The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress today launches its eighth season of “America Works,” an original podcast series that honors the creativity, resilience and dedication of the 168-million-strong American workforce. The new season focuses on workers whose jobs involve health and healing – from an emergency room pediatrician to a hospital nutritionist, a large animal veterinarian to an anesthesiologist.
The eight-episode series, part of the American Folklife Center’s ongoing Occupational Folklife Project, introduces audiences to a wide range of voices from the contemporary American workforce. Each episode, excerpted from a longer full-length oral history interview, runs approximately five minutes. Each includes workers’ narratives and observations that add to the rich tapestry of today’s American life. The first episode is available now on the Library website at loc.gov/podcast and YouTube channel. Subsequent episodes will be released each Thursday through March 26th.
For the new season, “we wanted to feature interviews with Americans who jobs and careers involve reflect the diversity of professions related to health and wellness in modern America” said project director, folklorist and podcast host Nancy Groce. “From the head nutritionist at a Vermont hospital, to a midwife in North Carolina, and a veterinarian in Tillamook, Oregon, Season 8 gives listeners insights into workers whose dedication to health, healing and wellness have an impact on America’s contemporary workscape.”
Here is a list of Season 8’s featured interviewees. The Links below are to each speakers’ full Occupational Folklife Project interview. For direct links to each 5-minute America Works episode as it is released each Thursday, visit the America Works Podcast landing page.
The eighth season of “America Works” features:
Episode 1 – Nurse practitioner Dr. Tracie Lavette Augusta of Memphis, Tennessee, talks about her running her own practice and other nursing jobs she has worked throughout her career, the health of Black America, and her passion for holistic health.
Episode 2 – Diane Imrie, a registered dietician and hospital nutritionist who works as Director of Nutrition at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont, talks about what she does at work and why she loves her job.
Episode 3 – Dr. Mark Harris, a clinical anesthesiologist in Salt Lake City, Utah, talks about his job and how he and his colleagues use humor as a coping mechanism to ease stress and anxieties in interactions with his patients.
Episode 4 – Carrington Doolittle Pertalion, a Certified Nurse Midwife from Boone, North Carolina, tells listeners how she transitioned from working as in commercial fishing to midwifery and the challenges and rewards of her current career.
Episode 5 – Robert O’Keffe, a nurse and former Marine, talks about how his experiences and dedication led to his current career in a Veterans Health Administration hospital.
Episode 6 – Peg Rauschenberger, a psychiatric nurse and faculty member at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, talks about the rewards and challenges of her job as mental health worker in the Bager State.
Episode 7 – Kate Lott is a large animal veterinarian who specializes in dairy cattle and works for the Tillamook County Creamery Association in costal Oregon, talks about her enthusiasm for and fascination with cows, her training, about how much she likes taking care of cheese-producing dairy herds.
Episode 8 – Dr. Maija Holsti, a Pediatric Emergency Physician and Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in Salt Lake City talks about what led her into working with children, why she loves taking care of them, and the challenges and joys of her profession.
Each “America Works” episode is drawn from a longer interview from the American Folklife Center’s Occupational Folklife Project, a multi-year initiative created to document workforce culture. Since 2010, fieldworkers from the American Folklife Center have interviewed more than 2,200 workers, documenting their experiences in more than 100 professions. More than 1,200 of these full-length interviews are now available online and more are added regularly.
The first seven seasons of “America Works,” launched in August 2020, April 2021, January 2022, March 2023, February 2024, August 2024 and April 2025, respectively, are available at the Library’s podcast page. To hear each Season 8 episode as they are posted on upcoming Thursdays throughout February and March visit this link.
About the American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center (AFC) documents and shares the many expressions of human experience to inspire, revitalize, and perpetuate living cultural traditions. Designated by the U.S. Congress as the national center for folklife documentation and research, the Center meets its mission by stewarding archival collections, creating public programs, and exchanging knowledge and expertise. The Center’s vision is to encourage diversity of expression and foster community participation in the collective creation of cultural memory. Since 1976—when Congress passed the American Folklife Preservation Act (Public Law 94-201) and President Ford signed it into law—the American Folklife Center has fulfilled its charge to “preserve and present” folklife in all its diversity.
About the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.