Thanks for this. You are certainly right that his politics isn’t really the main dish. Terkel is a true inspiration for anyone who identifies more with the mind-boggling variety of ‘lived experience’ than the perennial surfeit of abstractions, theory and ideology avid readers are routinely subjected too. I’m no socialist but it is very telling that his detractors on the right don’t much care for his MO. And it’s funny that academics into oral history would find him deficient, as if actually getting people to read such stuff wasn’t all that important. Reading The Good War I could easily discern a lot of space between my opinions and his about the atomic bombings, for example, but that was just a small aspect of a much bigger picture. The value of such an account of the most important historical episode of the last couple centuries is immeasurable. He wasn’t the only one to sense that, but made a very solid contribution to the immense project of documenting its impact on Americans. Everything has been different ever since, and the subject is much more extensive than any grainy period film can ever do justice to. Thanks Studs. Wish you were still around.
I enjoyed this! I would say in _Working_ he did push a pretty heavy agenda though. I read another book in this vein, Gig, that was not by Terkel, and the contrast was quite striking. The latter was much more optimistic about the possibility of deriving meaning through work.
" Rita Jacobs, WFMT’s co-founder, answered the phone and said she would be glad to hire him but didn’t have any money. “I haven’t any either,” he replied, “so we’re even.” The Studs Terkel Show was broadcast five days a week for the next 45 years."
Thanks for this. You are certainly right that his politics isn’t really the main dish. Terkel is a true inspiration for anyone who identifies more with the mind-boggling variety of ‘lived experience’ than the perennial surfeit of abstractions, theory and ideology avid readers are routinely subjected too. I’m no socialist but it is very telling that his detractors on the right don’t much care for his MO. And it’s funny that academics into oral history would find him deficient, as if actually getting people to read such stuff wasn’t all that important. Reading The Good War I could easily discern a lot of space between my opinions and his about the atomic bombings, for example, but that was just a small aspect of a much bigger picture. The value of such an account of the most important historical episode of the last couple centuries is immeasurable. He wasn’t the only one to sense that, but made a very solid contribution to the immense project of documenting its impact on Americans. Everything has been different ever since, and the subject is much more extensive than any grainy period film can ever do justice to. Thanks Studs. Wish you were still around.
I enjoyed this! I would say in _Working_ he did push a pretty heavy agenda though. I read another book in this vein, Gig, that was not by Terkel, and the contrast was quite striking. The latter was much more optimistic about the possibility of deriving meaning through work.
It's probably true that his books got more political over time.
beautiful work Ash. Made me want to live in Chicago actually…
" Rita Jacobs, WFMT’s co-founder, answered the phone and said she would be glad to hire him but didn’t have any money. “I haven’t any either,” he replied, “so we’re even.” The Studs Terkel Show was broadcast five days a week for the next 45 years."
Great piece!