-quiz

Did you know that many of the people involved in getting Americans into outer space were from Oklahoma? In this month's episode Special Collections librarian Jennifer Green talks with us about some of the many Oklahomans involved in the early days of the space race, both behind the scenes and in the shuttle. 

In honor of the library's upcoming author visit on June 23, librarians Meg and Scott discuss the works of award winning author TJ Klune. Klune's works include the best seller, The House In The Cerulean Sea, The Greencreek series, The Extraordinaries series, and many more. If you'd like to listen to more of Scott's book reviews, you can find them on his podcast, Unsolicited Book Reviews.  

In this month's episode we talk about what makes us pick up a book in the first place, some of our favorite book covers, and the books behind those covers.

April is poetry month, so on this month's podcast we're joined by poets Durell Carter and Yoko Hill to talk about their organization, Red Dirt Poetry, and the wealth of talented poets currently writing in Oklahoma.

On this month's episode we talk about some of the books and movies available at the library by and about women, many of them about women with interesting Oklahoma ties. 

In this month's episode, some of the librarians from the Metropolitan Library System's Special Collections team talk to us about the library's John Dunning III Collection, a collection of thousands of Oklahoma City items housed in the library's archive.  If you'd like to learn more about what is in the collection, you can contact the Special Collections department at special.collections@metrolibrary.org, and you can find any of the items in the collection that have been made available for viewing online at https://www.metrolibrary.org/archive

In this episode we talk about some of our favorite things that came to the library in 2023.

Over 70 years ago in Oklahoma City a fight promoter/state legislator named Red Andrews started inviting people to an annual Christmas dinner that has gone on every year since, and has grown to a crowd of nearly 6,000 people annually. In this episode of the podcast Mary Blankenship-Pointer from the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner foundation talks with us about who Red Andrews was, and the history of this Oklahoma City Christmas tradition.

On this month's episode we talk about our favorite cookbooks available for check out from the library just in time for all of those family holiday get togethers coming up.

With Banned Books Week coming up, we talked with Janeal and Melissa from the library's Collection Development department about book challenges and how the library handles them.

In this month's podcast librarians Sheldon and Juliana discuss what part of America Oklahoma belongs to. Is Oklahoma in the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, or do we need to be made into our own region with Texas? We'll examine history, geography, and of course food to see what area is the Sooner state best represents.

On this month's podcast librarians Annika, Kimberly, and Danielle talk about the library's upcomind Litfest, and share some of their favorite resources for writers.

Librarian Lisa from the Metropolitan Library System's Special Collections department talks about the postcard collection in the library's archive, and shares what they tell us about Oklahomans throughout the state's history. 

On this month's episode Kristin, Emily, and Kimberly talk about one of the library's biggest events and longest running traditions, the library's summer reading program.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Bricktown Ballpark, we sat down with the Oklahoma City Dodgers' Alex Freedman and talked about the history of baseball in Bricktown.

Did you know the Metropolita Library System's libraris have a whole collection made up just of graphic novels? On this episode of the Metro Library Podcast librarians Kimberly and Kristine talk about some of their favorite things in the graphic novel collection.

In this month's episode Suzette Chang talks about the history of Oklahoma's All-Black Towns.

On this month's episode Meg, Josh, and Corey talk about some of their staff picks for best fiction, poetry, and movies available from the library that came out in 2022.

Historian Dale Ingram tells the story of an often forgotten and sometimes controversial Oklahoma vaudeville star named Ruby Darby.

In this month's podcast we talk about some of the resources the library has to offer for Native American Heritage Month.

In this episode Chantry and Lisa from the Overholser Mansion talk about the Overholser family and their contribution to early Oklahoma City.

Librarians Gloria and Lupita talk about library resources and events celebrating Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month.

In this episode we talk about all kinds of things invented in the Great State of Oklahoma!

Ever wonder what the whole K-Pop phenomenon is all about? Listen as librarians Kimberly, Anna, Mary, and Gloria talk about all things K-Pop and all of the K-Pop related resources the library has to offer.

In this episode historian Erin Brown tells us the history of Oklahoma's state flags.

This month we're starting a new segment on our podcast where librarians share their vast knowledge of library resources. Since May is Mental Health Month, we're talking about some of the library's mental health resources. But don't worry if you're looking for more Oklahoma history, that'll be coming right up next month!

In 1964 Oklahoma City was bombarded with sonic booms everyday for months. Ted Hopkins, one of the pilots that flew the jet that created the booms, talks about the sonic boom tests and what it was like to fly over OKC at the speed of sound.

Archivist Scott Grimwood talks about the history of the first hospital in Oklahoma Territory, St. Anthony. If you'd like to contact Mr. Grimwood about more St. Anthony history you can reach him at scott.grimwood@ssmhealth.com 

In this podcast we discuss the little known story of the murder trial of Dr. Richard Thacker.

Historian Michael Williams joins us to tell the story of outlaw/sideshow attraction/mummy Elmer McCurdy.

Historian Michael Williams tells the story of journalist and nature lover Frederick S. Barde.

In this month's podcast historian James Gregory tells the story of Oklahoma vaudeville star Cora Youngblood Corson. It's a tale of tubas, cultural appropriation, and entertainment in vaudeville's heyday. 

When most of us think of witch killings we think of Salem in the 1600s, but did you know that the last witch killings in America were in Oklahoma? Historian John Truden talks with us about Solomon Hotema and the 1899 witch killings in Choctaw country. If think the podcast is interesting and you'd like to learn more Choctaw history, you can visit https://hinahanta.choctawnation.com

Sitting between two sundown towns in Oklahoma, the Threatt Filling Station was a safe haven for African American travelers on Route 66 during the time of Jim Crow. Cousins Charles and Ed Threatt talk about the filling station and its importance to our state's history.

Historian Erin Brown from the Oklahoma Territorial Museum discusses the lives of two women involved in early Oklahoma politics, writer of the state constitution May Peebles, and the first woman elected to state office, Kate Barnard.

Since Halloween is coming up, we decided to get a little creepy and look at some of the famous final resting places of Oklahomans, both in and out of Oklahoma. Historian Dale Ingram talks with us about the graves of Will Rogers, Woody Guthrie, and more.

Historian John Truden talks about the American Indian Movement and its history in Oklahoma. For more information  you can read Mr. Truden's article on the topic here https://newprairiepress.org/ojrrp/vol15/iss3/1/

Freedom Oklahoma's Allie Shin and City Councilperson James Cooper talk about the history of the LGBTQ+ community in Oklahoma City and the city's Pride celebration.

In this month's podcast we hear the story of the arrest of Oklahoma City gay rights activist Paul Thompson and his fight in court.

For the third interview in our series about the history of the Oklahoma City National Memorial we talked with bombing survivor Richard Williams. Mr. Williams served many roles in the creation of the memorial over the years following the bombing. He spoke with us about what it was like working toward creating and eventually opening the memorial.