A contemporary past: the archival podcast of The Big Family

Records, audiocassettes, tapes, files. Fragments of past sound that remind us of the shortcomings of our present. In the 1950s a New York radio station began broadcasting The Big Family, a program for Italian Americans sponsored by a canned tomato company. It was enough to send ten labels as proof of purchase and Giuliano Gerbi would leave with a recorder to
collect greetings from relatives in Italy, from Basilicata to Cadore. From the voices etched on vinyl, Cristiano Barducci has constructed a frame of memories that speak more of our contemporary loneliness than of the nostalgia of that time.

Speakers
Cristiano Barducci – author of audio and video documentaries. Among the awards he won L’anello debole di Capodarco with La Morte Secondo Cristina.
Jonathan Zenti – podcaster and author of audio documentaries. He writes in Internazionale for the Sounds section.
Alexandra Genzini – audio editor and audio producer. She works in the editorial team of RaiPlay Sound and is part of the audio collective Panothi.