This American life; Barbara; Part 1

thumbnail of This American life; Barbara; Part 1
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This record is featured in “Exploring Public Media in the Peabody Awards Collection.” This record is featured in “Peabody Awards Collection.”
Series
This American life
Episode
Barbara
Segment
Part 1
Producing Organization
WBEZ (Radio station : Chicago, Ill.)
Public Radio International
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Reinventing America Project
Contributing Organization
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-526-6d5p844v5x
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Description
Episode Description
"Single mothers - especially inner-city African-American single mothers - have been a political issue since the 1960's, when Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Martin Luther King Jr argued publicly about what to make of the rising numbers of black single mothers. This hour vividly illustrates the life of one inner-city African-American mother, a woman who defies most of the stereotypes of urban single parents. Although Barbara Clinkscales grew up in Chicago's public housing projects and had her first child when she was 15, she's now a working woman, with a network of close friends who look out for her. She has three children and is so fiercely insistent that her son graduate high school that for months, she personally took him to his first class every day. The documentary follows her struggles keeping him in school, her joy when he makes it to landmarks that she never achieved herself - like going to the prom - and her fear when he makes a mistake that threatens to crush all her plans for him. Barbara Clinkscales recorded her family's daily routine over the course of seven months for the nationally-syndicated radio program This American Life. What resulted was a groundbreaking portrait of an inner-city single mother, in which she tells her own story in her own words."--1999 Peabody Awards entry form.
Broadcast Date
1999-10-15
Asset type
Episode
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:29:44.016
Credits
Producing Organization: WBEZ (Radio station : Chicago, Ill.)
Producing Organization: Public Radio International
Producing Organization: Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Producing Organization: Reinventing America Project
AAPB Contributor Holdings
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia
Identifier: cpb-aacip-37b4aff7f3b (Filename)
Format: 1/4 inch audio cassette
Duration: 0:59:00
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Citations
Chicago: “This American life; Barbara; Part 1,” 1999-10-15, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed October 26, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-6d5p844v5x.
MLA: “This American life; Barbara; Part 1.” 1999-10-15. The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. October 26, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-6d5p844v5x>.
APA: This American life; Barbara; Part 1. Boston, MA: The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-6d5p844v5x