The Unmarked Grave (2019) w/ Joe Richman
This Day in Esoteric Political History
Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
4.6 • 982 Ratings
🗓️ 2 November 2023
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s November 2nd. This day in 2019, New York City began a process of opening up Hart Island to the public, after centuries of using the space to bury its unnamed dead.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Joe Richman of “Radio Diaries” to discuss the history of Hart Island and the ongoing tension between public space and private cemetery. Radio Diaries has a new series called “The Unmarked Grave: Stories from Hart Island.” Listen to it now!
Check out the Radio Diaries live event on November 9th in NYC - it’s also being livestreamed.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia. |
| 0:07.0 | My name is Jody Avergan. |
| 0:11.7 | This day, November 2019, New York City passes a bill that transfers possession of Hart Island from the Department of Corrections to the New York City Parks Department. |
| 0:22.0 | This may seem like a pretty obscure matter of jurisdiction, |
| 0:25.4 | but it actually ties into all sorts of deep questions about this island, Hart Island, |
| 0:30.3 | what it symbolizes and how it is used. |
| 0:33.0 | Hart Island is New York City's Potter's Field, the final resting place for New York's |
| 0:37.6 | unclaimed and poor going back for more than a century. |
| 0:41.7 | You may have heard of it in recent years because at the height of the |
| 0:44.7 | COVID-19 epidemic it was used to bury unclaimed victims of the pandemic. And Hart Island |
| 0:50.6 | is the subject of a new series from our radiotopia friends at Radio Diaries, the public radio show and podcast that gives voice to ordinary folks telling extraordinary stories some of the most beautiful first person audio ever made in my opinion and the new |
| 1:05.5 | series does just that it tells the stories of Heart Island and the otherwise unknown people |
| 1:10.7 | who are buried there and their families and their loved ones. |
| 1:14.2 | The series is called the unmarked grave and Joe Richmond of Radio Diaries is here as our special |
| 1:19.2 | guest, Joe. |
| 1:20.2 | Thank you so much for joining us and thank you for making this brilliant series. |
| 1:23.2 | Thank you. It was worth just for hearing that introduction. Thanks. |
| 1:26.6 | Well there you go. And in addition to Joe here as always, Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and |
| 1:31.0 | Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley. Hello there. |
| 1:33.1 | Hello Jody. |
| 1:34.1 | Hey there. |
| 1:35.1 | Joe it is no coincidence that you're on just as we are kicking off the Radiotopia |
... |
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