Broomology (BROOMS) with Cate O’Connell-Richards
Whisks and witches. Bristles and Shakers. Potions and prisons. From making brooms to jumping them, teacher, author, broomsquire, and Broomologist Cate O'Connell Richards gives us the overlooked history of how that broom got in your garage. So light a candle and tuck in for fibers, harvests, how-tos, angel wings, hawktails, besoms, labor laws, Broomcorn Johnnies, utopic communes, wedding traditions, oral histories, care tips and how everything is more interesting with context. Even brooms. Content warning as requested by the guest: when we talk about history, especially witches, there may be mentions of violence, death or sexuality.
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Visit Cate’s website and store and follow them on Instagram
A donation went to Prison Arts Collective
Links to things we discussed:
“The Open Door” William Henry Fox Talbot
Gorgeous photo: Ilse Bing, Street Cleaner's Broom, Paris, 1952
Video: Taking the broom challenge
Sorghum and health: An overview of potential protective health effects
Benjamin Franklin’s “Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress” (1745)
Arcola, Illinois Broomcorn Festival
ACLU report: Captive Labor Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers
Painting: The Gleaners
“A Precarious Living”: Basket Making and Related Crafts Among New England Indians
Made in America: The Products of U.S. Prison Labor Are All Around Us
From Fighting Wildfires to Digging Graves, Incarcerated Workers Face Danger on the Job
From Fighting Wildfires to Digging Graves, Incarcerated Workers Face Danger on the Job
Chapter 17 - Sorghum and millets
Street Cleaner's Broom, Paris, 1952
The Best Broom, Dustpan, and Dust Mop
Amina Haswell of Prairie Breeze Folk Arts on Instagram: @prairiebreezefolkarts
Nam Joti of Blue Cypress Botanicals on Instagram: @bluecypressbotanicals
Jasmine Best on Instagram: @jasminebestart
Book: Jumping the Broom: The Surprising Multicultural Origins of a Black Wedding Ritual
Book: Swept Away: The Vanishing Art of Broom Making
Book: The Handmade Broom
Book: Buy a Besom Broom: The Story of a Broom (out of print)
Book: New York State Museum Handbook 15: The Community Industries of the Shakers
Book: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation
Other episodes you may enjoy:
Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love
Canistrumology (BASKET WEAVING)
Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT)
Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS)
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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee
Managing Director: Susan Hale
Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth
Transcripts by Aveline Malek
Website by Kelly R. Dwyer
Theme song by Nick Thorburn
