California Humanities is delighted to celebrate a major milestone for one of our grantee partners. The People’s Recorder podcast—produced by Spark Media—has been awarded a Silver Signal Award in the History Category, recognizing the series’ excellence in bringing overlooked stories of 1930s America to life.
The Signal Awards honor groundbreaking audio storytelling across the world, and this year’s judging panel selected The People’s Recorder for its compelling research, creative sound design, and vivid approach to historical narrative. The series explores the voices and lived experiences captured through New Deal–era Federal Writers’ Project interviews, offering a powerful window into everyday Americans’ struggles, resilience, and imagination during a defining era of U.S. history.
California Humanities supported the development of The People’s Recorder through our grantmaking, alongside several other state humanities councils, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and cultural partners across the country. This recognition highlights the collective impact that humanities funding can have on amplifying the stories that shape our shared past—and informing conversations about the present.
“We are truly honored to be recognized,” shared James Mirabello, one of the producers on The People’s Recorder. “This podcast would not have been possible without the early support of state humanities organizations like California Humanities that are committed to preserving voices in danger of being lost and to showing how our past is still relevant to Americans today.”
Listeners can explore the award-winning series on major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Learn more: peoplesrecorder.info
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/@peoplesrecorder The People’s Recorder is also available on Patreon, where subscribers can get exclusive access to extended interviews, bonus episodes, and upcoming Ask Me Anything events. Learn more at www.patreon.com/peoplesrecorder
As Spark Media continues to work on future episodes, we congratulate the entire team on this well-deserved honor and look forward to watching this project continue to grow.
