Building a National Radio Archive – in Hastings

The British Library’s National Radio Archive pilot is collaborative venture, involving curators, technologists and three software and data partners. The day-to-day work of managing the capture of programmes, however, is mostly done by one person, our Broadcast Recordings Curator Neil McCowlen. Here he describes what it has been like keeping…




Recording of the week: The voice of Robert Browning (1812-1889)

This week’s selection comes from Steve Cleary, Lead Curator of Literary and Creative Recordings. Above: British Library digitised image from The Poetical Works of Robert Browning (1888). Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright born in Camberwell, London. Like his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), whose great success as…




Albert Roux (1935-2021)

A tribute to Albert Roux, as told through his oral history interview.




Recording of the week: Happy New Year!

This week’s selection comes from Andrea Zarza Canova, Curator of World and Traditional Music. ‘Bonne Année’ was released on the album African Acoustic Vol.1 – Guitar Songs From Tanzania, Zambia & Zaire by record label Original Music In this recording made by John Low, three boys in their late teens…




Recording of the week: Sámi Yoik; evoking reindeer, the wind and ‘wind nose’

This week’s selection comes from Finlay McIntosh, World & Traditional Rights intern for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. Although in the UK, reindeer are associated with Christmas and winter wonderlands, for Europe’s only recognized indigenous community, the Sámi, they are a part of everyday life. A herd of reindeer at Jukkasjärvi…