Earlier this month, we released episode 10, “The Mysteries of Old Letters,” which was an interview with collector Hallie Bahn, who collects letters written roughly between 1900 and 1960. We thought some of these letters—particularly the juicy love letters—were worth hearing in full, so we asked two actors to interpret them dramatically through voiceovers.

Hallie Bahn collects old letters, and she has more than 200 individual missives in her collection. Often times, she has a packet of letters that are all from the same person: the mother of a soldier in World War I; a housewife writing to her husband who’s a traveling salesman. Hallie enjoys the enigmatic quality…

As a graduate student in the ‘90s, Stephanie Lake became friends with the legendary fashion designer Bonnie Cashin, who is known as “the mother of American sportswear.” Stephanie wrote her dissertation on Cashin’s legacy, and, along the way, they formed a close friendship. When Cashin died in 2000, Stephanie ended up with her entire fashion archive, as…

Susie Frank is a collector of novelty salt and pepper shakers. Susie is an interior designer and a fine art photographer in Pasadena, California. She spent roughly two decades collecting salt and pepper shakers that were made from the ’30s through the ’60s, ultimately amassing a collection of 4,000 sets. Now, Susie’s into collecting something…

  For the past 25 years, Tam Keihnhoff has collected “early Texas art”—which is not exactly what it sounds like. It’s art made by an artist who was born, lived or worked in the state, and it was made more than 40 years prior to the present date. So, “early” doesn’t necessarily mean a century old—or…

Our guest this month is Bill Volckening, quilt collector and author. Bill owns more than 400 quilts, from all different periods of American quilt history, including quilts from the early 1800s. But lately his real passion is sharing quilts that have rarely, if ever, been shown in museums: groovy polyester quilts and vibrant Hawaiian scrap…

We’re sick of winter and looking forward to spring, so this month on the podcast we’re talking about some Japanese fabrics that are so delightfully bright, they remind us of walking through a botanical garden. please be patient, the audio will play in approx. 30 seconds Artist Patricia Belyea collects vintage Japanese yukata cottons, which…

I’m so excited to have Katie Haegele on the podcast for episode 2! Katie is the author of two books (with a third coming soon!), and many awesome ‘zines. I talked to her about the ‘zines she’s made, the history of this DIY publishing phenomenon, and about her undying love of all things secondhand—as evidenced…

For our very first episode, I interviewed Elaine Smith, a design lover in Oakland, California. Elaine is legitimately obsessed with the furniture of Roy McMakin, who is a well-known artist, architect and designer; she’s collected more than 30 pieces of furniture in the last 20 years or so. McMakin has honed his distinctive style—basic, colorful…