Cloister Talk, Season 3: A Love Letter to the Philadelphia Region’s Special Collections Libraries and Museums

Samuel Castner, Jr. (1843-1929), compiler. Views of the various buildings of the Library Company of Philadelphia (“Franklin Library in 1800, and five others”), Castner Scrapbook v.17, Education 1, page 30, A917.481 P536 v.17. Free Library of Philadelphia Rare Book Department.

The upcoming season of Cloister Talk: The Pennsylvania German Material Texts Podcast will bring listeners behind the scenes into some of Philadelphia’s most spectacular libraries and museums.

The third season of Cloister Talk: The Pennsylvania German Material Texts Podcast debuts at 8 a.m. EDT on Monday, May 3, 2021, with a roster of ten thought-provoking new episodes designed to give listeners unique glimpses into the inner workings of some of the Philadelphia region’s most spectacular and historically significant special collections libraries and museums.  Launched in anticipation of the publication of an affordable, paperback version of The Word in the Wilderness: Popular Piety and the Manuscript Arts in Early Pennsylvania in mid-June, the third season will introduce listeners to several of the main repositories whose collections supported the new analyses put forward in the book. 

In a first for Cloister Talk, most episodes during the season are interview-based.  Series host Dr. Alexander Lawrence Ames will interview respected curators, librarians, and scholars at various regional collections repositories to gather their insights on the field of Pennsylvania German studies and the wider worlds of museums, libraries, and special collections work today.  In fact, podcast episodes this season have been rechristened Cloister Talk Live! to reflect this dynamic new episode format. Upcoming episodes include:

Cloister Talk Live!  Volksbibliothek: A Conversation with Dr. Maria Sturm and Bettina Hess of the German Society of Pennsylvania Library

Cloister Talk Live! Exploring the Free Library of Philadelphia Rare Book Department, one of the Great Collections of Pennsylvania German Text Culture, with Janine Pollock and Caitlin Goodman

Cloister Talk Live! At The Rosenbach: The Other Pennsylvania Germans? A Discussion of Early Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Jewish Community with Judith M. Guston

Cloister Talk Live! Books Along the Brandywine: A Conversation with Emily Guthrie, Formerly of The Winterthur Library

Cloister Talk Live! Dr. Franklin’s Library: A Conversation with James N. Green, Librarian Emeritus of the Library Company of Philadelphia

This season of Cloister Talk truly constitutes the podcast host’s love letter to the Philadelphia region’s remarkable ecosystem of special collections libraries, archives, museums, and historic sites—with particular attention paid to the distinguished independent research libraries that steward so much of the nation’s cultural record.  The Word in the Wilderness is based in substantial part on the collections of the region’s libraries, and the author has enjoyed varying professional associations with many of the institutions highlighted this season.  The new Cloister Talk episodes thus offer insightful academic perspectives alongside highly intimate, personal glimpses into institutions that hold significance to the author’s scholarly work. 

As was the case with Season 2 of Cloister Talk, Season 3 will conclude with an afternoon tea-themed episode.  Titled “A Second Cup of Afternoon Tea with Alexander Lawrence Ames: Answering Questions about The Word in the Wilderness, and Some Closing Reflections on the Book,” the final installment of the season will answer reader questions and place The Word in the Wilderness in the broader context of the academic fields in which the monograph makes interventions. 
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New episodes will debut at https://anchor.fm/cloistertalk and most major podcast streaming platforms at 8 a.m. on Monday mornings between May 3 and June 28.  A season 3 teaser trailer is available for listening now by clicking here. Please tune in for this unparalleled glimpse into the distinctive library and museum culture characteristic of the Philadelphia region.