New Jersey Folk Podcast

“You just always kind of meet people who are fun to ride with. That’s the beauty of the biking community!” Konrad Zawadski is a student in mechanical engineering at Rutgers who is part of the motorbike community. He takes describes the community of riders, and the art of riding that brings people into this community of people who are more than commuters.

Our producer, Heer Patel, is a student in computer science at Rutgers University. She is a commuter student herself and wanted to explore the culture of commuting and modes of transportation among other Rutgers Students.

Konrad Zawadski is a mechanical engineering student at Rutgers and an avid participant in the biking community. Find his photo blog and instagram at @thewrathofkohn.

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

“Maybe someday if I ever got the chance, I’d like to do one of these festivals myself.” Dr. Angus Gillespie shares his memories of the early beginnings of the New Jersey Folk Festival, from its inspiration and his first students, to where to site the event at the Woodlawn Mansion on the Cook Campus.

Our producer, Dani Daboll, is a student in Landscape Architecture at Rutgers. She is the Logistics and Site Management intern for the Folk Festival.

Dr. Angus Gillespie founded the New Jersey Folk Festival in 1975 on the Douglass College campus of Rutgers and ran the festival until 2019. 

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

“A love for the different ways you can cook food” is what motivates Michael Nurse, owner of Magic Mike’s Smoked Meats. NJ Folk Fest food vendor coordinator goes behind the scenes to understand what motivates one of our food vendors at the festival.

Our producer, Grace Massell, is a student in American Studies at Rutgers. She has worked as the Food Vendor Coordinator for the New Jersey Folk Festival.

Michael Nurse is the owner of Magic Mike’s Smoked Meats, a food vendor who has served at the New Jersey Folk Festival.

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

“It’s got to have diner spirit. It’s got to serve breakfast anytime. And it’s gotta have a counter with stools.” From lunch wagons to diners - the history of the diner is linked to the history of the state’s roads and transportation infrastructure. Emily Soper sits down at a diner in Freehold, NJ with author Michael Gabriele to learn about the impact of this New Jersey culinary, architecture, and transportation tradition.

Our producer, Emily Soper, is a student in Communications at Rutgers.

Michael Gabriele is the author of The History of Diners in New Jersey and is journalist and writer based in Montclair, New Jersey.

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

“Financially it doesn’t make sense to restore a car. It’s the sentimental value.” Classic car restoration is a an art, a skill, and an opportunity to restore not only engines, but customers’ most precious life moments.

Pool Sosavelapatino is a student in Human Resources Management at Rutgers. He is a native of Peru.

Ryan Mahoney is the owner of Coastal Classics, an automotive restoration shop in South Jersey.

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

 NJFF is the largest student-run folk festival in the country. It has operated out of the American Studies Department at Rutgers University New Brunswick since its founding in 1975. Since then, countless students have interned with the festival, learning valuable skills, and developing relationships with mentors and peers. The people behind the festival are what makes it so unique—the people you don’t see on the stage or on the craft path but who are indispensable pieces of this puzzle. Through this podcast episode, you will meet two of these people, a mother and daughter, both Board of Trustees members, who have spent the last few decades volunteering their time, talents, and enthusiasm to the New Jersey Folk Festival.

Gillian Dauer is a 2022 graduate of Rutgers University New Brunswick. She interned with the New Jersey Folk Festival from the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2022 in several roles.

Elena Rossi is the President of the New Jersey Folk Festival Board of Trustees, and mother to Catherine and Gabrielle Rossi. Elena has been heavily involved with the Folk Festival since her daughters served as interns, but she has been a fan of the festival since its inception in 1975. Gabrielle Rossi is a member of the Board of Trustees. She was a student intern with the festival at Rutgers from 2010 to 2014. She went on to earn a Master’s in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University, and is now a doctoral student at Rutgers-Newark in the School of Public Affairs and Administration. Gabrielle is also the founder of The Dream Project, which facilitates cross country fundraising bike rides for college students.

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

Stephanie Devito interviews Denise Hall, a soap maker, and discovers how the craft of soap making is so much more than skills, but connections to something more, connection to people and ability to solve domestic problems that today global companies control. “Soap cleanses, but detergent destroys."

Stephanie Devito is a Writer & Theater Professional dedicated to storytelling of all kinds. As a Community Producer for the NJ Folk Festival, Stephanie set out to share the talents of her community in the Society for Creative Anachronism. A recreational, historical reenactment club, participants of the SCA engage in a variety of arts and sciences from the medieval era. Being part of such an industrious, and creative group has encouraged Stephanie to discover the history behind our everyday objects and consider how even the simplest of things have lived extraordinary lives.

Denise Hall is a stay at home mom of two with a deep need to create. She cares about the planet and what she and her family consumes. Denise finds inspiration for her products in her daily life, especially when it comes to caring for the needs of her skin in pregnancy or in Winter.

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

Nelson Baez is an Afro-Puerto Rican bomba and plena folk artist and master percussionist based in Central New Jersey. For the last 15 years, he’s spent much of his time playing with his group Cimarrones and teaching this bomba to youth through school programs. In this episode, Nelson discusses the significance that bomba had on his life and why it’s so important to continue passing it down to youth

The producer of this episode, Madeline Lora, is an arts administrator serving the Folklife Center of Northern NJ and the Middlesex Arts Institute. She’s a first generation Dominican-American from Paterson, NJ, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Politlcal Science from William Paterson University.

Our interviewee, Nelson Baez, is the director of bomba and plena group Cimarrones, is an Afro-Puerto Rican folk artist and master percussionist based in Central New Jersey.

For more information about the New Jersey Folk Festival 2023 please visit our website at: https://www.njfolkfest.org/ or join us on our social media pages linked below!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/njfolkfest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NJFolkFestival/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/njfolkfest

#afropuertorican #bombayplena #puertoricanpride #boriken #boricua #africanancestry #culturalidentity #criticalracetheory

Ylvia Asal is the owner of Anatolia Art and Craft Studio, a business where she teaches textile arts like lace making, knitting, and embroidery. Ylvia is a businesswoman with a degree in accounting and discusses not only the deep heritage of her art forms, but the challenges of keeping her business afloat through the pandemic. 

Episode by Emma Duensing

Teresa Vivar is the Executive Director of the Latino arts and advocacy organization Lazos America Unida in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She organizes a local celebration of the festival of Guelaguetza, an annual event in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico which celebrates the diverse contributions of different ethnic and indigenous communities in Oaxaca through song and dance. Teresa explains what the performance means to immigrants in the United States who are keeping alive the traditions of their homeland. 

Podcast by Maria Kennedy

Interview with Teresa Vivar

With thanks to Lazos America Unida https://lazosamericaunida.org/

In this episode, Lourdes and Estela Rojas are highlighted and honored for their dedication to paying homage to the Oaxacan community and identity. The purpose of the podcast is to bring light to the hands behind the build-up and how they do what they do.

Written and Produced By: Jessica Leguizamon

Featuring Interviews With:

Lourdes and Estela, Dr. Carlos Fernandez

With Thanks to: Help from Blake Merwin and Walker Perry

Music: Artur Sky - Mexican Music

Cesaria Evora - Amro di Mundo

Classical New Age Piano Music - Spring Waltz

This episode follows two interviews with practitioners of Indian classical cance who have followed very different paths to an appreciation of the techniques, meanings, and experiences of the art form. Kinga Malec is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher specializing in Kathak. She grew up with a strong love of dance, partaking in Polish folk dance and dabbling in ballet, as well as training professionally in figure skating. But her discovery of Kathak compelled a series of journeys, from India to the world stage. Anuradha Nehru is the artistic director of Kalanidhi, a Kuchipudi dance company based in DC known for its elite standards and professional large-scope productions that it has taken across many stages, from the Library of Congress to the Lincoln Center.

Episode by Laliltha Vallabhaneni

Interviews with Kinda Malex and Anuradha Nehru

Anthony Mendia is a community organizer who grew up in the New Brunswick Oaxacan community. As a Rutgers alum, Tony offers a unique perspective on what it was like to grow up next to New Jersey’s State University and the challenges facing first-generation students.

---

Written and Produced By: Gillian Dauer

Featuring Interviews With: Anthony Mendia

With Thanks to: Dr. Maria Kennedy, Blake Lew-Merwin, and Walker Perry

Music: freesounds.org -- Ambience, Children Playing, Distant, A by InspectorJ; Emotional Piano by tictac9; Soft Piano Loop #1 by ispeakwaves; traffic horns city nervous busy by klankbeeld; Hubbub - Red Lion Cafe by stereoscenic

The Copalli Collective is a business run by artists Danny Teppi and Gabriela Bahena. Together, they purchase arts and crafts from artisans in Mexico to sell in their New York - based shop. Danny and Gabriela tell us how they've grown their business and why their close relationships with artisans matters in an international economy that often overlooks the contributions and value of small family-run craft businesses.

Episode Credits

Interviewer: Celia Sanchez Bachman

Sound Engineer: Zach Voelbel and Celia Sanchez Bachman

Interviewees: Gabriela Bahena, Danny Teppi, Juan Aguirre

Music Used

Track Name: Morenita, uploaded by Texas Music Forge on freesound.com

This podcast episode uncovers Renaissance man and activist Paul Robeson’s musical performances while attending Rutgers in the early 20th century.  Using the Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives we will discuss Robeson’s experiences at Rutgers and how they reflect upon his legacy and his life after graduating. The episode uses Paul Robeson’s life as a vehicle to understand the Rutgers archives and their importance to the community, and in connecting the past to the present.

---

Podcast by Ray Bess

Interview with Erika Gorder

Special thanks to Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives, The Paul Robeson House & Museum, The Paul Robeson Cultural Center, The Paul Robeson Collection, Erika Gorder, Anthony Fatovic, Jaclyn Fanelli, William Westerman, and James Malchow,