Before Spotify: the remarkable story of chautauquas

The Grey Lit Café

One question we explore on this podcast is that of antecedents: what came before podcasts?

This episode tells the wonderfully rich history of chautauquas - an enterprising means of bringing entertainment and informal education to small-town America. Chautauquas can be thought of as a kind of predigital Spotify.

Reference

James R. Schultz, The romance of small-town chautauquas (Univ. of Missouri Press, 2002)

Further listening

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you might particularly enjoy the following:

  • Where do podcasts come from? Letters as an antecedent
  • How to get blogging and stay blogging

Credits

  • Sound production: Bart Hallmark
  • Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra

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