Cut Pathways, a podcast developed by the Oral History Program at Carnegie Mellon University, showcases different pathways students and faculty take to navigate their experiences in higher education. This podcast draws on the Oral History Program’s growing archive of oral histories to take an honest look at higher education, exploring themes of culture, equality, and access to education, as well as catalytic points of personal growth, technological innovation, and creative development. Each recorded history is full of funny anecdotes, follies, triumphs, hidden connections, and, occasionally, in-the-moment realizations. Cut Pathways is hosted by Katherine Barbera and David Bernabo.

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Cut Pathways Season 3: Steel City Outsiders and the Institutional Avant-Garde
Fall 2022

Steel City Outsiders and the Institutional Avant-Garde, the third season of Cut Pathways, a podcast produced by the Carnegie Mellon University Oral History Program, investigates the history of avant-garde arts organizations and communities in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood in and around the 1970s.

In the 1970s, Oakland emerged as an unlikely center for avant-garde arts. Influential Oakland institutions like Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh, along with emerging arts organizations like Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Selma Burke Art Center, began producing spaces where artists could experiment and establish communities built around non-mainstream ideas.

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Cut Pathways Season 2: The Wild West of Computing
Fall/Winter 2021

The Wild West of Computing dives into the influential history of computer science at CMU. In a six-episode series titled “The Wild West of Computing,” hosts Katherine Barbera and David Bernabo along with guests historian Andrew Meade McGee and Curator of Special Collections Sam Lemley show how the culture surrounding computer science significantly altered the reputation of the school from 1956 to 1987.

Through oral history interviews with Raj Reddy, Jesse Quatse, Sherri Nichols, and many others, the podcast looks at the university’s early computers (the IBM 650, Bendix G-20 and G-21, and IBM 360 Model 67), the influence of ARPA grants in the 1960s, a series of financial and personnel crises in the 1970s, and the emergence of robotics, software, and the Andrew System in the 1980s.

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Cut Pathways Season 1: Introductions
Summer 2021

Cut Pathways, a podcast developed by the Oral History Program at Carnegie Mellon University, showcases different pathways students and faculty take to navigate their experiences in higher education. This podcast draws on the Oral History Program’s growing archive of oral histories to take an honest look at higher education, exploring themes of culture, equality, and access to education, as well as catalytic points of personal growth, technological innovation, and creative development.

Introductions presents recollections of Pittsburgh in the 20th century and two stories–Julia Parsons’ experiences as a code-breaker during WWII and Dan Meloro’s path to founding the CMU Activities Board.