"Borrowed" Podcast from Brooklyn Public Library

Series produced by Brooklyn Public Library

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Brooklyn has so many stories to tell, and a lot of them start at the library. Brooklyn Public Library's flagship podcast, “Borrowed,” brings you stories that start here and take you somewhere new. We're talking to people starting businesses, finding their roots, playing Dungeons & Dragons, creating community—and of course, borrowing books!

Brooklyn has so many stories to tell, and a lot of them start at the library. Brooklyn Public Library's flagship podcast, “Borrowed,” brings you stories that start here and take you somewhere new. We're talking to people starting businesses, finding their roots, playing Dungeons & Dragons, creating community—and of course, borrowing books!


50 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Preserving history is about more than battling mold and disintegration. We took a trip to Greenpoint, Brooklyn to learn about how an environmental ...

  • Added: Jul 24, 2019
  • Length: 24:49
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
Important stories about the struggle for freedom in Brooklyn, from a young girl “auctioned” at Plymouth Church in 1860 to the story of Crown Height...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 23, 2019
  • Length: 27:37
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
We're talking trash at the library today. Specifically, the story of a 3,000-ton garbage barge that made a scene in Brooklyn in the 1980s… and, we ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 23, 2019
  • Length: 21:06
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
From “the most expensive pigeon roost in the world” to one of the world’s most unique libraries, Brooklyn’s Central Library has many stories to tel...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 26, 2019
  • Length: 23:01
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
Kairi Hollon tried to go to the library when he was a teenager in Brooklyn in the 1980s, but he kept getting kicked out. Years later, he came back ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 26, 2019
  • Length: 22:09
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
It turns out that libraries weren’t always so friendly toward children. That started to change around the turn of the 20th century, thanks to a lib...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 26, 2019
  • Length: 20:41
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
Books on conveyor belts, book vacuums and books in the mail. This episode of “Borrowed” will take you behind the scenes to see how books travel aro...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 26, 2019
  • Length: 16:48
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
We start this episode at Dead Horse Bay, where we ask what trash can tell us about structures of power, and end the episode in 1960s Bed-Stuy, wher...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 23, 2019
  • Length: 20:50
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
It’s not an uncommon experience to be unstably housed in this country. From Brooklyn to San Francisco, communities often turn to public libraries f...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 23, 2019
  • Length: 24:46
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
To ring in the new year, take a dive into the stories of the Coney Island Polar Bear club. We hear from voices from across New York City—a cop spea...

  • Added: Dec 23, 2019
  • Length: 10:48
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Online search engines are basically universal, so questions at the library reference desk are changing. We follow the story of one question, “I wan...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 24, 2019
  • Length: 20:01
  • Purchases: 1
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Sometimes, in the wake of natural disasters, the library becomes an information center, a shelter and a community space. We travel to Coney Island,...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 24, 2019
  • Length: 22:18
  • Purchases: 1
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“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.” So goes the quote from librarian Jo Godwin. From Dr. Seuss to kosher books to ...

  • Added: Jul 24, 2019
  • Length: 24:17
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
In this episode, we share an interview with Mahogany Browne and Brooklyn poet laureate Tina Chang, plus a story about the classic novel A Tree Grow...

  • Added: Dec 26, 2019
  • Length: 31:58
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Andrew Carnegie has a classic rags-to-riches story: an immigrant turned steel magnate who financed the construction of over 2,500 public library bu...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 06, 2020
  • Length: 31:06
  • Purchases: 1
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Working from home? Kids at home? The library is here for you! We’ve got virtual resources galore to help you keep a healthy social distance during ...

  • Added: Apr 06, 2020
  • Length: 22:25
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The census doesn’t just distribute representatives in congress and billions of dollars in federal funds—it determines city bus routes, how many gar...

  • Added: Apr 06, 2020
  • Length: 33:11
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
In 1943, Brooklyn Public Library launched its first radio program, in partnership with WNYC. “Folk Songs for the Seven Million,” written and produc...

  • Added: May 13, 2020
  • Length: 20:19
Caption: Borrowed, from Brooklyn Public Library, Credit: Meryl Friedman
Earth Day is here, but a lot of us are inside. On this episode of Borrowed, we gather sounds of the natural world from the stoops and parks of Broo...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 21, 2020
  • Length: 32:47
  • Purchases: 1
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In an unprecedented time of stress and resilience, many Brooklynites are at the front lines of responding to the coronavirus crisis, and many more ...

Bought by PRX Remix and WCNY


  • Added: Jun 05, 2020
  • Length: 29:10
  • Purchases: 2