On the evening of Wednesday, February 12, The West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council, will host a listening party of two episodes of the Out of the Blocks podcast, featuring Charleston’s West Side neighborhood. The event will be held from 5:30-8:00pm at the historic MacFarland-Hubbard House, headquarters of the West Virginia Humanities Council (1310 Kanawha Blvd. E), in Charleston. Light refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public, but guests should RSVP at wvfolklife.org or by calling 304.346.8500.

Out of the Blocks is a Baltimore-based neighborhood documentary podcast, produced by Aaron Henkin and Wendel Patrick. In November, they worked with state folklorist Emily Hilliard to interview people who live and work on Charleston’s West Side. The voices featured in the podcast include the crew at Dem 2 Brothers Barbecue, country musicians at the West Side Jamboree, community gardener Thomas Toliver, West Virginia symphony clarinetist Bob Turriziani, WVU & NBA basketball legend Levi Phillips, Rev. Matthew Watts, deli owner Sali Janem, a local Girl Scout troop, and more.

The audio collage will feature these Charleston West Side locals in their own words, mixed with an original musical score, and will be presented in two parts: Part 1: History Laid Down Like Shellac, released January 17, and Part 2: We May See a Harvest, released January 31. You can subscribe to Out of the Blocks on all major podcast platforms, or hear the episodes on or after their release dates at https://www.wypr.org/programs/out-blocks.