Listen to Federation Podcasts
By the People: Conversations Beyond 250
By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a national initiative developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Throughout 2026, humanities councils across the United States, its territories, and DC developed community-driven programs in collaboration with local partners as part of this initiative.
In each episode of this podcast, the culture-bearers and community leaders behind these events bring them to a national audience. Find out what was going on in Wyoming in 1776, sit in on a conversation between Mexican folk music performers in Washington, explore music history from the front porch in Georgia, revisit a multi-cultural celebration in Maine, and so much more.
Humanities =
Humanities = is a podcast about real individuals, organizations, and communities making a real difference through the humanities. Tune in for hopeful and inspiring interviews with professionals and volunteers who are using the humanities to empower veterans to heal, support childhood literacy and family bonding, improve the lives of people experiencing incarceration, turn teens into civic leaders, bring communities together through conversation, celebrate local history, and so much more.
Making Meaning: Why Humanities Matter
In 2021, the Federation commissioned this podcast on the role the humanities have played during the pandemic and in our recovery. This podcast was produced as part of the “Humanities in American Life” initiative, funded by the Mellon Foundation, which rang from 2017-2021. This six-episode season includes 12 interviews and features stories from African Americans, Asian Americans, Cuban Americans, Native Americans, and an immigrant from Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia and features humanities programming from 19 states and jurisdictional territories.
The Changing Roles of Religious Spaces (By the People Podcast Bonus Episode)
This episode is republished from the Oregon Humanities podcast The Detour, courtesy of Oregon Humanities.
A Cultural Confluence in Maine (By the People Podcast Episode)
To celebrate the cultural confluence that has shaped Maine (or the Dawnland as it is called by the Wabanaki), Maine Humanities organized a night of food, music, and dancing called “Gather.”
Reclaiming Our Stories: Voices of Indigenous Peoples of California (By the People Podcast Bonus Episode)
In “Whose 250 Years?”, Story Weaver Victorio Shaw (Hoopa Valley Tribe) is joined by Georgiana Sanchez (Chumash, O’odham) and Judge Abby Abinanti (Yurok).
