Oral Histories

Given the number of them out there, I thought we could use a thread where y'all could post ones you particularly enjoyed.

I'll start with this one.

‘Animal House’ Oral History: From Richard Pryor to a Real Melee

 

Generally the best ones are the ones that offer conflicting versions of events.

 

Well, my first was when I was 16...

On topic: Live from New York was certainly a great read in 2004 or whenever.

 

Oral history has a long tradition, but has been wrung pretty well out by pop culture.

Certainly in the age of Grantland and Deadspin it became a kind of crutch. A device that saves the writer the time and trouble of actually writing something.

So, having told you all to get off my lawn, I'll recommend a couple of the old school greats.

Studs Terkel, "Working" and "Hard Times" and "The Good War" and "Division Street" and on and on and on. You can find a lot of the material here: The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive | A Living Celebration

Ditto Svetlana Alexievich - "Voices from Chernobyl," etc. - who just won the Nobel Prize.

 

Bill Simmons must be pissed this isn't on his site:

Behind the scenes of the original Karate Kid movie

 

This is a really good one on the 50th anniversary of the Ice Bowl. I think it won an APSE award:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/spor...cowboys-1967-nfl-championship-game/962212001/

And as Dan noted, it's better because there are conflicting views. Center Ken Bowman whines about Jerry Kramer getting all the credit for the block that sprung Starr on the QB sneak; Kramer says he doesn't remember Bowman making contact with Dallas lineman Jethro Pugh.

 

This thread already is gold.

 

On one hand, I agree with this criticism and have seen many half-baked ones, which are often confusing unless you have a lot of background knowledge of topic to start. On the other hand, even poorly done, oral histories are often more entertaining than an actual story would be.

 

This one, on the Humboldt Broncos tragedy, is very good:

The Humboldt Broncos tragedy: an oral history

 

I still wish VH-I would reprise Behind the Music. That was great and prompted me to read enjoyable memoirs and biographies that I otherwise would not have encountered, such as “The Dirt” by Motley Crue.

 

Going back 25 years or so, "Loose Balls" by Terry Pluto on the ABA. Great format. Eventually became the 30-for-30 on the Spirits of St Louis.

 

Monica Lewinsky, now she has a good oral history.